Tongue Pierced

[Curious79]

Hello Everyone.  I am getting my tongue pierced and am not overly bothered about the initial pain (well maybe a little!) from the needle.  However, I am a little worried about how sore my tongue will be after and not being able to eat!  I am having it done next Satruday morning and am returning to work on Tuesday.  Do you think my tongue will still be swollen.  I also work in a bar part time and have to work on the Saturday night.  Will I be able to talk ok, will it be obvious that I have a swollen tongue??  Many thanks and please can I have serious answer as I know a lot of you hate the thought of piercings, but it is my personal choice!!

[ursula62]

I am a first aider at work. One girl collapsed because she had had her tongue pierced at the weekend. Her tongue swelled up and blocked her airway. She ended up in hospital on a ventilator and had to lose the piercing. It turned out she was allergic to the metal used.

 

The result of this was that all body piercings (apart from ears) were banned in the workplace (though how they checked for n1pple rings or Prince Alberts I don't know!).

I doubt this is common, but it is probably a worst case scenario for you to ponder.

Just out of interest, why did you want your tongue pierced?

[Curious79]

I can't explain why I want to do it, I just want to do it and have for awhile now.  I am finally going to get it done after giving it literally years of thought.  After all, it isn't permanent,  If I don't like it, I can always take it out...  I have also got my belly button, eyebrow and nose ring pierced.  I love all of my piercings even though I don't always wear them.

[georgit79]

Do they know you've taken a day off work due to a tongue piercing?! I think that's really funny. Unless you work in a call centre, in which case I'll let you off.

[Curious79]

Yes I did tell my boss that I am taking the day off of work for my tongue.  He didn't seem overly bothered.  I am aslo planning to do some xmas shopping too (on the internet though I won't be venturing out to any shops!).  I don't work in a call centre but I do work in sales and have to answer the phone quite a bit. A friend of a friend apparently had a lisp for two weeks after getting her tongue pierced. 

[Octavius]

My gf has a very ugly scar now that she has stopped wearing hers. 

[hectic]

I had mine pierced once and it wasn't very pretty as i had an allergic reaction to the metal used, so I would suggest you make sure you are not allergic to it first as my tongue swelled up so much I couldn't even swallow my own saliva and had to sit there with a tissue dribbling! I then ended up having to go to the hospital to get it removed which wasn't very pleasant so think long and hard about this before you do it!

[stoo_pid]

I had mine done on a Saturday morning & the piercing itself didn't hurt at all.  By the middle of the afternoon though, my tongue had swelled up quite a lot (as expected).  It ached more than hurt but I didn't feel like I could eat anything other than ice-cream (which I did in copious amounts for the whole weekend!).

I did find it pretty difficult to talk properly though; it was uncomfortable for 2 or 3 days and certainly on the Saturday people found it very hard to understand what I was saying.

I don't know if my experience is common but I would imagine so - the bar they give you to start off with is about twice the length of a standard tongue-stud as they know your tongue will swell up for a few days (it gets changed for a smaller one after about a month).

[stoo_pid]

sorry Vittel, I should make it clear that the swelling doesn't last for a month! (Just 2 or 3 days in my case)

[FP]

A girl at work had her tongue pierced and had a fortnight off work.  She was OK intially, but then her tongue swelled up and she was really ill. She was on antibiotics for infection.

[CiderMonkey]

I had my tongue pierced and it did swell up a bit after, but i could still talk. I had a tiny bit of a lisp but it didn't make me sound stupid or anything.You probably won't want to talk more than you have to though because it does tend to ache a bit  when you use it for the next few days. I found that it was quite hard to eat for the first week or so. You will have to eat really slowly and take care. The first days after i was drinking milkshake and eating very soft foods! Skips crisps were excellent!

[nicola_red]

I had mine pierced on a Thursday and went back to work on the Monday.  It was still a little swollen when I went back and although I could make myself understood perfectly well, I was lisping, and as CiderMonkey says talking a lot did make it ache.  That lasted about a week.  It was also very sore for the first five days and eating was a nightmare - soup, custard, mashed potato and ice cream were all I could eat and even those were an effort sometimes.  After that the only problem is that the bar is too long and catches on your teeth sometimes!  But everyone is different, so your experience won't necessarily be the same as ours Vittel!

[Curious79]

Thanks so much CiderMonkey and nicola_red.  I was beginning to think that everyone having their tongue pierced had a bad reaction to it! 

[nicola_red]

No probs.  Before I got mine done I heard loads of horror stories like those above, and there's no doubt it does carry risks, but a good piercer will check for allergies, hereditary illnesses etc before they pierce you.  They also give info sheets which tell you everything you need to know about aftercare and what to do if you have any problems etc.  If you've already got piercings you'll no doubt have one place you go to and trust - they'll look after you if needs be!  I must add that I was REALLY nervous about the pain beforehand, but the 5 days of soreness and hunger were well worth the end result as I love the piercing now and show it off at every opportunity!

[booksworth]

Other aspects, from a member of my family. 1) When one end of the barbell came unscrewed and was lost, we had a manic drive to the shop for a replacement. It's not a good idea to go to bed unless both ends are secure, and if you leave the bar out overnight the hole will close up. -.--. 2) Sometime later, the lass, who worked at a supermarket checkout, was told by the mangement to do away with it, or be taken off the checkout.

[BUNNY]

A friend of mine is a dentist and says she has come across people who have damaged their teeth with the stud.Also,I think complications can arise not only because of food and drink passing over the wound,but also because it involves piercing through a muscle rather than a skin fold.Just be really careful with your hygiene.

[Laura-sakura]

I had my tongue pierced about 3 years ago.  It wasnt painful and i was eating and talking normally after a few days.  I took it out last year because it looked stupid . 1. It does damage the enamel on your teeth 2.  It dosent heal up overnight 3. It leaves a weird lumpy scar that dosent heal up. 4 People who are saying that you die from it are being totally over the top. 5 i swallowed about 3 barbells - cheap ones that came loose.  Didnt do me any harm though.  Have fun.

[stoo_pid]

Just to say that you won't necessairly get a scar.  I took mine out after about 4 years & even I can't see or feel where it was pierced.  (I only took it out because my wife wasn't keen - yeah, weird I know! - I still miss it!)

Also with regard to food causing problems with the wound healing.  As long as you rinse throughly with a good mouthwash such as Listerine, at least 3 times a day and every single time you eat or drink anything (also if you smoke) while it's healing you should have no problems.

[zgma]

This is not to say don't do it, but I've always been wary, because my dad is an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and he's seen patients who have half of their face paralysed because the tongue piercing was done just slightly off center.

[Greedyfly]

Just make sure that your piercer is anally clean and the studio should be spotless.  He/she wears gloves and changes them and that they are sympathetic and seem professional. I have had a few piercings and when I was younger I was a little to trusting I suppose. I ended up having to have blood tests for all kinds of horrible illness' (luckily I was ok).   I now have a regular piercer and she must change her gloves about 3/4 times and she is lovely.   It may cost a little more but you will be safer.   Have fun and don't worry, it doesn't hurt.