A week or two ago I got the sudden urge to get my tongue pierced. My parents are absolutely against piercings/tattoos/body modification in general (my sister had to be 16 before they'd let her get her ears pierced), but since this would be inside my mouth I figured they wouldn't mind too much as it's not overly visible.
At A Glance Author veetii Contact veetii@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Blair Studio Ballistic Tattoo and Piercing Location Auckland, New Zealand I did plenty of research into tongue piercings, looked at heaps of aftercare advice and managed to get 3 consecutive days off work. After looking at photos online though, I decided that I liked venoms a whole lot more, and looked around for a place to get them done. There are quite a few places in Auckland which do body piercing, mostly in the middle of town. The cheaper places were way too far away to bother going to as I don't have my drivers license.
So on the Monday after work I went into town to get it done. The first place I went to - which seemed the most professional, and I know the guy has about 8 years experience - didn't have a piercer working that day. However, I had to get it done today. I wouldn't have 3 consecutive days off for a long time so there was no option but now. I ended up going to Ballistic tattoo/piercing in an arcade down the road. Blair was knowledgeable and friendly, and pretty keen to do my venoms as he rarely gets the chance. He showed me photos of previous clients, and asked me to pick the one I liked the best.
I took my seat and Blair made the marks on my tongue. The needles he used DIDN'T come from a brand new packet (which many people told me was a necessity) but they came straight from the autoclave so I figured they were sterile enough anyway. Everything was in there - barbells, clamps and needles. He changed gloves several times.
He dried my tongue a bit with some paper towel, clamped, checked for veins and pushed the first needle in. It went through really easily, and didn't hurt as much as I thought it would which was a plus. On went the barbell.. it hurt a bit more, but it was over soon enough and he tightened the bottom ball on. He gave me a glass of water and we took a couple of minutes break as he changed gloves, clamps and all sorts of things before continuing with the next one.
The second piercing took a bit more effort to get through, but it was still over in a couple of seconds. The pain was sharp and short, and afterwards everything just felt tender. On went the second barbell. The balls kind of latched onto my bottom lip for about half a minute which was slightly worrying, but they slipped in alright.
Pretty much immediately after the second piercing, I was feeling dizzy. Really damn dizzy. I thought I was going to pass out, and my friend later told me that I looked amazingly pale. I wasn't thinking earlier on and hadn't eaten before the piercing, so the shock was a bit stronger. Blair left for a moment and came back with a bottle of coke he'd bought for me. Blood sugar went up and I didn't feel as though I was about to pass out. Sweet!
I asked more questions about what to do after eating and stuff like that. The aftercare sheet he gave me has lower 'minimum times' than others I've read - wait a few days before drinking alcohol, wet kissing after 10 days is fine for example. When is came to coming back for new barbells, He said it'd probably need to be two weeks
because I had them both done at the same time, unless they're really rattling about. I'm a bit worried about having the holes hurt like hell from not having enough healing time, so I'll see how it goes. He gave me an aftercare sheet, I paid him the NZ$100 and was on my way. I had picked up ice from a McDonalds before getting the piercing done so I could reduce swelling right away. Ice is sooo good.
So far the swelling has been moderate.. I can still speak pretty well - I stumble over some words, but it's not blatant and I could probably have worked today. I picked up a huge thing of mineral water, some Listerine, ibuprofen, a new toothbrush and a tub of ice cream and I was set for the night. When I woke this morning my tongue was pretty damn big, but ice water and ibuprofen calmed it down. Today has floated between "Gah, my tongue is all tender", "My piercings are burning a bit but nothing huge" and "Man, this feels bloody awesome".
All of my friends so far like them, and I absolutely love them. I can't wait until they're healed up and not so tender.