Former member started this discussion ·
I'm just curious, does anyone have a tongue piercing??? and if so, could you tell me if it's worth it or not? i want to do smoething badass but something i could hide at work too, im just not sure if my speech will be all messed up or not.....
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Sparklie ·
I personally don't have one, but a few of my friends do. Their tongue swelled up a little bit and had a little bit of a hard time with speaking clearly for a week or so....
hey, I had mine done about 5 years ago (still have it in). Yes, my tongue did swell 🙁 i couldn't talk properly or eat very much for about a week. However, I do know of people that said they had it done without people noticing. Think it all depends how your body reacts to injury! hehe. I also reckon it hurts less than having my ears done! Maybe just pull a sickie from work for a week after you have it done. 🙂
i had a tongue ring for 10yrs before i finally took it out. I can give you an educated but slightly biased opinion 😉 Yes it hurt... yes it was swollen, yes I talked funny for a bit... but that all goes away fairly quickly. Yes I was warned about the danger of damaging my teeth, no... I didn't believe anyone and thought it was all just a scare tactic to make me conform to boring-ness. 8 years after having no problems at all I went to dental school... you can imagine the hassle I got from my tutors... "you can't be a dentist and expect your patients to take you seriously with that thing in your mouth!!" blah blah blah. And everyone seemed shocked I didn't have any teeth problems. I really just never played with it and was very lucky when i accidentally chomped down on it... which wasn't often (but it will happen). Zero damage and I still thought everytime someone told me about how bad it was for your teeth they were just trying to scare me to take it out. Damage didn't really happen... I had mine for so long so what was the big deal?! Or so I thought... After two years of standing firm and not taking it out, a good friend of mine in the program cracked one of her teeth on hers and needed a very expensive crown or she'd have to get her tooth pulled. She was eating a sticky chewy caramel kiss... nothing even hard! But she chomped down too hard and that was that. That's when I decided to take mine out... I didn't want my luck to run out!! I then had some chats with a lot of people and started to hear the horror stories about the extreme damage they caused to their teeth with their tongue rings. In fact on another pole forum one of the girls shared her and her husband's total cost of dental work associated with the damage they had done to their teeth... it was unreal. 10's of thousands of dollars... and here I'd never done any damage. So... to get to the point, if you are even remotely concerned about damaging your teeth, don't get one. It can cause receding gums (this I have seen a bit on my own lower front teeth), it can cause cracked teeth, and it can on rare occasions cause major infections (mouths are NASTY!!! and this is coming from a Dentist!!) However, if you are still interested, be sure to research your piercer first, make sure it's a good clean place (like you wouldn't do this anyway 😉 ) Make sure to drink lots of cool stuff to keep the swelling down, take your ibuprofen and other anti inflammatory pain killers and as soon as you can switch it to a plastic ball set. If you can get a plastic bar, even better. The damage to your teeth can be minimized that way, but remember people crack their teeth on random stuff like peppercorns and ice, so just b/c it's plastic doesn't make it totally safe. Oh, and I used a metal bar and balls for nearly the whole time I had mine in:oops: ... so you can get lucky and not have problems with the metal, but everyone is different. I loved it while I had it, it was pierced far enough back that it wasn't too obvious, and at times I miss it, but 10yrs with no damage was a good run and it doesn't really suite me anymore. Make sure it's not pierced too far forward where it can do more damage to your front teeth (this is based on your anatomy) and just don't over play with it.... that's where a lot of damage is done, plus it's annoying to see someone always playing with their tongue ring. Hope that helped!
