Tongue Piercing Pain

Worried that you won’t be able to handle the tongue piercing pain? Find out complete information about what goes on while getting your tongue pierced before you freak out too much.

As we have seen the new surge of body piercings and tattoos among teenagers and the 20-somethings, it isn’t a wonder that you might be interested in getting something pierced or a part of you inked. However, many get intimidated or fear the actual procedure of getting themselves pierced as the pain level can sometimes be scary. One of the sensitive parts of our body for piercing, is the tongue. Ironically, during the actual process, tongue piercing pain level is not that high. It’s relatively minimal, but can definitely become a major factor behind the decision of getting a piercing in the first place.

The healing process after the tongue piercing is around 6 – 8 weeks, and the initial weeks can be the ones that may bring the most amount of pain. Hence, after couple of weeks have gone by, the pain reduces, leaving behind a mild discomfort only. Although, in order to understand the actual tongue piercing pain scale, we need to go over what happens before, during, and after the piercing. This will give you a proper understanding of what you’re getting yourselves into, are there are tongue piercing risks, and then perhaps make a more guided, rational decision.

Before the Tongue Piercing Now, here I’m assuming you’re a rookie because if you weren’t, you wouldn’t be searching for answers about “is tongue piercing painful”. Personally, I feel that getting your body pierced is altogether an invigorating experience. One person’s pain through the piercing is like another person’s pleasure. Also, with each new body piercing

, the pain level will differ and so will the experience. Your overall mood, tolerance level, state of mind, and the piercer, all these elements collectively matter when it comes to understanding the kind of tongue piercing pain you’ll be getting.

So what should you expect in terms of tongue piercing pain level? Of course, the piercing isn’t like a simple walk in the park. You will be puncturing a part of your body with a sharp needle and that definitely brings certain amount of pain and discomfort. The procedure doesn’t use anesthesia, so when the piercer inserts the needle through the tongue (top to bottom), it will hurt a little, sting perhaps, and might bleed slightly. The jewelry used at the time of piercing will be longer to adjust itself to the swelling that occurs afterwards. Later on, you need to get the jewelry changed (only by the same piercer). This was a quick view about the tongue piercing information. Now let’s go over what happens during the piercing.

During the Tongue Piercing

Now comes the toughest part of them all, the D-day. Your piercer will wipe your tongue, making sure there is no saliva on it (make sure it’s a sterile gauze). Then, he/she will pull on your tongue to inspect the proper placement of the jewelry. Also, the underside of the tongue needs to be checked as well, the anatomy if you will. A sterile market is used to mark the exact location and with the forceps, he/she will pull on your tongue. Here, you feel slight discomfort as the forceps close over the tongue. You will be asked to open your mouth as wide as you possibly can; you will involuntarily start to drool and go through muscle spasm.

Next comes the true test of your tolerance level as the piercer inserts the needle through the tongue. The initial tongue piercing pain begins with a slight pinch as the needle is being inserted. But when the jewelry gets placed, it doesn’t hurt at all. But that all depends whether your piercer has chosen to use internal or external jewelry threading. With internal threading, the tongue piercing pain is next to nothing, however with external piercing, there is some amount of distress.

After the Tongue Piercing Proper tongue piercing aftercare

is required, if you wish to keep your tongue bacteria and infection free. And as we discussed earlier that you will feel some amount of pain after the jewelry is in, you need to learn about the proper hygienic steps that have to be adopted. For proper tongue piercing pain relief, follow these instructions:

• Ice cubes (suck on them or drink cold water)
• Don’t use aspirin (it promotes bleeding)
• Avoid rubbing alcohol, Listerine, and iodine (increases tongue piercing pain)
• Apply salt water (reduces pain)
• Don’t eat spicy, hard, and sticky foods
• Don’t play with the jewelry
• Don’t feel the jewelry with your teeth
• Don’t feel the jewelry with your lips In the following days, you might find that the pierced area is slightly sore and swollen. Don’t panic, this is normal. For the first couple of weeks, you may experience some tongue piercing pain and discomfort. But remember, healing time for piercings

is not that long. Your task now is to take utmost care of the piercing and make sure nothing (or you) infects it.