My Tongue Piercing Experience

I'm always a little surprised when I remember I have my tongue pierced. For many years I told everyone that I would never get it done. I thought it was weird looking and would annoy me since I would always be aware of it. And then one day, I wanted it. The timing worked out well because I would soon be going to D.C. on a business trip and I was already meeting up with a fellow RABbit. We scheduled an appointment at Perforations and I spent the next two weeks worrying over how much it was going to hurt. When the day came, I was more nervous than I had been for any other pierce. For my last meal we went to a Tex-Mex restaurant, which was quite good. But I was torn between feeling sick eating because of butterflies, and wanting to eat since I wouldn't be able to again for a while.

At last we made it to Perforations. The pierce was as bad as I thought it would be. I requested the placement to be as far back as possible since I do work in a professional job. The actual pierce hurt, but then Fish had trouble getting the jewelry on the needle, so it seemed like an eternity went by before it was done. My tongue immediately swelled up. That night I sat in my hotel room sucking ice and loving it. The next morning I tried to eat breakfast with my co-worker Frank. After unsuccessfully trying to eat oatmeal and yogurt, Frank asked if I was having tooth problems. I told him what I had done and he thought it was amusing (at least he wasn't grossed out). Then we went to our meeting. Luckily I didn't have to present, so I sucked on ice cubes the entire day. No one asked about it, but I would have said I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out. For lunch I had frozen yogurt, and again as a snack. Unfortunately, the airplane didn't have any mushy food, so I had to skip dinner.

The next few days were hellish. I was living on Ensure (nasty, vile stuff) and french fries ( I found them easy to eat) and an occasional yogurt. This new diet made my body very unhappy and on the 4th day I became sick. Vomiting with a new tongue pierce is one of the worse things I've done, and at that point I was very close to taking it out. But I figured that after all I had been through, I should at least make that decision after it healed. The next day I forced myself to eat my normal food, even though it took much longer. I felt much better, and so did my tongue. After a week, swelling was pretty much down and I was eating normal. I continued to rinse with diluted Listerine after every time I ate, for about a month. I downsized my barbell after about 3 weeks, when I noticed that the balls on my current post were always loose.

This pierce has been interesting and fun at times, but when I thought about which pierces I would take out, this one is on top of the list. I don't usually notice it or play with it, but it doesn't get in the way. It is occasionally fun for shock value, but since I don't go around sticking out my tongue at people, no one ever notices. All and all, I'm glad I did it for the experience, but I won't miss it when it comes out.

August 22, 2000 Update

Today's the day that the tongue piercing finally came out. I've been meaning to take it out for quite some time now. In January, my 12 gauge barbell became disfunctional when the top ball came out with the threading still in the bar. So, I'd been wearing my back-up 14 gauge orignal jewelry ever since. In addition to wearing less comfortable jewelry, I have been having panic attacks in the middle of the night where I wake up in a sweat thinking I should take the jewelry out NOW. And, the jewelry was getting pretty plaque encrusted, since I never cleaned it since I was going to take it out any day now.... But, I hesitated because once the jewelry is out, it's out for good since the hole will close up so quickly, and I'm not getting it repierced. But, I was updating my webpage anyway tonight, so I decided to get the inevidable over with. So, I'm sitting here without my tongue jewelry, occasionally poking the barbell back through the hole, just to see if the hole has closed up yet.

Jewelry History

(1/25/98) - 3/4" 14 gauge SSS BB - at Perforations (Washington D.C.), Fish
(2/20/98) - 11/16" 12 gauge SSS BB
(9/17/98) - 11/16" 10 gauge teal titanium BB
(11/9/98) - 11/16" 12 gauge SSS BB

Thank to Judy for taking the pictures and getting me to Perforations

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