I have 3 tongue piercings,i dont think its too bad,it will swell and u can only eat foods with no bits in for the first couple of days,just look after it and it will b fine.x
Trena ·
Hey Sascha!!! I got my tongue pierced almost 8 years ago and I would recommend it to anyone BUT you need to follow these rules!! 1. I agree with Notradaya, if you're gonna get it done, dont get it pierced too far forward because it will damage your teeth. My piercer told me that he thought I had really nice teeth and he told me that he was gonna pierce it far back to avoid damage. 2. Wear plastic bar & balls! Metal is BAAAAAD!!! Metal will strip the enamel off your teeth! And biting down on metal can be FAR worse than plastic! 3. ALSO another extremely important tip is to make sure that the bar is not too long. Initially when you get pierced they put in a long bar but thats to accomodate the swelling but once the swelling has gone down, swap it for a short bar! 4. Make sure the balls on each end of the bar are small! I have no damage from mine but I think that's because its back far enough on my tongue, I dont play with mine a lot, the bar is short, I use plastic & not metal and I use small balls on each end. You will have swelling and your speech will be altered for a few days. I got mine done on a Thursday and I was totally back to normal by Monday! My piercer told me something very taboo though!!! On the Aftercare sheet it said that you're not to consume alcohol for a week but the piercer told me that drinking alcohol such as vodka, whiskey, spirits will actually help becasue: 1. the alcohol acts are a steriliser and 2. the coldness of the drink brings down the swelling! Now maybe someone else can come up with a valid reason why you shouldnt drink alcohol but it certainly helped mine to heal! PLUS: my piercer gave me very strong mouth wash which I had to use for over a week. Whatever you decide to do make sure, like Notradaya said, that you research your piercer! Oh and P.S. from one dirty girl to another: boys love girls with pierced tongues... (even just the idea of it, you know...)
Former member ·
ahhhhhhhhh!!!! i love you all so much for posting what you did- i really really appreciate it you guys 🙂 i want one so bad but i worry about food and eating and stuff like that- like keeping the hole clean and all....does food get stuck in it??? also, im nervous it wont look good on me, i have this massively large tongue, it's a miracle i don't choke on this thing, it's long and wide and just completely unfeminine and gross looking...if the tongue ring is positioned too far back, im worried it'll look stupid on me....
Hey Girlie, I was a body piercer for several years and have had my tongue pierced for 15 years. Everyone so far has given pretty good advice. Here's my two sense..... As far as the piercing itself goes... First and foremost if you are seriously interested in getting one, make sure the shop is reputable and clean, ask to see the piercer's portfolio, ask to see their autoclave and while the piercer is setting up be sure to look at the instruments packaging. The instruments and needle should be in long white packaging. On the back side of the packaging you should see brown arrows. The arrows on the packaging are typically blue or pink before sterilization, after they have been sterilized the arrows turn brown. Also look around for biohazard containers, they are usually red, this is where the used needles are disposed of. If you see these things at the shop you can be pretty sure that the shop takes the necessary precautions to keep you safe from communicable disease. Cross contamination is also a big factor so it might be a good idea to ask what their setup and break down procedures are. Any good piercer or tattooist will be happy to share that info. with you. This is your body and your safety comes first. The next thing I will tell you is of utter importance is the aftercare. You are 100% responsible for the healing of your piercing and to rid yourself of any chance of infection and reduce the swelling and increase healing time you should do as follows. Note: These instructions are for tongue and completely internal oral piercings only! Other piercings such as labret, monroe, madison, lip etc- these instructions can be used for the inside of your mouth. Piercings that involve the outside of your face have additional instructions. For the first 3 days or so, only eat soft foods. Your barbell initially should be surgical stainless steel. Gold is a possibility but initially, I recommend stainless steel. Gold is a very porous metal and can harbor more bacteria. It is still safe, however, I am a purist and this is my preference. I saw that someone urged you to get a plastic barbell, DO NOT get pierced with a plastic barbell!!!!!! Once your piercing has healed, by all means go for a plastic barbell if you wish. Plastic is very easy to scratch and the balls are easily broken, stripped or cracked. Because of this, you increase your risk of infection and possibly losing your piercing as soon as you get it. If you leave your piercing out for more than a few minutes, it is quite possible that you will not be able to get it back in. Keep a bottle of listerine or if you choose a non alcohol mouthwash such as Biotene on you at all times. Anytime you put anything in or around your mouth, even water, rinse with mouthwash. If you touch your mouth, rinse with mouthwash. Be sure to tighten the balls daily. When you do so be sure to wash your hands and