I had wanted my tongue pierced for quite some time, but was always put off by all the horror stories surrounding oral piercings. Having done the research and finding out that they were mostly myth and oral piercings are in fact some of the safest in terms of infection risks that you can get, I decided to get it done. As this was the first 'major' piercing I had - before that I had only got 2 sets of lobes and my tragus, I was fairly nervous, but it was completely unnecessary.
At A Glance Author Estelwen Contact Estelwen@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Unsure Studio Needleworks, Oasis Location Birmingham Once there, they sprayed my tongue with the numbing solution, left it for 5 minutes, returned and sprayed it again, and after a further 5 mins - during which time I had tissue attached to my face to catch all the drool lol - clamped it and shoved the needle through. One of the questions people normally ask me about my piercings is the whole "didn't that hurt???", especially about my tongue. This was definately the most painfree piercing I had - it never hurt me at all. The only downside to it is the swelling...
It varies with most people but for me the swelling was really bad and lasted about a week. Twice I woke up to see it had bled a little during the night, but it was nothing major. I lived on Ben'n'Jerrys and soup, and even they took me ages to eat. I was talking like the guy from rat race, and was generally mocked by all my friends.. After the week had gone past, the swelling had gone down and it was completely fine aside from a slight lisp from the longer bar.
The only major problem that I ever had with this piercing was with scar tissue buildup on the underside, but as soon as I changed it to a shorter barbell it went away within a week. Most piercing studios will change it to a shorter one within a fortnight of getting it pierced, but mine (good at the piercing but rubbish with aftercare knowledge) refused to change it saying that the scar tissue meant 'it hadn't healed properly' and so needed longer before putting the other bar in. Thankfully I found another piercer who agreed with me and put the short bar in, which solved my problems completely.
Also, almost two months after getting it pierced, the guy I was seeing at the time had tonsilitis .. I don't know if it was related but within a few days I was getting really sharp shooting pains down my tongue and towards my throat. I went to the doctors to make sure it was ok, and there was no sign of infection, and it went within a week so who knows..
The aftercare is simple too - I did sss (sea salt soaks) after every time I ate for the first few weeks, and then switched to using a alcohol-free mouth wash (I use Colgate Sensitive one) morning and evening, and a salt soak once a day. Now I just use the mouthwash when I get up and before I go to bed, and clean the bar with a toothbrush in the morning to get rid of all the plaque build up.
Its totally worth it for anybody who is considering it - the pain is non-existant, the discomfort minimal, and the chance of infection is very low as your mouth has enzymes in that will destroy any pathogens in the mouth. Even my tongue piercing - and my body generally hates piercings to the extent where I have to completely change my diet, sleeping habits etc dramatically for the first month of any new piercing - healed quickly. Its not very noticeable, and hasn't stopped me getting jobs etc, my mum hates it but she hates all my piercings to be fair ahah, the only people who seem to notice it are the kids that I babysit for, which isn't really a good thing :/ Definately one of my favourite piercings, to the extent I couldn't imagine living without it now, and my only regret is that I didn't do it offcentre so I could get venoms =D
The only advice that I can offer is to get it done at a decent piercers - there is a major vein running through your tongue and if you hit that you'll have to leg it to hospital as quick as poss - and, as with all piercings, take good care of it by doing several salt soaks a day, even after the swellings gone down and you feel its healed. As I said before, it will heal in a couple of months if you look after it well, and shouldn't give any trouble at all. The only problem with it is you cant stop playing with it :/