From: pdavies@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Paul Davies)
Subject: pierce faq 2/4
Organization: University of Toronto Chemistry Department
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 23:11:50 GMT

*** PIERCE FAQ PART 2 OF 4 ***
ITEM 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry Ugol writes:

I got my tongue pierced last June.  The piercing itself hurt much less
than my other piercings, aside from the fact that it turns out I have
a shorter-than-usual tongue which had to be extended so far and for
such a long time that I think I sprained it (:-).  The reason the
piercing hurt a lot less is that the tongue is different from most
other pierceable body parts; the tongue itself is muscle instead of
skin.  For one thing that means it has no nerves on the inside and few
pain receptors on the surface.  The striations in the muscle also make
it much easier to physically pierce; the needle tends to slip between
them - unlike a regular piercing, this one (when I saw it being done
to other people) resembled pushing an embroidery needle through a
piece of fabric.

The morning after the piercing my tongue was swollen and *very*
tender, both of which are normal (a longer barbell is initially used
for tongue piercings; the barbell is replaced with a smaller one once
the swelling goes down).  "*Very* tender" means it hurt to talk and it
HURT to eat; I was not a happy camper that day.  But within 24 hours
the pain started to diminish (the first time I started playing with
the piercing I discovered something very weird: this was the first of
my piercings which went through muscle instead of skin.  That meant I
could literally fuck my tongue (by lodging the barbell against the
backsides of my teeth and thrusting my tongue against the barbell),
which was a lot of fun and a real mindbender).  Within two days I was
no longer in serious discomfort.

The healing regimen for a tongue piercing is slightly different than
for most other piercings; Neosporin and Hibiclens and Ivory soap and
suchlike are not good things to put in your mouth :-).  Instead, you
use Listerine.  A *lot* of Listerine - before the piercing itself and
after every meal and toothbrushing.  I went through a giant-sized
bottle in a week.  You also use a substance called Gly-Oxide, which is
basically a hydrogen peroxide-like compound dissolved in glycerin, and
foams up nicely when you drip it on your tongue.  Putting anything fun
in your mouth other than food and drink is strictly out; aside from
the standard still-healing-piercing infection dangers, cocksucking is
no longer a low-HIV-risk activity if you have an open wound in your
mouth.  That phase lasted 6 weeks, I think, although more conservative
estimates call for 2-3 months.

Like the septum piercing, a tongue piercing is not really noticeable
if you don't want it to be.  It takes a little more self-control - you
have to remember not to throw your head way back when you laugh, and
not to stick your tongue out for emphasis when talking - but I haven't
had any problems with scaring the horses at work.  Nor does the
piercing get in my way; since the bar was downsized, it's basically a
pair of metal balls riding just above and just below the surfaces of
my tongue.

Sex with a tongue piercing is a *lot* of fun (male-male sex that is;
I'm afraid my biases are wired pretty firmly.  Word of mouth, however,
says that tongue piercings are even more fun when applied to women
than to men).  

Harry Ugol
harryu@warpten.EBay.sun.com

ITEM 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a list of piercers/piercing suppliers:

In the United States:

	Body Manipulations
	245 Fillmore
	San Francisco, CA 94117
	(415) 621-0408

	Gauntlet (retail)
	2377 Market St.
	San Francisco, CA 94114
	(415) 431-3133
	fax (415) 431-3170
	
	Gauntlet (retail)
	8720 Santa Monica Blvd.
	Los Angeles, CA 90069
	(213) 657-6677
	fax (213) 657-4657
	
	Gauntlet (mail order)
	1201 Old County Rd., Unit 3
	Belmont, CA 94002
	(415) 592-9715
	fax (415) 592-1986
	
	Gauntlet (retail)
	144 Fifth Ave (at 19th Street), Second Floor
	New York, NY
	(212) 229-0180

	Guilty and Innocent Productions
	613 W. Briar (new address)
	Chicago IL 60613
	(312) 404-5838
	appts. only, no walk-ins, they make their own jewelry


        Forbidden Fruit
        512 Neches
        Austin, TX  78701
        (512)478-8358

        Europa Bookstore
        at Dobie Mall
        2021 Guadalupe St.
        Austin, TX  78705
        Voice: (512)476-0423
        Fax:   (512)479-0912	
	

	Lamar Van Dyke at Tattoo You
	1017 East Pike St. Seattle
	206 324 6443
	All types of body piercing

	VyVynn Lazonga of Dermagraphics
	also does limited pierces 
        94 Pike Place, Seattle 
        206 622 1535
	
		

	Don Tullous
	(916)485-5033
        Sacramento, CA
    On the back of his business card is a list of piercings he does, and
all of the ones in the FAQ (with the exception of Clitoral and Clitoral
Hood) are included. He seems to be by appointment only...


Attitudes
1017 S.W. Morrison
Studio 312,
Portland, OR. 97205
(503) 224-0050

Ahna was friendly and businesslike, and the studio was clean and hygenic,  
complete with autoclave, sterile areas for jewelry, rubber gloves and so on.


