At A Glance Author Lindsey Contact Lindsey@bme.anon IAM satanskitten When It just happened Artist Matt Cottrell Studio Planet Ink Location Ottawa, Ontario Tongue piercings used to be so foreign to me. I can remember a friend of mine getting one when I was something like 14 years old and I told everyone I talked to, "I so would never do that!" A little while later, two close friends of mine came to school with their tongues freshly pierced, sucking on ice cubes. The constant sucking noise they made while trying to suck on the ice made me realize how much fun it probably was to have something in there all the time. After a few weeks of deciding, I had mine done as well. Before I knew it, tongue rings were becoming much too common. I did not want to be referred to as one of the "girls that got their tongue pierced because they are slutty," or one of the many other stereotypes that were around a few years ago, so I got another one. This one right behind the first. A year or so passed and I was still not satisfied, my tongue still looked too "normal" for my liking. Then my thoughts of getting venoms started intriguing me to no end. The solution was simple, I would get venoms.
The first time I went to go get them, Matt wasn't there. I didn't really have a certain person I went to at the time as I didn't get holes put in as frequently as I do now, so I just walked into a shop and asked about it. The people there were very nice, but the piercer (I forget his name) said that he couldn't do it because there were too many veins in the way. I was bummed, but that's the same night I ended up putting in the second one (at first I only wanted the one centre ring and two on either side, but things change!) I went home half happy as I did have a new piercing, but not the one I wanted.
Only recently did I decide I will go see Matt, at Planet Ink and ask him if he could do them. He has become the only one I will go to for piercings as he is a magical man and pain is always minimal. A few days ago, I went in so that he could take some pictures of my naval project that I started a few weeks ago. (there will be a star there sometime soon, there is now a triangle). After he finished I asked him if he could take a look to see if I could have venoms put in. Careful inspection of my veins led to a nod, followed by a "it's feasible." I was stoked and wanted to do them right away, but he only had one barbell left that was long enough. So I made an appointment for two days later, Wednesday, at 6:30.
The Procedure:
Tuesday passed really quickly and before I knew it, I was in the room getting ready. First came to mouthwash, as always. This burnt my mouth, but I knew it would, so it didn't bother me (for centre tongues the mouthwash is actually the worst part). As I was swishing away, he made sure I knew the potential risks with these piercings, the worst being paralysation of the tongue (if this is news to you, go do more research!). I assured him I was aware, because I have been looking into these piercings for over a year now. After the mouthwash came the markings. This took a good long time to ensure two things: to ensure they are away from my veins, and to ensure they are straight. I felt really funny, even though I know him, sitting there flipping my tongue up and down. Sometimes he would back away, leaving me with my tongue in a weird position and I would chuckle. This made it a lot easier, as I was a little nervous due to the higher risks that anything else I have done to date. W e were now ready to clamp. I decided I should lie down as I was a tad hung-over still from the night before. He put two paper towels down for the drool and we were ready.
The Needle:
Once the clamps on the left side were all positioned, the needle was awaiting to go through. "Take a deep breath in and..." are always the words I hear right before the needle goes through. He says "out" once the needle has slightly penetrated. The needle went through and fell out the other end and then he carefully placed the barbell in. I must say, this is what makes him so great, you can never feel the threading process, just the needle. The clamps were carefully removed and I was half way finished. I got all teary-eyed just after and snickered, "you always make me cry!" (He doesn't really, I just needed some comical relief, even if it was from myself and not very funny!) I felt the tongue ring on the left side of my mouth and it felt weird since it was only on one side, but it still felt mighty fine! The right side was exactly the same as the left, not much pain, just a few tiny tears. I was scared of the clamp removal part because my tongue was shaking so much, but it w as fine! I was all finished and I was so proud to be the new owner of a kicking pair of venoms. I sat up and chatted with Matt for a few minutes because he wanted to make sure that they didn't bleed profusely or anything like that. The right one bled a tiny bit, but it was fine.
Days One and Two:
Day one wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. My tongue was really swollen as expected and I didn't really eat anything because of it. I did lots of swishes with alcohol-free mouthwash and that made it feel better. The second day was much the same, no hard foods at all, just squishy stuff. There's no sign of any bleeding or weird purple dots so I am hoping I am in the clear! I kind of was able to eat a potato yesterday, so I am happy at my progress.
All in all a wonderful experience, done by a wonderful piercer. I would highly recommend doing a ton of research on these piercings if you are considering them, as they are a bit more dangerous than other tongue piercings. A little pain goes a long way!