I had been in to piercing for around four years but for some reason I hadn't expanded into the world of tongue piercing. I had already had my eyebrow, a nipple and a PA done and around a month and a half ago I decided to look into adding a tongue piercing in to the mix. I started by looking up the various ways it could be pierced on BME and reading other peoples experiences. After researching in to tongue piercing for a week or two I decided I loved the look of the horizontal and vertical surface piercing.
At A Glance Author Jonny Contact Jonny@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Sandi Studio Body Cult Location Adelaide The very next day I went in to town and payed a visit to Sandi in Body Cult. We discussed the possibilities and quickly ruled out the horizontal and surface piercing due to the amount of time needed for healing and the pain involved. I decided to get a normal centred piercing that was positioned closer to the tip then usual. We made an appointment for the following day and that was that.
The following day came along and I made my way to Body Cult. I went down into the store feeling a little uneasy and Sandi started organising everything for the piercing. We settled for a 12 gauge barbell about a centimetre back from the tip. I was little anxious and was expecting a fair amount of pain and the metallic taste of blood to flood my mouth but thankfully it was all in the mind. So the time came around I sat down in the chair and Sandi asked me to stick out my tongue and she grabbed it with the forceps which was a pain in the ass, I've never noticed how hard it is to hold your tongue out for an extended period of time!!! As the needle went through there was a little discomfort, yet no real pain and it was all over and done with relatively quickly and I didn't notice any blood at all. If your thinking of doing it...it's like licking a nine volt battery, a quick jolt then your just kind of giggling from the weird sensation...Suddenly you have a giant heavy bolt through your tongue! As Sandi slid the bar through it started to throb and I found it increasing harder to keep my tongue out and I couldn't stop drooling! Once you get your tongue back in your mouth however the initial feeling is incredible! There's absolutely no way you can describe how it feels to have a barbell in your mouth, I absolutely loved it from the start.
The first few days were some what "fun" filled as I stumbled around trying to learn how to talk with this weird contraption weighing down my tongue, and eating was quite the pain. The bar initially gets in the way and you end up biting it rather frequently and the movement makes it throb. I found my way around this by cutting up or tearing my food into small bits and chewing a couple times before swallowing. Then when you start eating solid bites again I just had to eat slower then usual. With talking I found I needed to concentrate harder then usual to avoid a noticeable lisp. Either way I would recommend trying not to talk to much for the first few days...or getting drunk like I did for that matter. Next day incredibly sore and very swollen tongue and a rather noticeable amount of blood, most definitely regretted that one.
After care was perfect (other then my first night mishap that is), I purchased some Diflam C from the chemist which is an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory mouth wash. It took away the pain and stopped a lot of the swelling and I only needed to use that for about a week and my tongue was fine. I went back and saw Sandi once a week for the next two weeks just to get it checked but all was fine.
Four weeks later I decided the 12 gauge wasn't big enough and went back and purchased a 10 gauge. That night I went home and put in the 10 gauge which slid in almost without a hitch. There was some slight swelling that was instantly noticeable but no blood and no real pain. That was two days ago now and I already have the urge to stretch it up again! I've got the 8 gauge already, however I think I shall let the 10 gauge stick around for another week or so and give it a little time to heal before I stretch it again.
At the moment I'm contemplating stretching it up to an 0 gauge and splitting my tongue with dental floss/fishing line or using a scalpel to cut through the last few millimetres. So stay tuned as its quite possible there will be a future update!!!