About a year ago, I got a modification, and I am just now going to write about the wonderful experience that I had with my center tongue piercing.
At A Glance Author Randi Contact violaqueen1987@hotmail.com IAM mother love bone When Six months ago Artist Brent Holmes Studio Avant Garde Location West Allis, WI One night, when I was still 17, my mother and her fiance were drinking at my house, and my mom was pretty drunk. Her fiance said, "You have some fabulous kids! You should let them do more of what they want!" So I asked my mother, "Can I get my tongue pierced?" It was my second actual body piercing, and I had wanted one since I saw them here on BME. My mother, being indisposed, said, "Yeah, we'll take you tomorrow right after school!"
So the next day, Thursday, April 14th, 2005, I came home from school. I brushed my teeth and used Listerine to make sure my breath was fresh, and then my 15 year old sister and I got in the car to go to Avant Garde, the local piercing place. I was starting to get a little nervous, a few butterflies in my stomach, but everything was okay. I turned on my iPod and let Jane's Addiction soothe my nervousness.
I looked out the window and saw the bright red lights that read "Avant Garde" blazing through the front window. I saw the blue building and shook with excitement and nervousness. We went into the shop and my mother said, "She (pointing to me) wants a tongue piercing and she (pointing to my sister) wants an eyebrow piercing." The guy behind the counter, who reminded me of the lead singer of Coheed and Cambria (with his huge hairdo and snakebite piercings), looked at my mother's ID and mine and my sister's school IDs. Then he photocopied all three IDs and came back and told my mother what the total damages came to, as he called them.
"Which one wants to go first?" he asked. My sister jumped up and said, "I really wanna go first!" So she went first. She came back out about five minutes later and I looked at her new eyebrow piercing. It looked really good actually. They pierced hers a bit deeper than mine, but every piercing has to suit the individual's anatomy.
Brent then called me back to the piercing room.
He had me sit on the edge of the bed-type area, and then he put a piece of paper towel on my lap. He had me gargle with Listerine for a minute while he told me the procedure. Then he had me spit the Listerine out and he marked my tongue with ink and a toothpick in a t shape. I looked in the mirror and liked it a lot. My sister and my mother came back to watch, and Brent said, "Oh, an audience to watch you cry!" I cringed a little bit. Then he clamped my tongue, had me breathe in, and pierced my tongue on the exhale.
It didn't hurt one bit!
He inserted a 7/8" barbell into the newly-created hole in my tongue, secured the ball, and gave me an aftercare sheet.
The aftermath: I couldn't talk correctly for a few days. My tongue was swollen for four days, during which I could eat nothing but ice cream, popsicles, ice cubes, and ice water due to discomfort. After that, I ate only soft foods like applesauce and other chewy foods. After another week, I started eating crumbly foods like pretzels and Cheetos again, and I resumed drinking soda and acidic juices. After three weeks, I got the barbell downsized to a 5/8" barbell for free, because when they pierce you at Avant Garde you get a card for a free downsized barbell.
I was pierced at a 14 gauge, but I played with the piercing a little too much before it was healed. This caused the piercing to stretch a little bit. After two months of having the piercing, I decided to buy a 12 gauge barbell from Avant Garde and insert it into my tongue piercing. It went through with no problem! I was really surprised about this, and the ring fit perfectly. Looking back on it, getting pierced with a twelve gauge would have been no problem, but it stretched almost on its own. It swelled a little, and it bled, but after two days I was back to normal again.
I do not recommend stretching your tongue by pulling on it and playing with it, because of the risk of tearing the hole and causing a lot of bleeding. If you are going to stretch a piercing, do it the proper way and let a professional help you so you don't risk injury and/or loss of the piercing.
I have had this piercing for nine months, and I absolutely love it! If you want a tongue ring, go ahead and get pierced! Just don't stretch it the way I did.