Brooke - Tongue Piercing
My friend James one day stated he was going to shave his head.
"Well I'm going to pierce my tongue then" I replied - I had been talking about getting it done for months. Literally ten minutes later I was at the Sydney Medical Body-Piercing Clinic.
Some would consider it a bad decision not to research about clinics and procedures (and I certainly wouldn't discourage it!), but for me it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing so I didn't really have the time! The fact that the piercing was done by a doctor made me confident about the Piercing Clinic and as soon as I walked in and chatted to Jody about a few things I had no hesitations.
Richard introduced himself and asked me to stick my tongue out so he could check it was suitable for piercing, then marked on my tongue on top and underneath where the peircing would be and checked to make sure it was where I wanted. I suggested having it a bit further back but he advised me that the further back it was the more painful and lengthy the healing would be. Now I'm really glad for the advice as it's in exactly the right spot visually and for comfort.
First I had some anesthetic gel applied, and then lay down and had a small anesthetic needle above and below my tongue. I closed my eyes and relaxed. With gloves and fully sterile equipment Richard started on my tongue. Several times he asked me "Can you feel this?" checking it was a totally painfree procudure - I couldn't feel anything at all. Before I knew it the bar was through and the ball was being screwed on. I have a few friends with their tongues pierced and they were surprised to hear that I had been given anesthetic. Not only this but Richard used no clamps and did everything freehand. I think alone this made the procedure much more relaxed and far less traumatic than it could have been.
The swelling started that afternoon. I talk a lot. Despite that I had been advised to stay quiet, I couldn't help myself. It got pretty big. It felt like a big clam. It wasn't painful, just a bit odd. I had two Panadol on the first night just in case.
The next morning (still big) I was drinking smoothies and milk and sucked a bit of chocolate. Later that night managed a bit of bread and some hommus, a few chips and a dried apricot. It sounds stupid but it was quite an achievement. For me the diffuculty with eating was not a pain factor but the coordinaton factor. I had to chew very deliberately to avoid chewing on the bar - you don't realise how much you use your tongue when you eat! I carried a bottle of salt water and washed my mouth out everytime I ate something and rinsed with diluted mouthwash about once a day. By the next night I ate three pieces of pizza!
I had a heavy lisp for a few days. Soon the swelling was down, and though still slow I was eating quite alot. After about 4 or 5 days I was basically back to normal though I had a snazzy bar in my tongue! It was quite long, though still comfortable. I did bite on it a few times when I was eating or talking fast.
Today it's been nearly three weeks since I got it done and I went to get the bar changed to a shorter one. Though it's recommended to do the change between 10-14 days I just didn't have time. It's the first time I've taken it out and it swelled up a tiny bit for a few hours, but now it's fine.
Though everyone said my healing was amazingly fast, I know another girl who healed quite fast as well, so I guess it just depends a lot on the body, but I really believe it also had a lot to do with the fact that it was done in a pain-free, stress-free, sterile environment.
I would have absolutely no hesitation to refer to Dr Richard Janus anyone considering any kind of piercing (and have done so a few times already!)
After this long all I can say is I'm glad James decided to get his head shaved three weeks ago.
Thanks a lot
Brooke
Revised 3 February 2003
Copyright © 1999-2004 Sydney Medical Body Piercing Clinic