Erik Dakota at Anubis Warpus
803 Pacific Ave. 
Santa Cruz, CA 95064 
(408) 423-3208

he brands as well, never gotten a branding from him though.



Albino Rhino is Iowa City's newest and largest piercing emporium, one
small, overheated room in a low-rent upstairs mall, the Hall Mall, on
the College Street Pedestrian Plaza.  It is run as a down-the-hall
annex from Moon Mistique (a slightly new-age bookstore/boutique).
The staff is Paul Valerio, their chief piercer, Lisa (Random) Hospidarsky,
assistant to Paul and co-owner of the shop, and Mark Chapin, nose and ear
man.  The decor is black, with silver handcuffs hanging from a wood grid
cieling.  They've got an examining table, appropriate for the job.

In the few minutes spare time I spent there, I only talked to Mark Chapin,
he was trained by Paul Valerio, and he doesn't know where Paul learned
the art.

Here's a faxsimile of their business card:

    Random Hospodarsky
                           ALBINO RHINO
       head honcho


    ALBINO RHINO               ART
    Body Piercing             ASCII
    Piercing Supplies         CAN'T
    Alternative Books         DO IT
    114 1/2 E. College #20     ART
    Iowa City, IA  52240
    (319) 337-6761


They can also be reached at (319) 338-5752 (Moon Mistique's number).

Iowa City's other piercer, Shannon Cleveland, no longer works at
King Stingrays.  She works at Beaute' Techniques, 156 Old Capitol Mall
(319) 338-0034.  As usual, she makes a living cutting hair; I haven't
talked to her since she moved, but I suspect that piercing is still
a sideline -- Why waste training from the likes of Raelyn and Mad Jack?



	Skin & Bones
	3603 Parry Ave.
	Dallas, TX  75226
	(214) 826-6647
	
Stacy is the main piercer and owns the body piercing business.  He has
done both my piercings (nipple and PA) and I'm very pleased with them,
both the procedure and results.  He has an apprentice now, as well.

He has a good selection of jewelery and can get anything you want (both my
pieces were custom orders).  He is starting to make his own jewelery, so
the prices should be reasonable.

There is also a Tattoo shop at the same location.  There are 3 or four artists
working out of the shop.  I have seen some work I thought was nice but I don't
know much about tattoos.



In Canada:

Priape
1311 SteCatherine E.
Montreal
(514) 521-8451

Clothing, Gauntlet supplies 
(needles, bead rings, barbells, stirrups).
In middle of gay ghetto, near subway station.
No attitude problem towards straights.


Piercer: Jonny
	 (514) 482-5675
Experienced, recommended by many sources (dancers)
Sells custom made jewelry.
He has business card stating above.
Around 70yrs old I guess.
Does "his work" at your place.



	
	Northbound Leather
	19 St. Nicholas St.
	Toronto, Ontario	
	(416) 972-1037
In Germany:

	Baldos Studio
	5500 Trier
	Postfach 2764

	Tel: (0651) 2 83 35 ab 20 Uhr

	Sells jewellery too.

In Holland:

	Tattooing & Piercing Studio
	Kloveniersburgwal 135
	1011 KE Amsterdam

	Tel: 020-257812

	Jan Dehaan
	Box 52
	2150 AB Nieuw-Vennep


In Denmark:

	Ms Hintze's Piercing Clinic
	SM
	Studiestraede 12, st. tv.
	DK-1455 Copenhagen K.

	Tel: 33 32 33 03

	Ms Hintze occasionally visits Finland:
	Call 90-571041/Julle for info.

( Following addresses from Body Art clasified ads ):

In England

	Mick Brew, Medical Practitioner, North East and London by
	arrangement: BM Apex, London WC1 N3XX

	Teena and Simon Body piercing and jewellery 081.533.4083

	The London Piercing Clinic
	tel: (081)653-9517 weekday afternoons or (0860)797-114 all
	hours.

	Piercing by Ossie Newcastle 091.2320.257

	Tattoo Erotique 0582.505839 0836.285105

	Body Art Tattoo
	201 Two Mile Hill Road
	Kingswood
	Bristol
	England

	tel:603923

 
 Wildcat International
 16 Preston St
 Brighton
 BN1 2HN
 +44 273 23758
 
 They have a wide range of stainless steel jewelery available and can get
 almost anything made up.  


In Switzerland:

	Boutique Dana
	Grossackerstr. 5
	CH-9006 St. Gallen

	Tel: 071/25 31 95

	Sells jewellery too.

Jewellery:

In England:

	body jewellery
	Blake House Studios
	Blake End
	Rayne
	Braintree
	Essex
	CM7 8SH

	Catalog #4.5 (overseas #5 or $15) refund w/ order over #25
	
	I had my navel piercing done by Patrick in south London who was
	very good and has his needles cleaned in an autoclave (he is a
	member of The Professional Piercers Association of the United
	Kingdom).  You can phone for an appointment on 081 653 9517
	(clinic) or 0860 797 114 (24hr portable phone). He charges
	25 pounds per piercing, including jewelry.

