I've wanted my tongue pierced in the center ever since I was 12, but I was always afraid of the pain and the swelling afterwards. My dad is totally against body modification so back then I didn't even think about asking him, because the answer would of course be no.
At A Glance Author Rebecca When N/A Studio Sins of the Flesh Location Whittier, CA 2 Years Later.
One boring Saturday night, I was up in my room researching standard eyebrow piercings when I came upon BME. (Thanks BME for helping me find Venoms) I forgot about the eyebrow piercings and immediately went to the tongue piercing section. My interest in center tongue piercings grew from that moment on.
The next morning I asked my dad if I could get my tongue pierced in the center. He said no, but I wasn't going to give up that easily. I told him I would get A's and B's in school and wash the dishes if he let me get my tongue pierced. He said he'd think about it.
A week later he said yes and I was the happiest 14 year old alive. I called Sins of the Flesh and made an appointment to get my tongue pierced in 2 weeks. I was so excited!
Well, the 2 weeks went by pretty fast and I was on my way to the studio. When I got there my dad and I had to wait about 10 minutes because the piercer had to clean up after his last customer. When he called me in, I was so nervous. My long beautiful nails had been chewed off because of my nervousness.
The piercer gave me a cup of some gross mouthwash and told me to rinse out my mouth and spit it out into the sink. Then he told me to sit in this chair that looked like the chairs they had at the dentist. The room smelled like the dentist's too. He tilted the chair back and looked underneath my tongue. "You've got a huge vein in the middle, I can't pierce the center."
...Damn it!
"Oh.. is there anyway you can pierce my tongue?" I asked. He told me he could pierce the side but that wouldn't look even if I only got one. So we agreed that he would pierce both sides. He went and got another sterile packaged needle and another 14G Stainless Steel barbell.
He tilted the chair once more, put on a different pair of gloves and marked my tongue on both sides. (I think he changed his gloves atleast 10 times) He didn't ask me if I liked the placement but I trusted him, so I didn't say anything. He grabbed the clamps, clamped my tongue and grabbed the needle.
He told me to breathe in and out and he would pierce on the third breath out. In, out, in, out, in, out, pierce. Honestly I didn't really feel it. My second lobe piercing hurt more!! He put in the barbell, screwed the ball on and did the same for the other side of my tongue. The second time hurt and stung a little more when he put in the barbell but everything turned out perfectly. He handed my a hand mirror so I could take a look at my new Venoms. I LOVED THEM!!! They were so beautiful and straight.
The piercer got a aftercare sheet for me and went over it. No smoking(even though I don't), rinse your mouth with mouthwash after you eat or drink something, don't play with the barbells, and to come back in a month so he could see how they were doing.
My dad paid and gave him a $15 tip but I wish we could give him $100 tip because he did such a great job. We went to Walgreens later to get some mouthwash and 7/11 to get me a slurpie because my tongue was starting to swell already. The next morning it bled a little when I brushed my teeth because the toothbrush hit one of the barbells but I managed to stop the bleeding and go downstairs to eat jell-o for breakfast. Heh, I'm having mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, because I still can't eat solid foods without feeling pain or soreness.
My tongue didn't really swell but it did. Overall, I love this piercing and I'm thinking about getting another pair of venoms behind my first ones. Anyone who wants this piercing, I totally think you should get them, because they're just so beautiful and are out of the ordinary compared to center tongue piercings.
If you get this piercing drink a lot of cold water, eat a lot of ice cream, suck on a lot of ice, and stock up on instant mashed potatoes, jell-o, and pudding! Avoid hot sauce too, because I ate Taco Bell and the hot sauce stung!
Thanks for reading! Have a happy piercing =D
-Rebecca