Ever since my boyfriend of two and a half years got his tongue pierced in February of 2001, I'd wanted mine done so badly. Unfortunately, I was only 16 and our state requires that you be 18 for all body piercing, so I had to wait.
At A Glance Author Sarah Contact Sarah@bme.anon IAM jupiter When It just happened Artist Not a clue! Studio EZ Tattoo Location Schenectady, NY Well, the waiting definitely wasn't the hardest part!
After getting my navel done after graduation, I decided that pain was only temporary and I wasn't too concerned about the pain of the procedure. After my 18th birthday, I thought that it would be a perfect gift to myself to go and get my tongue done, since I planned on waiting for just the right occasion for my tattoo. I called my mother up and told her what I planned, not having my NYS identification card. We decided to go the day after I came home from college for the weekend after she got off of work. Finding a place was the trickiest part.
First, I tried Spaulding Tattoo in Schenectady, NY and found that the piercer only pierced with 14g needles. I wasn't up to getting a 14g piercing because I'd heard of a "cheese cutter" effect and the piercer, if you could call him a piercer, was extremely suspicious, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. I asked him why he didn't pierce with a 12g needle and he attempted to explain about veins in the tongue and slipping and missing them with too big of a needle. That's when I decided I wasn't about to let him put a hole in my tongue.
With my boyfriend in tow, we went to the place where I'd got my navel done only 5 months earlier. He, too, only pierced with a 14g needle, but reassured me that with the piercing being in the center of my tongue and the duration of the healing, I could change the gauge to a 12 after it healed with no problem. I was satisfied with this answer and decided to go grab my mother and swing back around for my piercing in about fifteen minutes.
When I returned with my mom, we signed consent forms and had our forms of identification Xeroxed. My piercer took me back to the area and had me rinse for a couple of minutes with Listerine before asking me to stick my tongue out and point to where I wanted it. He centered it a bit more and placed the clamps on my tongue...
That was the worst part! Those clamps, ouch. They took the blood flow away from my tongue, which I suppose is a blessing, but man oh man, they hurt.
After the clamps were in place, he asked me to inhale deeply, and then exhale. While exhaling, I felt a strong pressure and a tiny pinch. He asked me to open my eyes and told me that my piercing was almost complete.
>From there, he slid the barbell in and attempted to screw the ball onto the bottom. We had problems with this part because of the drooling I was doing. I was drooling so excessively that the ball kept sliding off his gloved hands and missing the threaded ends. We finally got it and he sent me on my way with directions for aftercare which include rinsing with Listerine after every meal and after handling the piercing, cleaning away the crusting with a Q-Tip and drinking lots of water while sucking on ice chips.
So far, I haven't had issues with it. It's only been two days, but I'm satisfied with the way it's healing. Eating is a bitch, I'll admit that, but if you drink water and find yourself something cold to suck on, the swelling won't be as much of a problem as it might be if you didn't. My swelling hasn't become an issue yet and I carry a bottle of water with me everywhere. My secret tip: Advil for the swelling, too!
The piercing is wonderful! I'm in love with it! I know learning to use my tongue again will be difficult, but I figure that with time and experience, it will be fully functioning again! For all of you thinking of getting this piercing, I tell you to please consider how much you use your tongue and how much your speech will be affected by it! You won't talk normally for a couple of days, I sure as heck don't! If you've thought it through, though, I say go for it! It's the best piercing I have and the pain was definitely minimal! I have a low, LOW pain tolerance, and for me to admit to being able to go through with this and to actually DO it was a miracle in itself. It hurts less than a navel, less than a shot!