I decided last year I wanted to get a central tongue piercing done. I did my research online and one here. I read many good things about Infinite in Philly. Namely Kevin, one of the piercers there. So, I went to visit a friend in Philadelphia, PA (USA) in January of 2007. I came home with a 10g central tongue piercing. This was my first body mod other than two sets of gunned lobes when I was way younger and didn't know the difference.
At A Glance Author Jean Contact Jean@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Kevin Jump Studio Infinite Body Shop Location Philadelphia, PA Since then, I have slowly been getting into the idea of other body mods. I can't really have anything visible other than the two holes I have in each ear lobe, so I decided to do my tongue again.
Everything I read about venoms scared me. But, I am stubborn and decided to do it anyway.
I got my venoms pierced at the same shop on 09/01/07. The same piercer did the piercings as well as doing a helix piercing. At first, we weren't very confident as I am apparently very vascular on the underside of my tongue. I could see the two bright blue veins running right along "typical" placement for the venoms. However, I wanted them closer to the center anyway, so I thought that I should be okay.
My piercer wasn't sure, so in the beginning they just marked me for the helix. Kevin told me that we would go ahead and do some marking on my tongue and see if there was a siutable placement with my anatomy. Gotta love Kevin...he put the dots exactly where I had envisioned them and had no problem with the alignment
The actual piercing was interesting to say the least. We removed my 6 ga (4mm) central barbell before starting. Then, Kevin put the clamps onto the left side. It was soooo hard to get/keep my tongue out! My chin as well as my tongue were shaking simply from the fact that I wanted the venoms placed behind my central, so they were very far back. I didn't want to mess up my teeth, so I had a very specific idea in mind.
The left piercing hurt worse than I could have imagined. Later on in the day, I found out why. It seems that there is a nerve right near the left piercing that was very angry with the needle going through that area. I had one spot on the left side of my tongue that was numb for about a day. Now it just kind of hurts there. (Note that it's not the actual piercing site, but closer to the tip)
There is only one way to describe Kevin's face when I opened my eyes and he saw the tears that were welled up (I keep my eyes closed, don't like needles). He looked like he was going to cry and he kept saying "I'm sorry". I told him I asked for it, lol :)
He was so worried about me. Apparently, I had gone pale. Note that this is quite an accomplishment as I am naturally fair skinned, lol. He asked me if I was okay to do the other piercing, and I just told him I needed a minute before we did. He was very understanding and patient. When I was ready a minute later, he put the clamps onto the right side. I was expecting pain much like the left, but the right was not near as bad.
Now, I was really pale. He put my central barbell back in and made sure all of my 6! balls were screwed on tightly. Then he let me relax again. After that was done, we did the helix. That was a total breeze and I love the
neometal threadless barbell he used for that one.
So, I now have a triangle on my tongue with a 6 ga central and 12 ga venoms behind that, but closer to the center than most. I am on day 4 of healing these things, and it has been an experience. I am not sure I would do it again. The pain has been less than the central as well as not having speech difficulties, but the recovery time seems to be a lot longer.
To anyone considering Infinite, I have had only great experiences with them. The only problem is that Kevin informed me on my last visit that he as well as almost all of the other piercers from the shop are leaving. Kevin has left as of Labor Day 2007 to go work in Southern California. So, anyone in that area looking for a piercer, Kevin Jump is amazing! Another friend who went with me for the venoms decided she wanted to get her belly button pierced after seeing just how nice Kevin was and how at ease he put everyone. She previously did not want any piercings.