I meet with Kat in the studio out of which she works. She is on her lunch hour and waiting for me in one of the hairstylist's salon chairs when I walk through the door. It is a Saturday afternoon and this hip, graffiti-walled combination hair salon/body piercing studio has several customers waiting to get cut, dyed, styled and pierced. There is a tattoo parlor right next door. How's that for convenience? Kat herself has tattoos running all the way up her left arm and several piercings, in her nose, eyebrow and tongue, that I could see. She is a very amiable, attractive young woman and invites me back to the private room where they do piercings to talk. The room looks clean, and along the mirrored wall lies a doctor's table in pastel green that reminds me of backless gowns and butcher paper. Above the mirror are several pictures of body piercings, running the range from ears and bellybuttons to genitalia (complete with black boxes over the eyes or heads cut off entirely). I ask if these are piercings she has performed, and she says for the most part they are. She points to one picture of a penis which has about 4 Prince Albert piercings (straight through the head) and 6 or 7 bars running the length of the penis. "That one's not mine. I got that from a trade magazine, but I just had to cut it out. Nice form. Symmetrical. Clean lines." I'm not sure whether she's referring to the piercings or the penis, but I'm too intrigued by the idea of subscribing to a piercer's trade magazine to inquire.
I ask her how long she's been doing this, and she tells me on and off for about six years. She apparently started doing home piercings on herself and her friends back in high school, but I am relieved to hear that her six years of professional experience came only after several months of training under an expert piercer. It's all quite subjective, however, as the profession is unregulated and no certifying body currently exists.
When I ask her about the cost, she tells me that it depends upon what you want pierced. A belly piercing costs about $45, a tongue runs about $65, and genitalia costs anywhere between $50-80, depending upon the type of piercing and jewelry. Their motto is "We pierce anything," so I ask her what the strangest request has been. Kat quickly replies that she's heard it all. But upon more thought she tells me about a young punk who brought his dog in and asked if she'd pierce its ear. She declined, as she deemed it cruel since the animal had no say in the matter. Interestingly, she feels the same towards parents who get their children's ears pierced at an early age. But most of their clientele are teenagers or 20-somethings that opt for a more alternative piercing. Next she shows me the equipment they use, the clamps, corks, autoclaves, needles and jewelry, which is made of stainless steel to prevent infection.
What I haven't told her is that my secret agenda for conducting this interview is to go behind the scenes and gather information for my own planned tongue piercing. Kat takes note of my weighted interest in tongue piercings, however, and asks me if I'm thinking about getting it done. I shiftily reply that I am. She smiles and then offers to do it for me. After careful deliberation for about 20 seconds, and with Kat teasingly egging me on, I agree. First we pick out the jewelry, the gauge of the bar and ball size. I pick a medium sized bar and ball. She then has me gargle with Listerine, and at this point I'm glad that I just brushed my teeth before coming here. She pulls out a pair of latex gloves and gets the instruments ready as she verbally walks me through the process. I feel just a twinge of nervousness. After drying my tongue, she places a blue dot of dye on my tongue to mark the spot and asks me to check and see if it's OK. I agree to the spot, and she places a clamp directly over the dot. Then she grabs a small cork and places that under my tongue to catch the sharp end of the needle. While she holds both the clamp and the cork with one hand, she grabs the needle with the other. At this point I close my eyes, and she tells me to inhale deep and slow. I feel a pinch in my tongue, and as she tells me to exhale she's already screwing in the two balls above and below my tongue. It's that fast.
Since she's done the piercing I can't say that I've been without pain. Eating has been the hardest thing. I've had to stick with soft, bland foods such as yogurt, mashed potatoes and ramen. This should last about a week, at which time I can go back for a shorter bar when the swelling has subsided. The shorter bar should be more comfortable and make eating easier. This piercing has actually improved my health, and I recommend anyone trying to make certain lifestyle changes by all means go on the tongue piercing diet. In the past 3 days I've eaten considerably less and what I have eaten has been relatively healthy. I've been taking Vitamin C. I've abstained from alcohol and cigarettes, consumed at least 6 glasses of water per day, and, though impeccable to begin with, there's even been an improvement in my oral hygiene. For those of you seriously thinking about getting this type of piercing done, I strongly suggest interviewing your piercer beforehand. After talking with Kat I became much more relaxed and confident in my decision, as she fully demonstrated her knowledge, expertise and competence as a piercer.
Copyright 1997 Jennifer Chung
All moral and legal rights
reserved and asserted.