then rinse with mouthwash. If you think you are overdoing the mouthwash, its still probably not enough. Keep you using the mouthwash. You should also rinse one to two times daily with non-iodized sea salt. This is very soothing and increases your healing time. I typically recommend once in the morning and once before bed. For the first few days, it is a good idea to use Ibubrofren to help with swelling but do not use aspirin. Aspirin is an anticoagulant will thin the blood therefore causes more bleeding. Do not drink or use aspirin within 24 hours of getting pierced or tattooed. It is safe to do so, but again, will reduce the amount of bleeding alcohol also thins the blood. Also do not use straws while drinking fluids during the first days. Straws can increase your chance of removing necessary blood clots and can cause bleeding. Sucking on anything too hard can also cause aggitation. You can eat cold foods such as ice cream or popsicles but do so gently. The cold will soothe and feel really good. Avoid, spicy foods at all cost!!!! It is safe to brush your teeth but be careful. Try to schedule your piercing over a 3 day period when you don't have to do a lot of talking. Talking, playing or moving your tongue a lot will increase your swelling. So try to keep your mouth as inactive as possible. I will also say this, until your tongue has fully healed. Abstain from kissing and oral sex. People mouths are disgusting and harbor more bacteria than you want to know about. Including your own. You do not need the introduction of more bacteria than you already have. As far as the oral sex goes, bacteria again is a factor, but the action your mouth takes could possibly tear, aggravate, and irritate your piercing and cause issues. Its better to hold off. The tongue is a high blood flow area so it is one of the quickest healing piercings to get. Usually you are good to go after 2 weeks. I have seen as long as a month. Either way listen to your body. You will know what you are ready for. Especially when it comes to eating. As I said before, your piercing will take anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month to fully heal. During this time, do not play with it, it will increase swelling and can cause tearing. When you first get your piercing, the barbell will be about an inch and a half in length. It needs to be this long to allow for your tongue to swell. This is normal. And yes, your tongue will swell that much. It will swell from ball to ball. It is extremely uncomfortable. However, not unbearable. Once your piercing has healed you can switch to a shorter barbell and if you so desire, you can switch to a different material. Ok, now onto the aftermath, damage to teeth and so forth. I worked in a dental clinic and after having an extremely large barbell in my mouth for 15 years I can honestly say the damage is minimal. Especially with a standard 14 gauge barbell. I asked a ton of questions addressed to many Dentists who looked at my mouth and I was very fortunate. I did experience some receeding of my gums but nothing astronomical. My teeth are in tact and have had no harm come to the inside of my mouth, so the dentists tell me. And this is coming from someone who had a 2 guage bar and balls the size of m&m's in my mouth for 15 years. I stretched mine and loved it. Most people stay with a 14 or go to a 12 for comfort. In the time that I had my piercing I think I only cracked down on it while eating less than a handful of times. No big deal. However, it is totally possible for you to have a different experience. People have had issues, such as cracked teeth, receeding gums, infection and so forth. But in my experience, if a person's tooth cracked, it was going to crack anyway....eventually. In most cases, I have seen chips to the teeth and minimal wearing down of the enamel. I am sure there are worse cases than what I have outlined here but I am speaking strictly to my personal experience. Please note....RESULTS MAY VARY!!!!!! If you need any other questions or concerns addressed about after care or anything about the procedure give me a call sweetie, I will be happy to help. Hope this was helpful to anyone considering this procedure. Keep your piercings clean ladies and gents, your body will thank you!!!!
ahhhhhhhhh!!!! i love you all so much for posting what you did- i really really appreciate it you guys 🙂 i want one so bad but i worry about food and eating and stuff like that- like keeping the hole clean and all....does food get stuck in it??? also, im nervous it wont look good on me, i have this massively large tongue, it's a miracle i don't choke on this thing, it's long and wide and just completely unfeminine and gross looking...if the tongue ring is positioned too far back, im worried it'll look stupid on me.... I don't think your tongue size has anything to do with it. This piercing isn't necessarily one where looks are a factor. A labret or nose peircing on the other hand, is a different story. Its in your mouth so no worries there. What you may run into is the possibility that you can not have your tongue pierced all together. There is a small piece of connective tissue that connects the tongue to the bottom of your mouth called a frenulum. If this tissue is too short and you can not stick your tongue all the way out of your mouth a good ways outside of your lips, a tongue piercing may not be an option for you. I have seen cases like this but they are few and far between. I am sure you will be fine. I say go for it!
