I had considered getting my tongue pierced for a while but the only way I thought you could get it done was in the center, which I wasn't really too keen on since it was so common. So I abandoned the idea of getting a tongue piercing, until I became a member of BME and started looking at all the different piercings. One day I was perusing the pictures and decided to look at the tongue piercings. That was when I saw the "off center" category, needless to say, I was intrigued. That was when I saw them, Venoms. I decided right then and there that I needed to get them. But of course me being me, I looked into them first by reading experiences and the risks, and trying to find out as much as I could about ways to reduce the possible damage to my teeth, etc (I had braces for 8 years and I didn't really wants anything to happen to my teeth after what they had already been through). After I figured out that everything was ok I was going to go for it. So here's my story, be warned, tis a titch long.
At A Glance Author Kym Contact Kym@bme.anon IAM Hypodermic When A month ago Artist Kori Studio Next! Location Vancouver, B.C., Canada I went to my local piercer, who turned my down. She didn't feel comfortable doing it and also didn't want me screwing up my teeth. A few weeks later I went to the other piercing studio in my town, the one girl there pretty much laughed in my face and told me that venoms are a stupid piercing which will never heal and will definitely screw up my teeth. She then referred me to BME to back her up. I replied by saying that I'm a member of the site and they I had already checked into it and that the fine people of BME say that there no problem with getting venoms as long as they are placed correctly and they have proper sized barbells in (acrylic balls help to prevent chipped teeth). The girl looked awestruck and didn't know what to say so I just walked out. So with the only 2 piercing studios in Kamloops out of the question I started searching BME again for the closest studio which would do it, I also had to find out when I would be able to leave town and go to the studio. The closest place that I knew for sure would do it was NEXT! in Vancouver so I waited for about 4 months until my mom and I were going to be in Vancouver to go shopping the Long weekend before school starts in September. We left Saturday morning and I decided that I would get it done the next day so that we could get our shopping done and also so that we could go find NEXT! without getting lost (I had gone to their website to get their address and hours a few days before). Sunday arrived and I ate my "last meal" which was breakfast at Denny's, some sort of "Grand slam". After eating we walked over and arrived shortly after they opened.
I got really excited as soon as I walked in the door. I walked up to the counter and ask if I could get venoms, the guy then asked what "type" of bead I would like for the tops (I just got the normal steel beads) and he ran it through the till it came to 126.80$. I opened my wallet and realised that I was so excited that I had forgotten my debit card. Lucky my mom loves me so she paid for it (don't worry people, I paid her back. Love you mom). I was told to take a seat and wait a few minutes. My mom being a nurse, grabbed their little "piercings and tattoos for parents" miny book/brochure type thing(that they can take home) and started reading it. As she was reading it she brought up how everything I had ever told her about piercing and tattoos (for example Canada not having an official age for tattoos etc) was actually true, and was very impressed, by the little book thing and my knowledge and how I always look into these things. About 10 minutes later a girl, who I recognized from their website and therefore knew her name was Kori, came out and told me to follow her. I was that much closer to having venoms.
I had a seat on the doctor/dentist type chair as Kori proceeded to give me the autoclave/piercing guns are bad/ aftercare speech, which she told me was the shortest she has ever done since I already knew all about autoclaves how they work etc, and about how evil piercings guns are. She asked if I had any question so I asked what gauge they were (12 gauge, internally threaded). My mom also asked about hitting veins(incase I didn't mention is, she's a nurse) Kori explain about how even if she did nothing much would happen except that I would bleed a bit.
Step one of the procedure, Kori washed, got out all the equipment and gloved up to mark my tongue. After I was marked she changed her gloves again and it was go time. I stuck out my tongue and she clamped my left side ("your right!", for all the Dane Cook fans out there). she pierced me from the bottom to the top, and it definitely took a little longer for the needle to exit compared to my other piercings (10 different ear piercings with my 2 lobe piercings on each side, snakebites, and my navel). As for what it felt like, it felt sharp, not really a pain but just sharp. I was told to keep my tongue stuck out as she followed the needle with the jewelry. I pulled my tongue back into my mouth and it was a different feeling having the cold top bead touch the top of my mouth. I stuck my tongue back out for needle number two, this one went in from the top. Again I was clamped and pierced, this one took longer to go through but still didn't really hurt, and it just felt uncomfortable. I almost didn't remember to keep my tongue out while I still had the needle in waiting for the jewelry. When she followed the needle with the barbell the needle feel into my lap, and kori said "Opps", knew what happened but I'm pretty sure my mom made a face because Kori then said "don't worry, it wasn't a bad opps". I was now the proud owner of venoms! I thanked Kori and left to go get ice.
It's been about a month and a half. I could eat right away and didn't really have problems talking until a few hours later when the swelling kicked in then I had slurred speech and couldn't really eat, I just let ice melt in my mouth and drank water. FYI straws suck, and soup feels better than ice cubes. I had a blizzard the next day on the way back to Kamloops, but even that sucked. I couldn't really eat for about 3 days, so I just had soup. Then I got desperate and the first thing I really ate was a subway sub, which I ate slowly, but didn't really have a problem with. So after that I ate what ever I wanted just I would take my time. About 2 weeks later I self downsized the barbells, since the people here don't like venoms I didn't think they'd do it for me. And about a week and a half later the swelling was completely gone. So now everything is good. I have only bitten one ball once but I didn't chomp on it so it was fine, and that was when the swelling started to go down and before I downsized the barbells. I find that having small metal beads are the most comfortable, and I can't even bite them if I try.
Now I'm the coolest not cool kid at my school and as far as I know I'm the only person in town who has venoms so I'm special. So if you want to be cool like me go for it, I love them. Except if you live in Kamloops then I might have to injure you for stealing my thunder.