In Luxembourg

	CREATIVE ART COLLECTION
	23 Avenue Victor-Hugo
	L-1750 Luxembourg

	Catalog #10 ( USA & rest of the world $25 )

	
PS. # is supposed to be a pound sign

In London:

I had my navel piercing done by Patrick in south London who was very good and
has his needles cleaned in an autoclave (he is a member of The Professional 
Piercers Association of the United Kingdom). You can phone for an appointment
on 081 653 9517 (clinic) or 0860 797 114 (24hr portable phone). He charges 
25pounds per piercing, including jewelry.

ITEM 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------

Pekka (ISTO@cc.Helsinki.FI) provides:

AN INTRODUCTION TO SAFE BODY PIERCING

When considering any type of piercing you must be convinced that you
really want it (or them) and you must be prepared to be patient during the
healing time and look after the new piercings by keeping them clean and
not misusing them in any way. In the case of nipple piercings, even the
slight pressure of articles worn in an inside jacket pocket can cause
irritation to delay the healing on the side where the pocket is. A navel
piercing can be delayed in its healing if waistbands or belts are
irritating it; even spending long periods sitting bent over will make the
healing time longer.

So, any piercing anywhere will heal better and quicker if it is treated
with care and consideration. A piercing is a small open wound and as such
it is subject to infection while it is healing. Your piercer should give
you information on the care of your new piercings, but certain general
rules apply:

Before touching your new piercings, always wash your hands thoroughly.
Don't fiddle with your new piercings unnecessarily, it will only slow down
the healing process. ln the early stages, when a certain amount of liquid
is seeping from the wound and forming a scab-like crust, be careful not to
accidentally push any of that crust into the piercing as it can scratch
and damage the new skin which is forming. The crust should be removed once
or twice a day, either by soaking in the bath or shower (a small amount of
antiseptic in the bath will do no harm) or by dissolving it away using a
solution made up of one measure of '20 volume'  hydrogen peroxide
(available from any chemist or pharmacy  and one measure of sterile
water. Apply this solution very gently using a cotton bud. As only a very
small amount is used, either mix a teaspoonful at a time or keep a larger
amount sealed in a plastic container. This hydrogen peroxide solution
should only be used for a week or two at the most, as overuse can damage
the the new skin as it is forming. A more gentle form of treatment,
which many people find just as effective, is to bathe the piercings in a
very dilute salt solution, using approximately one teaspoon of salt to a
litre of distilled or boiled water.  The selection of a piercer to do the
piercings you want can be a problem: Obviously you want a person who you
can entrust with your body and who is patient, sympathetic and observes
strict cleanliness. 'Word of mouth' is probably the most common way of
finding a good piercer, but just one successful piercing experienced by
the individual making that recommendation may have been a lucky fluke.
Contact with one of the piercing clubs will help to put you in touch with
a reliable piercer but you should still check that person s expertise for
yourself by asking the questions listed here. Correct answers will not
guarantee a successful piercing, but they should help in your assessment
of a potential piercer.

Q) Are you registered with the Local Health Authority? 
A) Yes.
[SM. Not likely in North America]

Q) What form of sterilisation do you use? 
A) An autoclave.

It is important to sterilise all instruments and jewellery which might
have been in contact with blood or other body fluids. 'Sterilising'
liquids, for example those used to clean babies' bottles, cannot kill
organisms such as those causing hepatitis or AlDS but heat can. This is
why dentists, beauty therapists, chiropodists and tattoo artists, for
example, use autoclaves to sterilise all their instruments.
[SM. Many piercers use a pressure cooker instead of an (expensive)
autoclave.  If you don't like this ask him/her to use a new (sterile)
needle.]

Q) What kind of piercing instrument do you use?
A) For most piercings, a special hollow piercing needle of the same gauge
as the jewellery being installed is the only suitable instrument.
Disposable ear piercing guns are very good for ear lobes and some people's
nostrils, but they are completely unsuitable for most other piercings.
This is because they install a very fine, short sleeper with a butterfly
clip to hold it in place. There are stories of nipples being pierced
successfully with these guns, but in most cases the sleeper is too tight
and therefore starts to work its way out by cutting through the flesh like
a cheese wire. This can result in a nipple being almost cut in two by the
action of the sleeper being pushed towards the surface, just as the body
rejects a splinter or other foreign body.
[SM.  The only other place one might use a gun is the tragus.  The really
bad thing about guns is that they pierce with a stud.  Studs are very bad
when it comes to healing a new piercing.  *Always* use a ring with a new
piercing]. 

Q) What form of anaesthetic do you use?
A) Some people feel that an anaesthetic is unnecessary and interferes with
the experience of being pierced. Others find it impossible to con-
template a piercing without the assurance that it will be painless.
Injectable anaesthetics ensure that the area to be pierced will be
completely numb, but it can seem absurd to use a needle to inject an
anaesthetic to prevent you feeling the needle doing the piercing. In
addition, in Britain at least  injectable anaesthetics can only be
applied by qualified medical practitioners.

*** END OF PART 2 OF 4 ***
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