| At A Glance | |
| Author | Memma |
| Contact | Memma@bme.anon |
| IAM | memma |
| When | A week ago |
| Artist | Mark |
| Studio | Tantalize |
| Location | Kendal, Cumbria, England |
My first tongue piercing was one I obtained from an absolutely terrible piercer in Essex somewhere. I went along with the intention of getting venoms, and was disappointed to hear that I "couldn't" have them done because the veins in my tongue were "all wrong". Being young and stupid, it never occurred to me that I should get a second opinion. I just wanted my tongue pierced. So I got it done there and then.
In retrospect, I shouldn't have done it. To say the piercer wasn't up to scratch is the understatement of the century, and I really didn't know enough about piercings at the time to realise I was being screwed. The piercer was patronising, egotistical, and pierced me wonky. On top of that, he recommended I use alcohol to clean it with, and never mentioned anything along the lines of not smoking, et cetera.
Luckily, my piercing survived the harsh scrubbing I gave it twice daily. It survived being rattled around for the duration of an ecstasy high just days after being done. It even survived me powering my way through a KFC mere minutes after the needle. And when I got a smaller bar for it, I suppose it didn't look TOO wonky, just as long as I didn't stick my tongue out.
That was nearly two years ago. I am, as they say, older and wiser. I'd wanted another tongue stud for quite some time; it was just a case of feeling like I could put up with it being all sore again. Last week I decided that yes, it really wasn't so bad, and it'd all be worth it in the end. So off I toddled down to Tantalize to see Mark, possibly one of my favourite people in the whole world.
I mentioned Mark when I wrote up my Triangle experience and I seriously can't recommend him enough. He's charming, down-to-earth, and one of those people that can make one feel instantly at-ease. On top of this, he's a VERY talented piercer and I certainly shan't be going to anyone else in future. But I digress...
He took a look at my tongue and said (to my relief) that Yes, another piercing behind the first one was definitely possible. Was a little surprised that he used anaesthetic, as I'd heard that it could cause complications as far as tongue piercings go. However, this is a man who really knows what he's doing, and he told me that the anaesthetic would allow him to go more slowly and get the piercing perfectly straight. So having been given a good squirt of that ("It tastes like bananas"... makes me wonder what kind of bananas he's been eating...) he pierced me. You all know the drill, so I won't bore you with the details. Jewellery in (plus a longer one for my first piercing), paid up, and off I went.
Was exceptionally pleased with my mouth at this point. The fresh piercing was dead straight, and by sucking plenty of ice I managed to keep the swelling to a minimum.
This is a week on. There are several things I've noticed that have pleasantly surprised me.
Firstly, learning to eat and talk again wasn't an issue. I expected it to be just as difficult the second time round, but it seems once you're used to the feeling of one barbell in your mouth, another one doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference. In fact, to be fair, the second one really isn't that noticeable at all. I don't feel the urge to play with it like I did with my first one, and it doesn't seem to have affected the mobility of my tongue at all.
There have been one or two unexpected difficulties though. When I eat, I quite often get bits of food caught between the two studs (I guess this won't be so bad once the swelling is gone completely and I get the bars changed). Also, whilst my tongue didn't seem to swell very much at all, I've been suffering with constant sore throats. It's nothing that can't be fixed with a little ibuprofen and ice cream (any excuse..), and for all I know it might not even be related to the piercing at all.
I think that about wraps it up. All in all it's been a very definitely positive experience so far, and I'd tell anyone thinking about it to go for it. My tongue is well on the way to being healed after only a week, and it's been one of the simplest things in the world to take care of (I forgot to mention – Mark recommended that I avoid mouthwash, so I'm sticking to sea salt rinses). Hope this write-up has answered some questions; if not then please do feel free to contact me with anything you wish to know.
