Tongue piercing. Did your tongue swell up much?

Question

Just wanted to hear some experiances. The pros the cons. What to be careful about.

Answer 1

Why do that to your tongue? It makes no sense to me.

Answer 2

Why is your name George Bush... that makes no sense to me... why would degrade yourself like that?

Anyway my husband's tongue swelled up really big. He had to eat soup for about a week. He also had a lisp at first, but it went away. You need to make sure you go to a professional piercer. My brother went with a friend of his and the guy missed and hit the big vein thats under the tongue. She had to be rushed to the hospital. Don't let that scare you though... I've had over 30 piercings and nothing has ever went wrong with mine. :)

Answer 3

My tongue swelled up quite a bit, however, it was tolerable, and only lasted three days, since I took care of it, and followed my piercer's instructions on cleaning it. The pain on the first day was really unpleasant, but keeping a glass of ice water with me at all times ensured that it never got too bad. My first day was a near fast, as I ate only ice cream and drank ice water and caffiene-free ice tea-like drink (didn't have a whole lot of cold things to eat handy). My second day wasn't nearly as bad (although I quickly learned why they said to avoid spicy food, as I ate pizza that day and paid for it. Immediately after, I ate a bowl of ice cream, had an Advil, and was fine again). My third day I was alright, and could eat normally again (however, I still chose to eat ice cream and buttered bread for the most part, as I found out that once the swelling went down, I repeatly bit my tongue and barbell, and so kept to a "don't need to really chew it" diet until I had my barbell resized a week later).

The only real care you need to consider for a tongue piercing is to wash your mouth out (at least once a day, but no more than twice a day) with a quarter teaspoon of kosher or sea salt dissolved in a glass of water, or a small amount of non-alcohol based antibacterial/antimicrobial mouthwash diluted in a glass of water, and when brushing your teeth, brush your barbell as well.

Avoid spicy and acidic foods those first three days, as they will hurt something terrible (imho, worse than the actual piercing), avoid talking (that first day, your tongue will be too tired to talk, and talking those first few days risks aggrivating the piercing), and avoid chewing (biting your tongue and/or barbell is not fun at all, and is more likely to happen as the swelling decreases as your starter barbell no longer fits well on your tongue). Avoid caffiene, tobacco, and alcohol, as they slow down the healing process, could aggrivate the piercing, or possibly aid in infection.

You'll also be talking with a lisp and/or a slur until the swelling goes down and you get your shorter bar. However, once you get your second, better fitting, barbell, all the problems of that first week will be gone, and it will be well worth it in the end. And if you're into cooking, like I am, it's easier to lick the spatula, as the piercing fits perfectly into the slots. ^_~

Answer 4

Ya it will, plus mine did bleed a bit...I ate mashed potatoes for a few days...but that was 5 years back..sometimes I would get stringy pasta wrapped around my piercing and ever so often I would catch my fork on it.

lol...