I currently have my ear lobes stretched to 8mm, another two lobe piercings in each ear at 2mm, a 1.6mm cartilage piercing in my left ear, and my eyebrow, nostril and lip pierced. And now my latest addition, My Tongue.
At A Glance Author Sami Contact sami_jc@hotmail.com When A month ago Artist Brian Studio Abody Location Leicester, England, UK I had always liked the look of tongue piercings for as long as I can remember, I just never actually believed I would actually go through with getting it done. I had just turned 16 on the 19th March 2003 so my mum had let me have my lip pierced for my birthday present from her on the 15th March 2003 and a week later she allowed me to have my tongue pierced, which was a birthday present from my boyfriend who also has his done.
I hadn't meant to get my tongue pierced the day I had it done, I was originally going to have it done a couple of days later but we were in town on the 22nd March 2003 and after I had bought a nice new shiny pair of converse all-stars my boyfriend suggested I get my tongue pierced seeing as he had the money on him to pay for it. So I decided yes I would get it done and we headed off to Abody.
On arriving we were greeted by Brian the piercer who knows us from the past couple of time we had been in to Abody to get my lip pierced, my boyfriend's tongue pierced, my mate Sophie's tongue pierced and various looks at the jewellery available. He asked us what he could do for us today and I answered I wanted my tongue pierced and queried whether it would be ok to get another oral piercing when I'd only got my lip pierced a week earlier. He said it would be fine and handed me the form to sign. I filled it in and because I'm 16 now I didn't need my mum to sign it for me. He handed me the aftercare sheet and asked me to follow him through to the piercing room. I asked if I could take my boyfriend in, as I was quite nervous about this piercing because of it going through a major muscle in my body, and got the reply "Yes" and so we followed into the piercing room.
Once in there Brian shut the door of the white clean looking room and asked me to hop up onto the dentist chair thingy. Brian began by explaining all the aftercare to me and said that I would need to rinse my mouth twice a day with salt water and every time after I ate, drank anything, or smoked and that I should try to refrain for playing with the piercing as much as possible so that it would heal better and more quickly. He also explained that it would swell up for the first couple of days. Next he put on some gloves and got out the packaged needle from a drawer and a barbell from another one and laid them into the dish on the table next to the chair I was on, taking the needle out of the package and unscrewing one of the balls off the bar ready for me to be pierced.
He asked me to stick my tongue out and had a close look at it and said that I had quite a thin, delicate tongue which meant my tongue should heal fairly quickly but the bar he was putting in would be very difficult and awkward for my mouth once the swelling had gone down because of the size of the bar. He got me to rinse my mouth with some pink Listerine to clean it and then gave me some paper towel to hold under my mouth and squirted the top and bottom of my tongue with anaesthetic and told me to hold it there for 30 seconds and then spit it into the paper towel and whatever I did not to swallow it! I did as he told me and then after a short wait my tongue became very numb.
He now had to mark my tongue so he got me to stick it out once again and carefully marked my tongue checking the placing several time to make sure every thing would be fine. I then was told to keep my tongue out of my mouth and relax it so that it could be clamped ready for the piercing, which took a while because my tongue kept fighting him. Finally I was clamped and ready to be pierced. I got my boyfriend to have his hand nearby so that I could squeeze it incase the piercing hurt too much. Brian counted to 3 and pushed the needle up through my tongue. The feeling I got was a weird sensation, defiantly not pain, I just felt the needle there in my tongue and I got the usual rush, which I got whenever I got most piercings. Brian cut the needle off and put the barbell through the receiving tube. The tube was then removed and Brian screwed the ball onto the bar. I finally had my tongue pierced.
Brian got me to rinse my mouth with water and spit it back into the cup; my tongue was bleeding a little so this turned the water all red and bloody. He then gave me another cup of water to drink and I showed me my tongue in a mirror; it looked great! He told me that the anaesthetic would wear off after about 30 minutes and then my tongue would probably start to ache and swell up. He explained the aftercare once again and said to come back in 2 weeks to get the bar changed down providing the swelling had gone. I thanked Brian and paid him the £25 for the piercing and left the shop.
First of all I went to buy a bottle of water to drink to stop my tongue from bleeding and then headed back down to the clock tower where all my friends were so I could show off my new piercing. After around 30 – 45 minutes after the piercing the anaesthetic had worn off on my tongue and I felt a slight ache in my tongue but other than that it was fine and it hadn't started to swell up yet. After spending a day in town with my friends I headed back home to show my mum my new piercing.
Diary Of My Tongue Piercing
Day 1 (the day I had it done) – My tongue didn't actually swell up today. Speaking was very difficult and people found it hard to understand what I was saying most of the time. Had a yogart drink for dinner.
Day 2 – Woke up to find tongue had swelled up to fill the whole of the enormous bar. Speaking was still very difficult. Had scrambled egg and beans to eat.
Day 3 – School today. Didn't eat anything at school. Speaking was getting easier but tongue still very swollen. Noticed a white piece of skin/ lump in front of the top of the piercing and got slightly worried. Ate mashed potatoes and cheese for dinner.
Day 4 – Tongue gone down slightly I think. Speaking still the same. Went back to Abody so that Brian could take a look at the white lumpy thing, he said it was fine and that the white lump (gave it a name which I can't remember) occurred sometime around piercings and would go away eventually. He also said not to poke at it or squeeze it because it would only make it bigger. Had a Mc Donald's milkshake while in town and a cheese omelette today.
Day 5 – Tongue gone down a bit more. Speaking is pretty much normal now except I have a slight lisp, which I hope will go when I get used to the piercing. Had Shepard's pie for dinner.
Day 6 – The swelling is almost completely gone now. Managed to eat a chocolate bar and had spaghetti for dinner which kept getting wrapped around the bar.
Day 7 and onwards – Can eat perfectly fine now and I sound normal, I've just got to go back and get the bar changed down once my 2 week healing period is up.
Overall I am very pleased with my piercing. It looks great and didn't hurt in the slightest when I had it pierced despite being told differently by a couple of people. Abody is a great piercing studio; very clean and hygienic with very friendly people working there, I would defiantly say it is the best out of the places I have visited in Leicester and defiantly recommend it. My next piercings I plan on getting are either my navel, nipples, or cheeks, which I hope to be getting very soon.
Thanks for reading