just thought i'd add about the teeth issue... because my tongue stud has knackered my teeth. but this is actually more due to the fact that i drink wwwaaayyyy too much coke and suffer from acid erosion. so if you already have weak teeth, it's probably not a good idea. my teeth is one of the things i dislike most about myself, and i do think my tongue stud didnt help this. but... yet.. i still keep it in. I know i am crazy. They are not majorly bad, (never had a filling! yey) just a few chipped teeth, but as said before... i reckon this would have happened anyway. 🙂
i had one in college...i'd advise against it. it wasnt the pain or anything (which wasnt too bad...swollen tongue and yogurt for a few days basically), it was the wear and tear on the teeth i was more concerned about. the occasional biting down on a metal ball is definitely not good for your teeth. even absent mindedly running your tongue over your teeth can do real damage over time. also, i used to swallow the balls a lot since apparently the threads wear out quickly in your mouth. id advise against it. i dont think it's the most aesthetically pleaseing either, other piercings are definitely sexier. i;ve worked in corporate settings and now in professional healthcare and have found that in both fields they are completely unforgiving when it comes to tongue rings. give it some thought! good luck if you do end up getting one!! (stock up on ice cream!) 🐱
I have had mine done for 6 years and I would do again if I ever lost it for some reason. I do not mind needle pain so it wont hurt you it just did not hurt me. Tongue swelled huge and I could not eat or talk normal for a while the first time I had it done, people will notice if its pierced close to the front but if you get it far back enough and learn to talk with it no one will readily notice it 🙂 It is now a part of me and I love it
Former member ·
ahhhhhhhhhhh! you guys are amazing 🙂 thank you so much for sending me all of those comments 🙂 i appreciate it so so much!!! well..........i did it!!!!!!!!!! and of course i had to text some of you guys a picture of it right away lol, and thank you so much punkrocgirl for all of your advice and kind texts 🙂 my friend and i went out for ice cream a few hours after and we felt like we were relearning how to eat!!! my mom had a heart attack when she saw it though, she was like, "what about your career!?!?!?!" but its far back enough where you can't see it really unless you looked for it. im just a little nervous about keeping it clean and stuff, i bought plain anticeptic oral rinse from the grocery store and have been using that- but can i still use regular whitening mouthwash too? should i brush around my tongue for now? oh, the piercer asked for my numbe,r how funny is that!
yes you should brush your teeth and you should also brush your tongue but gently while it heals. Once it is fully healed you shouldn't have any issues brushing your tongue and won't feel any discomfort. Whitening toothpaste or mouthwash should not affect your healing time. Just use mouthwash to the point of exhaustion. Any time you touch your mouth or put anything in you mouth. RINSE! RINSE! RINSE! I am glad my info helped. You should start seeing a reduction in swelling today or tomorrow. And yeah, too funny, it is just like learning to eat again. HAHA!
RoxyPink ·
tongue and/or labret piercings are HORRIBLE if you have ANY kind of oral fixation!! I had both at the same time (still wear my labret occasionally) and I was constantly messing with both of them to the point that they were constantly sore....
Trena ·
WUHOO!!!! You did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 I agree with Punkrocgirlie!! RINSE RINSE RINSE!!!! You literally cannot rinse too much!!! I think the reason I healed so quickly is cause I was totally obsessive about keeping my mouth clean! Every time I ate anything I rinsed!! Every time I drank anything I rinsed! Everytime my hand was anywhere near my mouth I rinsed! I had a bottle of mouth wash in my bag everywhere I went!!! I dont know if you should brush your tongue around the piercing for a while!! I think that would hurt!
Former member ·
thanks elisse and trena!!!!!!! i have a bottle of mouthwash in my car, one in the bathroom and one on the kitchen sink!! LOL!!! i've been taking a lot of anti-inflammatories and been rinsing like crazy 🙂 thank you guys so much 🙂 hey, i have one more question though- since the barbell is so long, the top ball has been resting in my mouth at like an angle and my tongue has an imprint of the ball in it- will that go away once i switch to a smaller barbell in a month??? just curious roxy pink- im sorry yours gave you trouble hunnie!!!
vodka ·
i have had mine pierced for four years now...and i love it! it really did not hurt, mine swelled one time--overnite, the day i got it done. best advice? get a cup of ice and keep it with you everywhere you go. suck on the ice, and it keeps the swelling down. clearly overnite that is not an option, so it will swell then, but when you get up the next morning, repeat the process. the tongue is one of the fastest healing parts of the body..so it should not be too big of a deal! BUT>>>avoid really cheesy pizza on the first day of piercing. learned this the hard way, as the cheese wrapped around the bar and proceeded to choke me...lol best of luck! i believe it is totally worth it... 😀
SexyKook ·
You encouraged me to go get mine. Thanks everyone for the advice. I went last night to get it done. I have been wanting it for 3 years now and always chickened out. Yesterday was the day for mme to do it and I did it. I'm proud of myself. The only down fall is eating. I cant seem to get full. 🙄 I am so hungry. Any suggestions?
