About 4 years ago, when I was 19, my boyfriend at the time and I decided to get our tongues pierced. We were living in Austin, and there were plenty of places to choose from, but we didn't bother doing any research on piercings, or places and just went to the cheapest place in town off 6th street.(This was a bad idea, but we lucked out)
At A Glance Author dragons flyt Contact dragons flyt@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist 1) girl w/ short blk hair 2) chris Studio 1) a place off 6th street 2) a place on south congress Location both: austin, TX I had friends in high school that pierced their tongues and I had never heard anyone complain, in fact they all said I should do it when I asked them about it, and showed and interest. I was in choir in high school, and I thought a tongue piercing might negatively affect my singing, (it doesn't) so I waited till I was out of choir, and the urge got really strong (sophomore year of college).
So we walked in, no appointment needed, and I went first. I wasn't really concerned about pain, because I had 5 holes in my ears, and I knew that for me at least, the pain was minimal, and only happened as the needle was going in, which was just a second. The girl gave me a paper towel, for the drool, which I kind of thought was funny, so I tucked it in my shirt like a bib and got ready to be pierced. She clamped my tongue, and the drool started coming. I was dribbling onto my shirt so I grabbed the paper towel and held it under my chin. She could have told me to do that, but I guess she needed a laugh. The needle went through and it didn't feel really good, but it was a lot better than biting your tongue. It only takes a moment to slide the needle through, which is just a short sharp pain; the worst part was sitting there while she fiddled around getting the bead screwed in. I think it was $60, and I heard other places were $80. I tipped her, my boyfriend got his done and we left, all excited about our new piercings.
By the next day we were nice and swollen, but it didn't really hurt it just gave us lisps. For the next week or so we were on soft foods and liquids. We lived on pudding, baby food, yogurt, and juice, anything that doesn't need chewing. By the time we had been told we could eat again I was dying to chew some real food. I was so hungry and ate so fast that I bit the ball hard and chipped one of my molars. It turned out to not be too bad and my dentist just filed it down until it was smooth again, and from that I learned to avoid the barbell, and didn't bite it again. (but door-knockers are harder to get used to, and i still bite them)
About a year or more after I got it done, I noticed it was sore and that a little bulb of scar tissue, or keloid, was forming.(My boyfriend had long since taken his out, because he didn't feel it was him) It was small at first but it kept getting bigger. It was pretty sore, and other people I asked who had tongue piercings had never heard of that happening, so I got no advice on what to do.
About that time, I was due to get my wisdom teeth out and the Maxillofacial surgeon, looked at it and said it should be removed, because it was only going to get bigger. He also thought it might be a tumor or something (ask a piercer, Dr.s know nothing about this stuff).
I agreed to get the lump removed with my wisdom teeth, but before the surgery, I noticed that the lump was shrinking, even though he said it would only get bigger. The Dr. had told me that if I left my piercing in, the lump would just come back, so I reluctantly took out my barbell. After the surgery the lump was gone, but I noticed that the underside of the tip of my tongue was numb. I find out later that the lump was just scar tissue and a piercer told me it would have gone away on its own. Not to mention, that I am now in massage school, and have learned that you can massage away a great deal of scar tissue. 5 years later and it's still numb. I should have known not to trust that Dr. when he asked me what kind of anesthetic they gave me to pierce it! Yeah, he was a fucking anesthetic junkie, or something; he gave me 9 intravenous drugs, including Ketamine (yeah, special K) to take out my wisdom teeth, when he could have just given me a little gas. But I digress.
After a couple years without my tongue ring I really got to miss it. I really liked to play with it, and I could pick stuff out of my teeth with it, so I asked a heavily tattooed and pierced guy friend where I could find a piercer who could deal with scar tissue. He suggested Chris, at a place on south Congress next to the Continental Room and I set up an appointment. I did the soft foods, and crap again, but now, I have a happy healthy tongue piercing...almost. The guy pierced it kind of crooked because of the scar tissue. I can't say that I blame him, I don't know how much experience someone could have at piercing through scar tissue. I had some problems with the balls rubbing against my gums, but I have discovered flexible barbells and have gone with a shorter barbell, and I have been trying to massage it when I change out jewelry, to help break up the scar tissue.
I love my tongue piercing. I love playing with it, getting jewelry, and experimenting, with it's...uh...enhancement possibilities. I want to get one of those vibrating barbells, but I'm afraid it will hit my teeth...when ...uh...hehe...well anyway, If you get scar tissue, don't remove your piercing on account of it. Just massage it between your fingers when you can, and eventually it will break up a lot. Not all people will even get scar tissue, of course, but do make sure they pierce it perpendicular to the tongue, not at an angle (if you are getting a center piercing) and that it's just at the end of that web of skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. It needs to be far back enough that it doesn't rub your gums. Don't play with it too soon, and don't use a mouthwash with alcohol in it. Use something natural, and animal friendly like Tom's of Maine. Oh yeah, and use a tongue scraper, it gets that whitish yeast crap off your tongue, and keeps you r mouth cleaner. Thanks, hope my story was helpful.