I guess it all started with my fascination with body piercing. I was sixteen and itching for some metal. The tongue piercing was just getting to be popular and I wanted it. I begged my mom to no avail; so we finally decided I could get my belly-button pierced. She told me that I would have to wait until I was eighteen to do my tongue. When that fateful day finally came I was working at a Christian bookstore that strictly forbade body piercing. I thought if I could just get the piercing that I would be able to hide it from the boss and customers, but I could not hide it in the ever present swollen period.
At A Glance Author Ayshen Contact Ayshen@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Osh Studio Atomic Tattoo Location Hollywood My chance finally came six months after my nineteenth birthday when the boss was going on a week long trip out of town. I consulted with my friends about whether or not I should get it. My best friend Sarah was all for it somewhat vicariously living through me. One of my closest guy friends was not too thrilled with the idea thinking it was very feminine looking. In spite of him I decided to go for it. I called up my friend Sarah at work and asked if she wanted to go, she was probably more excited than I was. I picked her up from work at 9:30p.m., and we began our journey to Atomic Tattoo in Hollywood, California.
My little sister decided to ride along because of her interest in getting her belly-button pierced. We got to the shop at about 10:30 and my nerves really started to hit me, I started to worry if I would really be able to hide it, and what if it bled. Despite my worries I decided to go through with it. I told Osh, my resident piercer, what I wanted done and he had me fill out the usual forms. Osh is awesome, totally professional, and clean and what I love about Atomic Tattoo is the fact that they have individual rooms for the different artists. After Osh made sure my tongue was pierce-able he led me to his room. I sat up on the chair as Osh got his tools ready. My poor lip was so bit up as I waited in anticipation. Osh had me gargle with Listerine for like twenty seconds and then spit it into a cup. He then had me stick my tongue out while he made a little mark on tongue. He asked me if that was cool, I said, "yes." Surprisingly I felt no pain at all as the needle slid through. He screwed the bottom ball on and I was pierced. I gave him a tip for being so awesome, and began my journey with my tongue ring. We walked to the car as I began to try and learn to talk again with my tongue ring. It sounded funny and my words were slurred, I could already feel my tongue begin to swell. We stopped at 7-11 where I bought a slurpee and some of the gross orange Listerine. I spent the night at Sarah's to avoid my aunt and uncle seeing my new decoration. The next morning I woke up with a very swollen, slightly sore tongue. I got a slurpee for breakfast, and made my trek to work. I already warned everyone that I could not work much counter or answer many phones. When I got there everyone wanted to see, and the male friend who was against the piercing thought it looked surprisingly good and wanted to see how it worked.
Over the next week I drank chicken broth, and yogurt. When I did try real food it took me an hour and fifteen minutes to consume a soft taco and bean burrito. Finally it was mostly back to normal and I changed to ring to a pink one for work. I think I did that too fast because a little cyst like thing formed on my tongue. I hated it and it looked so ugly. I began to look up on the internet ways to heal it. I found that by gargling salt water helped immensely. The hump finally went away and I loved my tongue ring. I loved going to shops and buying cute tongue rings. One time I did not screw it on correctly and when I was eating I swallowed the ball. I loved playing with it and rolling it against my teeth, which I do not suggest because you can chip a tooth. The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that it did not make kissing all that different. My male friend did not even notice when I had taken it out.
However my experience was a very positive one, I loved my tongue ring and it always kept me occupied. I would suggest anyone who wants one should give it a try, but know it's a lot of upkeep at first. You MUST keep it clean and sanitary, using mouthwash whenever you put anything in your mouth, and cleaning it regularly. Also be prepared not to eat for a couple of days, and no kissing for two weeks, and no oral sex for three months. It may sound like a lot, but it's worth it, it's my favorite of the six piercings I have.