my friend jus got her tongue pierced. it swelled up. she keeps puttin ice on it and washes out w/ listerine, but its been swolen for 3 days now and it hurts. question: if u had experience w/ this, what might help and stop the swelling.
is it serious enough 2 call a doctor? or should she just wait
2006-07-22 07:39:14 · 6 answers · asked by krazbutuluvit 1 in Health ➔ Other - Health
First off, Listerine is probably what's keeping her tongue swelled. Listerine is too potent for a tongue piercing. A small amount of antimicrobial/antibacterial mouthwash diluted in a glass of water is better, as well as a quarter teaspoon sea salt/kosher salt (non-iodide salt) diluted in a glass of water should be used as a mouth rinse as well. Taking an anti-inflammitory medication (ibuprofen/Advil) according to the directions on the bottle will help reduce the swelling.
Second, 3 days is the average length of swelling time. Tell her to keep putting ice chips on it, drinking ice water, and eating ice cream/popsicles. Avoid spicy foods and hard to chew foods (chewing wiggles the piercing and aggrivates the hole... and there's the nasty side effect of biting down on the piercing when the swelling starts to subside). I had my tongue pierced two months ago, and my swelling lasted 3 days. When I returned to the piercing shop a week later to buy a better fitting barbell (once the swelling subsided, my barbell flopped around in my mouth), I had my piercer insert the new one, which caused the hole to be aggrivated again, and spent the next day and a half with a slightly swollen tongue again.
What she's going through is normal. I'd start being mildly concerned after 5 days and there's no sign of the swelling reducing. After a week, then I'd be concerned to return to the piercer and/or see a doctor.
2006-07-26 00:11:27 · answer #1 · answered by seraphim_pwns_u 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems like it should have started going down by now. I'm not sure, but I would call a doctor or a good peircing studio and ask. If it wasn't the best (cleanest) place or she hasn't cleaned the peircing enough or has cleaned it too much, this could cause an infection. I would call and ask what their opinion is. But call a nice clean place and ask them how long it should stay sore and swollen.
2006-07-22 14:48:34 · answer #2 · answered by trinitarianwiccan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine was swollen for a week. Tell her to take some advil and keep it clean. Use the ice too.
2006-07-22 16:18:40 · answer #3 · answered by emmadropit 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take it out and wait a few hours!!if swelling doesnt go down, go to doc!! it should go down within 3-4 hours! just be happy she didnt get it forked and pierced on both sides, like a friend of mine! allthough he is perfectly fine and still as his tongue that way!
2006-07-22 14:47:35 · answer #4 · answered by Christina G ♥ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the mouth has billions of germs you really should forget the tongue piercing it ain't natural and your mouth could get infected and it ain't worth it..
2006-07-22 14:43:33 · answer #5 · answered by Linnie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first thing is to take it out
2006-07-22 14:42:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