All my life I've craved difference. I make modifications to my clothing and hair, to create a style of my own. I was, and still am a kid who hates to be like everyone else. The trend for piercing at my high school began of course with the naval. I did eventually get my naval pierced, but got three instead of the traditional one. My multiple pierced ears, multi-coloured hair, and stretched lobes were at a plateau, so I needed something new. My dad was constantly giving me the "please, nothing on your face" lecture, so I decided to abide by that rule. The tongue piercing was the next trend in my town, but I really wanted it done. I thought to myself "hey, if I got multiple belly button rings, I'll just do the same for my tongue!" I made the decision to get two off centre, horizontal barbells, otherwise known as venom/viper piercings. As soon as I made that decision, I also decided that telling my parents probably wasn't the best idea. They're the type of people that sa y no when you ask, but learn to live with it if you just do it.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Danielle Studio Planet Ink Tattoos and Piercing Location 571 Yonge St. Toronto ON Now, I knew that in my small town, the chances of one of the local artists having ever performed a double tongue procedure was slim to none, so I wanted to go somewhere big. I'm just 2 hours east of Toronto, so I figured that was my best bet. It was just a matter of getting there. My best friend is super supportive, and when I told her what I wanted to do, she instantly began planning a day trip to the big city!
We set the trip for our March break, (about a month away at the time), and I began doing my research. I read about 10 or 20 different stories similar to this one, and went to a bunch of different websites to check out exactly what was ahead of me. I love body piercings but am smart about it too. I want to be knowledgeable going into the parlour, and that's the first thing I want to suggest to ANYONE thinking of getting a piercing. Know your stuff and do a couple of hours of research to learn about what you want to do. Many people only seem to care about the fact that it might hurt. I can't count the number of times people have asked me "will it hurt when I get pierced?" The only answer I ever really say is "it feels like a needle going through your skin. Have you thought about aftercare, or what precautions you should take?" Seriously, you can connect on a much better level with the artist if you actually know what they're talking about and know why you should listen when they say something like "don't rinse your mouth TOO much". Anyway, back to my adventure!
My two best friends and I took the Go Train to Union Station on a warm day in March, and began to walk up Yonge Street. I had no idea exactly WHICH piercing place I should go to, but knew that I should find one that would do the procedure quite easily, right? Wrong. The first place I went to, didn't even do tongue piercings at all, so right back out the door I went. Considering how many places on Yonge St. there are to get pierced, I wasn't too concerned, and found a cleaner looking parlour in no time. This place had never done the venom procedure, but was willing to do it for me for $70! I knew that was a deal, but didn't really want to be a guinea pig, so they gave me the name of a great shop and up the road we continued. All I kept thinking was "third time's a charm!" Taking the advice of the previous artist, I ended up stopping at a pay phone to look in the yellow pages. I called the piercing place that had been recommended and they told me they could do the procedure, and had done it many times (yay), and it would only cost me $160). . . "Hmm, that's a little too steep I think," I said slowly, and hung up the phone feeling a little disappointed.
It had already been a few hours, and I still hadn't found a place. Just as I was losing a bit of hope, there was a man on the street handing out flyers advertising his newly opened piercing shop. "In here!" my friend yelled. So, in we went! The lighting was a little dim, so I was already feeling sketched out, but when I saw the piercer that was the end of the line. He was shoving the waiver form into my stomach, and had band-aids all over his fingers. Not the tip of "clean" atmosphere I was really looking for, so I politely walked out. I really thought that was the end of the line, but then I stumbled upon the doorstep of "Planet Ink".
I walked in and felt immediately comfortable. There were a lot of people in there, so I knew that it must be a good place. I told the lady at the counter what I was there for, and she got the piercer out of the back. I asked her how many times she had performed the procedure and she was extremely confident. I then asked what the cost would be, hoping with everything I had it wouldn't be close to $160. She told me it would be $100 and I was happy with that. She then said to come back in 30 minutes since she had some people waiting. I went to the bank, and returned feeling really excited that I was finally going to get this done.
Only one of my friends could come back with me, which was fine. She told me to rinse my mouth with some mouthwash and she started telling me about what I should expect afterwards. She then got out a flashlight to shine on my veins underneath. I had never heard of that, but was pretty impressed with how professional she was. She said that it made it a lot easier to mark my tongue since she was doing 2, and then told me they would have to be on a bit of an angle. (The balls would be closer together under my tongue to avoid the veins). I said I was fine with that and she got the needles ready. She started with the right side of my tongue, going from the bottom, and the needle slid through easily. The left side of my tongue was a little more difficult. The needle went half through, and then she had to push a bit harder to get it through the rest of the way. That side had just a few drops of blood, but nothing major.
When the procedure was completed, I felt so good! There was really no pain, just a bit of a pinch. By the time I got back home though, my tongue has swollen up the size of the barbells (about an inch) and I was speaking as if I had just gotten retainers in. Eating was a little difficult, especially with the two piercings, and I had to get used to saying my "s", "th", and "r" sounds again. There was also a bit of bruising on the left side of my tongue. Some good suggestions for eating that I was given before the piercing was soup and pudding. They didn't really work for me. I think it was because I had 2 tongue rings so my tongue was extra swollen (plus there were 2 metal things in the way instead of one). I found it difficult to get the soup to stay in my mouth unless I tilted my head way back, and even then it was a little bit sloppy. Kraft Dinner worked really well for me though. I just put it at the back of my mouth and chewed a couple of times with my back molars. Even t hough you CAN do this with soup, Kraft Dinner isn't going to drool out of your mouth at any time right? Ice cream was another suggestion, but again, anything like this didn't work. You can't really chew ice cream, so the way to eat it is just press it against the top of your mouth and swallow. This was really irritating with the swollenness and I had the same problem as I did with the pudding and soup since I really had to tilt my head back because I couldn't push the food back with my tongue.
For aftercare I rinsed my mouth out with good old-fashioned salt water and regular Listerine a few times a day. (Too much rinsing will cause irritation). After about 2 weeks, the swelling was completely down, and I was eating and talking regularly. There are obvious things such as ice cream cones and lollipops that require a bit of a different approach when you eat them, but I love my tongue piercings! They're so fun, and just interesting to have. Although it took a little bit of work to find the right place, Danielle at Planet Ink is amazing! Anyone in the area, I suggest going there. And as for my parents, they got over it eventually. Happy piercing!