Risks in Tongue Piercing
From LoveToKnow Tattoos
There are definite risks in tongue piercing, and some of them can be severe. You really owe it to yourself to learn about the possible complications before you submit to the needle.
Possible Risks in Tongue Piercing
Of all the possible ways to pierce the human body, a tongue piercing poses some of the greatest risks to your health.
Consider the environment for this piercing: the mouth is warm and wet, a virtual hot house for growing bacteria. As you may already know, bacteria are no piercing's friends, but they are only one of the health risks associated with tongue piercing.
Let's take an honest look at the list of possible complications, and then you can decide for yourself if you're willing to take the risk.
Infections
Let's face it, even the cleanest mouth still harbors harmful bacteria. They are naturally present in varying amounts, especially tucked in around the taste buds.
When you pierce the tongue, you offer these bacteria a new home to colonize, creating the risk for infection. This can be quite painful, but that's the least of your worries. If the infection enters your blood stream it can become systemic, meaning it can spread throughout your body.
If this happens you can get extremely sick, and may possibly die if the infection cannot be controlled.
Swelling
A certain amount of swelling should be expected with any tongue piercing; technically it is a wound, albeit one made by choice.
The problem becomes dangerous if the tongue swells excessively, because it actually extends into a portion of the throat. When swelling reaches the crisis point, it can actually close off the airway. Suffocation is imminent without immediate medical intervention.
Nerve Damage
Tongue piercing is a delicate procedure that requires great accuracy to avoid striking a nerve. If the piercing isn't placed in just the right place, you can wind up with permanent nerve damage. This could result in symptoms such as:
- numbness
- loss of taste
- impaired speech ability
- restricted movement
Choking/Inhalation Hazards
Choking on your jewelry is definitely a major risk. Since the healing time is so extended, sleeping with a bar bell in place is necessary to prevent the hole from closing over. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that the jewelry can become unscrewed and one or both pieces swallowed.
Once this happens there are two possible scenarios, and neither of them are pretty:
- Scenario one: The jewelry is aspirated into the lungs. If you're very lucky the piece can be extracted using a bronchoscope. If you're not so lucky, removal may require lung surgery.
- Scenario two: The jewelry makes its way into your digestive system. While the ball section poses only a small threat of lodging somewhere along the way, the end with the post has the potential to cause tears and become firmly lodged. Again, surgical removal will likely be required in a dangerous situation such as this.
Gum Damage
Depending on the exact placement of your jewelry, your barbell can rub against your gums. At the least, this can cause sore spots, but at the worst, it can cause real damage. Open gums expose the roots of your teeth to the possibility of infections that can eat away at the jaw bone and cause your teeth to fall out.
If the wear is caught in the early stages, you may be able to remove your barbell and allow the gums to heal, but of course this would also allow your piercing to close. If the damage is in the advanced stages, it will require dental surgery to repair the gums, and there's no guarantee you won't still lose your teeth.
Tooth Damage
Steel bars, balls, and teeth do not make an ideal combination. It's possible to wear the enamel away, leaving your teeth open to decay. You can also accidentally bite down on your jewelry, fracturing or actually breaking one or more teeth.
If You Must Pierce
Now that you have a clear understanding of the potential risks in tongue piercing, it's time to decide whether to go ahead with your desire to have it carried out, or elect to pierce a less risky body part.
If you decide you can't resist forging ahead, then here are a few things you can do to lower your risks, although you should understand that you can't eliminate them completely.
- Be sure your piercer is a true, licensed professional who works in a shop equipped with an autoclave and understands sterile procedures. In fact, make sure you understand sterile procedures before you even visit a shop so you know what you should be able to expect.
- Thoroughly brush your teeth, gums, and tongue before you have the procedure. Floss between your teeth, and gargle with an antiseptic mouth wash too.
- Be diligent about your after care routine. Carefully brush your teeth every time you eat, and gargle four to five time a day with salt water. This will help flush germs and food particles out of the wound, and the salt will help promote healing. Also avoid all oral contact with other people until you are completely healed.
- Watch for inflammation, severe swelling, sharp pains, and white spots around the wound. Any of these are signs of infection and need medical attention.
- Should you need medical attention, report to your personal physician or the nearest emergency room for treatment. Your piercer is just that: your piercer. He/She may have experience, but not a license to practice medicine. You need the expertise of a real doctor to prevent your situation from becoming life threatening.
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Comments
Kuku, wonderful tips as always! Thanks for the feedback!
-- Contributed by: Jodie Michalak- that should be ISN'T an infection *head desk*
If anyone would like anymore advice or help please feel free to pop along to my website where you can find a fully detailed tongue piercing aftercare guide that will hopefully steer you clear of these dangers! It can be found at titaniumsenthralled.co.nr and you are more than welcome to ask questions or generally bug me :D
-- Contributed by: Ku KuIts great to see such an honest article but as a body piercer i hope you don't mind if i offer some advice to improve your work:
Firstly: You seem to think the mouth is full of horrible dirty bacteria but if this were true we'd probably be dead. As a gateway to the inside of the body the mouth is actually one of the cleanest places in the body and the bacteria in the mouth helps to keep in that way - helping to break down anything coming into the body. The risk to the piercing is that the healing of the piercing may disrupt the balance of the bacteria in the mouth as it brings in its own bacteria or breeds its own from trapped food particles. Tongue piercings are one of the fastest ones to heal (4-6 weeks) because the mouth is the fastest healing area of the body and has the most 'good' bacteria.
The piercing in the tongue is not near any major nerves as it stops halfway down and tongue piercings are pierced at the front - the tongue is a muscle and the main concern is the veins in the tongue of which there are three. In 9/10 people the middle vein in the tongue stops just after the nerve but in 1/10 people it continues to the tip. In this case it is considered impossible to give a conventional tongue piercing (if there is room one may be attempted to the side but this is rare and only for big tongues!) as this is the vein that leads to the brain, piercing it will cause bleeding that can last upwards of 4 hours and as well as the risks of blood loss the sheer amount of blood also carries a risk of choking and suffocation.
It is VERY hard to swallow the whole piercing bar as they are very long, it is much more likely you will swallow one of the small balls which pose less of a threat. Ideally you should just check the balls is tight enough every few days.
It is not necessary to gargle or brush your teeth that often, in fact you will probably just irritate the piercing and make things very sore and difficult to heal. Rinsing with salt water after eating, drinking sugary /alcoholic drinks and smoking will be enough. You only really need to avoid alcohol, oral contact and smoking for 2 weeks as this is the trickiest time healing wise as the swelling is the biggest risk and will be set off by those things.
A white / yellow coating on the tongue is actually just an unbalance of the bacteria in the mouth and is caused by not rinsing like above or by smoking and is an infection.
The biggest common danger is the swelling which can be kept down with hot salt water rinses, Ibuprofen, Ice cubes (especially ones made out of frozen chamomile tea as they are very soothing) and cold foods. Many people find it hard to eat in the first 3 days so soups, ice cream and milkshakes /fibreshakes are recommended!
Finally tooth chipping and gum problems are much less when wearing bioflex bars or just plastic balls :D
Hope this adds another edge to this article!
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