About 5 hours or so ago, I had my first tongue web piercing done. A couple of hours later, I had my second...
At A Glance Author Charley Contact Charley@bme.anon When It just happened Location Edinburgh I had previously had ear piercings done, the lobes, tragus, anti-tragus and a cartilage piercing as well, and a centre tongue piercing that I had later had to take out because of an operation to take out my wisdom teeth. I wanted to get another centre tongue piercing, however I had noticed more recently that it was a popular piercing and I also wanted to have something a bit more discreet. Hiding my centre tongue piercing whenever I saw my mother was not the easiest thing to do and the idea of having a piercing that I could hide easily and yet show to a certain special few was definitely appealing. A manager at my work when I discussed my next piercing with her showed me her tongue web piercing and I loved it. It was easy to hide and yet looked so cool when on display. Very few people knew she had it and I decided that I would have that piercing as my next one as well.
I checked out some pictures and experiences on bmezine and talked to my friend on msn about meeting up the next day to go and get it done. She thought I was mad, especially after seeing pictures, however she wanted to go with me as she was thinking of getting her navel pierced. So we went to the piercing studio that I had been to so many times before for my first tattoo and my ear piercings and walked straight up to the counter and asked the man standing there if they pierced the tongue-web and he replied with a smile "we'll pierce anything we can get a hold of". :) He told me that it was a tricky piercing because I had to hold my mouth open for a fair bit of time with my tongue up while he tried to put a fiddly bit of jewellery through a small hole. I believe he likened it to wallpapering his house through the letterbox which although made me slightly more nervous definitely did not put me off as I really wanted to get this piercing. As I signed the consent form he joked with me and my friend (who had decided to wait before she made her decision on her navel piercing) and asked if I wanted a ring or a bar. I wanted to have a ring despite the warning that a ring would be trickier to put through, and then he went to set up the equiptment for me.
I was not really nervous, after all I had already had a tongue piercing but once in the room with the equiptment laid out before me I started to get the familiar feeling of psyching myself up for another piercing experience. He reassured me completely and just told me to lean back and relax. I put my tongue up for him and closed my eyes. As he put the needle through the tongue web, I felt a sharp pinch and a tear come up through my eyes. The large needle rested on my open mouth and the piercer then tried to get the ring through. However it was very fiddly indeed and as he tried to get the ball on, the ring fell out. He then suggested that I get the bar instead as it was easier and sat better in the mouth. I agreed and a minute after the needle was once more pushed through I had the bar in my mouth and I was very happy with it. Having wiped the drool off my mouth I looked in the mirror at my new piercing and I felt really pleased with it. It was unusual in my circle of friends and it felt like it had always been there. I left the piercing room, paid, got my aftercare instructions and left with my friend (she decided that she would get her navel pierced in a few weeks).
My friend and I went to have lunch together, she being amazed at my new piercing which she thought looked really great. It wasn't sore at all and after an easy lunch where I genuinely couldn't feel the bar and could eat perfectly, we went to a shop so I could buy some listerine and I happened to check out my piercing in a mirror. Except when I did, the bar wasn't there anymore. It had obviously fallen out while I was eating and I had swallowed it without even noticing. I was worried about going back to the piercing studio and yet I had only had the piercing a couple of hours and had obviously wanted to keep it for a much longer time than that :p So my friend and I returned and luckily the guy was still there. I explained the situation and he was understanding, told me that occasionally this happened and that he'd go and set up everything again and would call me in in just a minute. I was relieved and once called in he smiled and said that I knew what to expect so just relax and lean back once more.
This time, it was quicker, but hurt much more. The tongue web was already inflamed from the previous piercing but the needle going through again was much sorer. The piercer screwing the ball on the end of the bar also hurt more this time, probably because he was making sure that it was on really tightly this time. Because this time there was some blood, I rinsed my mouth out at the sink and then left with my friend. 4 hours later and my tongue still aches slightly however I do really like the piercing and the ease with which it sits in my mouth is great. There's been no real adjusting to eating like there is with a centre tongue piercing and so far my speech hasn't been affected. Having read stories about infections I will obviously be careful with the cleansing of this piercing as with every one and I just hope that the next piercing I get will stay in for longer than a few hours :)