Starting around September, it occurred to me that I wanted to get something pierced. The idea while appealing, was also completely scary. The only piercing I previously had was my earlobes. This was done when I was 2 weeks old. So despite my tattoo experience, I had no basis for knowledge on what a piercing felt like.
At A Glance Author emilyann Contact emilyann@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Travis Studio Atlantis Location Milford, CT The first step was research. I did a lot of research. I read people's experiences, I read articles by both conservative parents and seasoned piercers, I looked at pictures, I talked to people I knew and didn't know about their experiences. This was all before I had even decided what I wanted pierced. I eventually settled on the tongue for several reasons:
1. I did not want a piercing that would be extremely obvious from just looking at me (I am a senior in college and need to have a real job next year)
2. I wanted something with a fairly quick healing time.
3. I have a tendency to play with things in my mouth anyway, so why not go ahead and install a toy?
I contemplated this decision for about 5 months before actually doing it. I knew that this wasn't going to be a piercing I would keep forever, however, I did want to make sure that I was really sure that I wanted it before paying a man to put a needle through any part of me. Finally, at the end of February, my reservations subsided, and started telling a lot of people that I was going to do it. Eventually I told so many people that I actually had to do it.
I planned on going to the piercing parlor on Thursday, so on Wednesday, I went grocery shopping and bought things I'd heard would be good to eat. Pudding, jello, ice pops, instant mashed potatoes, mushy non-chunky soups, etc. I have a fairly short tongue, so I decided to stop by the piercing parlor just to have them check out my tongue and make sure everything would go smoothly on Thursday. Travis told me everything looked good, and I bravely smiled, telling him I would be back the next day.
So on a Thursday evening, my roommate and a friend came with a very jittery me, and we went to Atlantis. I filled out all the appropriate paper work, and Travis led me to the back room. He placed the dot on my tongue with an inked toothpick, and then, after inspection of the dot placement, clamped my tongue into place. At this point, all I could think about is a story my friend had told me about her experience. She said that with her tongue in the clamp she had felt like Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars Episode I, when he gets his tongue caught in the Pod Racer. Since this thought is distracting me, I barely notice that Travis has actually started pushing a needle through my tongue.
The pain? Well it certainly wasn't my favorite thing ever. However, I certainly have had worse experiences. I associated the feeling more with moderate to extreme discomfort, though, rather than piercing (haha, get it?) pain. The needle was pushed through, the barbell was put into place, and then my tongue was unclasped. The entire ordeal did not last long enough for me to get to the point of being in so much discomfort that I was second guessing my decision.
Two things that I don't think I thought about pre-piercing:
1. Your tongue is thick. Much thicker than an earlobe. So it takes a good amount of force and more than an instant to push the needle all the way through.
2. You tongue is a muscle. Why this didn't occur to me, I am not sure, but it really didn't. This causes there to be more ways of it possibly hurting, since it, as a muscle, is going to want to pull away from pain, in a way that your earlobe cannot.
For me, there was very little bleeding. I was afraid of moving my tongue for about ten minutes, and only used gestures and smiles to communicate with Travis, and my support team. Travis recommended that we immediately go get some ice for me to suck on, and so we did. The ice helped SO MUCH. I cannot stress enough how wonderful ice is. Once I was sucking on ice, I felt more comfortable attempting to talk.
My Recovery:
Swelling: My tongue was not very swollen the night I got it pierced. However, the next day it was very swollen. It remained swollen for about 3 days, however, it was only badly swollen on the second day. The next couple days were only very swollen it the morning. I would get up and immediately drink some very cold water and take some Advil, and the swelling would reduce considerably.
Soreness: The soreness lasted a little longer. About 5 days. Once the swelling went down, the area right around the piercing was quite sore, and would sometimes get a little more agitated if I got too exuberant about something and started talking too much. It would also be more sore after eating. Advil also helped alleviate this.
Speech: I was able to talk pretty normally after a couple hours. I could hear slurs and strange sounds in my speech for about a week, but almost no one else could hear them after the first few days. I did notice that when I tried to talk too much, my tongue would get fatigued. I know this sounds strange, but if you think of it as a recovering injured muscle, it makes sense.
Eating: For the first few days my favorite foods were jello and ice pops. You really don't realize how much you use your tongue to eat. Jello slides down very easily without much maneuvering needed. Ice pops are, well, ice. I made sure to only eat things that could be torn into small pieces for the first week or so (chicken strips, mushy vegetables, etc.). I made the mistake of trying to drink out of a straw once. I don't recommend it. In fact, it seems advisable to stay away from straws as long as possible, even if it doesn't hurt. Something about the pressure that creates inside the mouth that just does not seem conducive to healing...
Cleaning: note: Every piercer and every person you talk to is going to have a different recommendation for you about this. Half the things I read said "Use full strength Listerine every 5 minutes!" while the other half said "Don't use Listerine ever at all!" My piercing healed extremely well, and extremely quickly, so I am telling you what I did, but I am certainly no expert.
Every morning and night I used diluted Listerine (3 parts water, 1 part Listerine). I drank as much water as I could, and often swished it around in my mouth before swallowing. If put anything into my mouth other than bottled water, I rinsed out my mouth with a sea-salt solution. I temporarily switched to a children's toothpaste, and used a soft toothbrush to gently brush my tongue in the morning and at night.
General Afterthoughts: I love it. I believe that my good experience had a lot to do with choosing a piercer that I trusted at a reputable establishment, and with the fact that I respected my tongue. I know that sounds cheesy, but I did allow a man to shove a needle through it, so of course it's going to be mad at me for a while. I was very good about avoiding playing with it for the first couple weeks. I was diligent about cleaning. I paid attention to what felt good and what didn't, and did not rush my tongue into operating normally too quickly.
My tongue was pierced diagonally. There are debates about this aspect of piercing. The main advantage is that the top ball is pointed toward the back of my mouth, so it does not click against my teeth, unless I am deliberately playing with the barbell. This also allowed the piercing to be farther back on my tongue, and therefore less obvious to people when I am talking to them -- in fact, not one person has noticed without my telling them. Some people would consider this a disadvantage because they want to show off their piercing, but for my purposes, this is wonderful. The disadvantage is that because this puts more pressure on certain areas of the wound, it can create a hard bump composed of scar tissue just in front of the piercing. I noticed this forming a couple weeks after my piercing, but it has lessened considerably since then.
I am overall extremely pleased with the experience. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it was swollen. Yes, I talked goofily for a few days. But I healed very well and very quickly, and am now the proud owner of a wonderful tongue piercing!