Introduction
At A Glance Author isis1231 Contact isis1231@bme.anon IAM isis1231 When A week ago Artist Louisa Studio Trendez Location Dunedin, NZ
I have, as of a week ago, had four piercings in my tongue. The first two http://www.bmezine.com/pierce/02-tongue/A20930/tngmylat.html were taken out at the same time as many of my other piercings. I enjoy the piercing process and so quite often close up piercings in order to have them re-done. My tongue, however, remained unadorned for a considerable length of time. This was mostly because im my memory I had built tongue piercings up to be extremely painful.
Piercing number three
When a friend offered to pay for me to get a regular tongue piercing again I jumped at the chance. This was to be my third, and I decided that it would also be my last. As a result, it was centered on my tongue, rather than placed to allow another piercing before or after it. The procedure was the same as all the other ones here, so I will not write about it. However, it did hurt a lot. This was probably due to the scar tissue from my two previous tongue piercings. It healed quickly and uneventfully, although I had forgotten how much eating chocolate hurt (it melts but you can't use your tongue to move it off your teeth!). I also re-learnt to avoid toffee, spending several minutes in pain trying to detatch my tongue from the top of my mouth. Salt water was an extreme relief after this incident.
Boredom sets in
While I was happy with my tongue piercing, I felt I needed something more. I am not a huge fan of having 'cliche' piercings- tongue, navel, lobes- so a pair on conches was added to the collection. I also got a vertical hood http://www.bmezine.com/pierce/10-female/hood/A40524/hodmyfir.html done during this time. Watching yet another friend heal her tongue piercing was the final straw- I needed to make my tongue more unique. I quickly decided on getting another tongue piercing, which would bring the total to four.
Piercing number four(!)
I went to Trendez for this piercing because they did a good job on my conch and were very hygienic. They mainly do the aforementioned 'cliche' piercings, and so my request was initially denied, on the grounds that they did not know how to perform it. However, I demonstrated that I have a very long tongue (I can touch my nose and even inside my nostril) and heaps of room. I also emphasised that I had had this piercing done before. Louisa, one of the piercers, agreed to try to pierce me, but only if I was happy for the procedure to take longer, as it would take more time to set up. I was very pleased to hear this, as placement is vital, so showed my ID, paid my $35, and signed the forms.
The procedure
Having my tongue dried felt as odd as always. I immediately needed to swallow, which is my body's rection to not being able to swallow. While Louisa prepared the room, I distracted myself from the pain I was sure was coming by wriggling my tongue a lot and touching my nose with it. I knew, with the swelling, that it would be a while before I could do that again. Louisa marked my tongue with the end of a cotton bud, and moved the dot twice until she was happy with it. She then repeatedly moved the dot on the underside of my tongue. She explained that it would have to go at an angle underneath to avoid veins, and to make it more comfortable to have two balls there. I was happy with this, as my previous pair had 'clinked' when I spoke. Finally, Louisa went to clamp my tongue, the part I hate most. These clamps weren't as tight as usual, and so it took a couple of tries until my tongue was anchored properly. Then, in a smooth motion, she pulled the 14ga needle through, followed by the jewellery. It was more of an ache than a sting, and the pressure subsided when the clamps were released. The balls of the barbell took a while to adjust, because I was instinctively trying to pull my tongue back into my mouth. Soon, though, she was done. I washed my mouth out with ice-cold water, wiped the little bit of blood off my lip, and looked in the mirror. I was extremely happy. The piercing was centered and perfectly placed. Louisa was happy too, and I told her that she could now do double-tongue piercings, and congratulated her.
The aftermath
My tongue is still swollen, but not as badly as it was. I will know the swelling has gone when I can touch my tongue to my nose again!I have been using an anasthetic mouthwash called Cepacaine, and drinking lots of ice water. The most pain occurred on the first night, when I had difficulty swallowing. I have been able to eat normally, although slower. It was definitely worth it, and not as painful as I had built it up to be. I think multi tongue piercings are attractive and unique, and I recommend them to anyone. Pictures of my tongue are available on my IAM page, and I am contactable via IAM to answer any questions about any tongue piercing.. number one, two, three, or four!