Former member ·
woohoo!!! sexy im so excited for you!! hows yours healing??? mine isn't swollen anymore but here and there it still hurts. the bar is SO BIG now in my mouth, i cant wait to switch it to the smaller one. i hope you're not still hungry!!! hopefully by now you're able to eat normally. i wonder if we can switch our bars to the smaller one after 2 weeks instead of a month...
Veena ·
Try a healthy smoothy.You encouraged me to go get mine. Thanks everyone for the advice. I went last night to get it done. I have been wanting it for 3 years now and always chickened out. Yesterday was the day for mme to do it and I did it. I'm proud of myself. The only down fall is eating. I cant seem to get full. 🙄 I am so hungry. Any suggestions?
SexyKook ·
Mine is healing great. I also have swelling here and there. It didnt eat any ice or take any ibprophen. It itches though. Tomorrow will make one week. I can eat!!! 🥂 I dont know about the shorter bar yet. I would say still wait a month or wait until u go a week without any swelling. You never know. Have happy poling! 👍
Audball ·
Hiya, I have a tongue piercing and have had for 4 years now. If you do get one, make sure you get an acrylic ball as it will not break my teeth (i broke mine on the titanium one... was lucky it turned out to be a small job!) But get the acrylic ball with a metal bar as it wont irritate the inside of the wound. I'm studying medicine, and although we are not supposed to wear tongue studs on rotations in the hospitals, I do anyway, as it's not visible, unless im throwing my head back in laughter (which doesn't happen much in the hospital lol!) Oh and for the 2 weeks after, don't go for babyfood, its gross! Smoothies, mash and beans... or just throw small bits of food down and swallow them like a bird hehe! Also, you should go for a shorter bar as soon as it will fit. When i got mine done I had to go back to the piercing place to get the bar shortened every couple of weeks until my tongue was back to normal. Regarding food, i'd avoid chewy sweets until you're totally used to it, as I broke my tooth chewing on a starburst, and this was a while after I got it. Also I find noodles get a it tangly lol! but they're totally worth it 😛
Missy826 ·
I've had one for 15years, took it out and reopened it recently. It did swell a bit at first but I didn't talk funny. Rinse your mouth out with salt water and it heals faster. definately swap out the long bar for a smaller one as soon as you can and I agree, with the other post, def get plastic. My nose hurt way worse to get pierced. As long as you take care of it you'll be okay.
Hey,everybody! It was really fun reading your tongue piercing stories,brought back memories..lol! I have 2, a 5yo one and a 2 yo one. I'm very happy with them, I love the way they feel and I hope I won't have to take them off ever.. 😀. I have used titanium studs and balls from the start, because they are less likely to cause infections and they feel the most comfortable. I have tried using acrylic balls too but seems like the acids in saliva damages the surface somehow,causing it to become rougher and irritate my mouth palette. Funny though, I wonder why nobody else has complained about this? 🙂 The first stud I had was the longer and thinner kind( forgot the size), so I learnt quite few tricks..haha, twirling and twisting it in every direction, but I had to change it to a shorter one when I too accidentally had a bite of it..ouch! It didn't break any tooth,whew!, but it was enough to scare me..🙂). Getting the second tongue piercing was a bit more painful than the first one, because it is farther back and very close to my string (neither of my piercings perforated my tongue string), so the ball kept rubbing on it,irritating the area even more. My husband suggested some ice-cream to reduce the swelling, but being in the middle of winter and living in Romania at the time,where winters are pretty cold, that wasn't such a great idea! It gave me tonsils infection so I had to deal with that too now..lol. That's when I decided to try some baby food too..haha. Omg, that stuff is disguising! No wonder babies hate their food!:P So I was back on bananas,pate, soups and yogurts( I heard, milk products aren't recommended but i was too hungry..😀). Anyway, it healed normally though, after a week I was fine. I've only talked funny that first week, then everything is back to normal. My only worry about having a second tongue piercing was a rumor I heard saying that with time, the second hole will get closer to the first , joining and creating a bigger hole.Scary thought, huh? Well,it's not true,after few years my piercings are still were I placed them..lol and of course, I researched and asked other people as well before trying it myself..😛 So good luck with your tongue piercing, everybody! They can be really fun if you take care of them!:) 🫡
I have had mine pierced for 7 years and I still have a bit of a speech problem. if I take my barbell out I can say the words no problem but with it in I try to avoid certain words lol
