At A Glance Author Machinegun Contact Machinegun@bme.anon IAM Machinegun When Three months ago Artist Jesse Studio Pair-a-Dice Tattoo Location Las Vegas, NV I have to be careful about what I choose to pierce because of my job. No visible piercings allowed. I had the itch, bad, and my tongue seemed like the perfect place to poke a new hole. Or two. And coincidentally, I had a five day trip to Las Vegas with my in-laws coming up. If I was going to pierce my tongue, then would be the best time [no swelling at work].
I did a little bit of searching online to look at what shops are there, where they're located and seeing who people were satisfied with. What I chose to go with was Pair.a.Dice, having the best reviews.
My husband and I went into the studio the day after we arrived. We told them what we wanted, picked out our jewelry, and filled out the paperwork. This was also a landmark piercing experience for me, because it was the first time I was able to sign for myself to get pierced. I am 17, but, I'm married and emancipated. Now that is a slippery slope.
After my man got his septum pierced, it was my turn. The piercer had me swishing with some nasty tasting orange Listerine, and had me stick out my tongue. He didn't mark it, and that's when I should have spoken up, at least. But to my surprise, when he did the left one and showed me, it was perfect, so I didn't argue. Not too much pain at all. When he did the right side, it hurt a little. I kind of squinted my eyes and growled. But the beauty of piercing is that it only hurts a second!
I got up and looked in the mirror near the counter, where my sister-in-law was waiting for us and stuck out my tongue. I was surprised. I was shocked. I was pissed. The right side was like a centimeter [a good noticeable distance] closer to the tip on my tongue. With a confused look on my face, I put my left index finger out, and my right index finger out lower to try to silently ask if they all thought it was as fucked up as it looked to me. And it was.
But I'm a trooper, and a perfectionist. I couldn't possibly keep it like that. I had him redo that side. He still didn't mark it. The third time hurt SO bad. But hey, at least they were even now. I paid, but I didn't tip. He also didn't give us any aftercare instructions. I suppose because looking at us.... why bother? We already know. But still. If we didn't already know, we would have been fucked.
On the walk back to our hotel, we stopped off at a McDonalds so I could get some ice. Which is pretty much all I ate for the first three days. I also snapped a picture of my tongue, including the spot of blood from the first fucked up one. We stopped at a Walgreens to get a bottle of Ibuprofen. By the end of that night, it was so swollen and hurt so bad that I altogether quit talking [though I wasn't talking much to begin with]. I ended up taking too many Ibuprofen, and by the end of the week, those fuckers made my stomach hurt pretty bad. I guess it was the coating on them.
That night we went to eat at the Riviera. The best food I had ever seen or smelled, and I couldn't have any. I ended up drinking the broth from the Chicken Noodle Soup, had a few bites of mashed potatoes, and some of the best Vanilla ice cream I had ever had. On the plus side, I started drinking a lot of water, and my skin got smoother and I lost a bit of weight. We also went to In-n-Out, my first time. I didn't eat much, and it took me a really long time, but it was really good.
When I woke up for the first four or five days after I got it pierced, I grabbed the room key and ran to the ice machine at the end of the hall. The pain in my tongue every morning was like shooting pain where the bars were, and a throbbing ache throughout the rest of it. After sucking on ice cubes for a good ten minutes, I swished with saltwater, brushed my teeth, and swished again. Twice a day for two weeks. Once a day for the next two or three weeks, and now only two or three times a week. I use saltwater on everything. Not just my piercings, either. It's worked wonders for everything else, so naturally I would use it for that.
I am a smoker, and I didn't quit smoking after I pierced my tongue. I don't think it was the best idea, but I did it anyways. The first cigarette after it was pierced almost stung a little. That's how I would describe it. And I constantly had a bottle of water on me, so I swished out my mouth afterwards. Every time.
Two weeks after the piercing, I switched to shorter bars. They're about a quarter of an inch shorter than the first ones, and much more comfortable. When it was first done, it was swelling so much that those long bars were really tight, which is why it hurt so bad a lot of the time. Now three months later, they're doing great. The right side is angled barely different than the left one. No one else sees it but me. The right side also "sticks" when I wake up sometimes. Like the bar is stuck in one spot and doesn't want to move. I just drink some water and it's fine from then on. All in all, this was a pretty good experience for me, and I'm definitely happy with them.