Tongue Piercing Aftercare
A Guide to Tongue Piercing Aftercare
Tongue piercing aftercare is probably not going to be at the forefront of your mind when making the decision to get your tongue pierced. After you get yourself psyched up to finally let someone (a professional!) stick a needle through your tongue, you may find your priorities changing a little. In fact, your natural instincts are probably going to spur a sudden interest in making sure that you do everything you can to help nurse your tongue back to complete health.
We’re going to talk about a few of the necessary steps involved in tongue piercing aftercare to ensure that your tongue doesn’t develop a nasty infection. First, let’s talk about what kind of symptoms you can expect after the piercing procedure is completed, then we will talk about combating each one. Before you even get home you will likely notice that your tongue has begun to swell. This will almost certainly worsen over the next two to five days after the piercing, but it should go down on its own. You can ease the swelling by letting ice cubes melt on the pierced area and avoiding food that requires chewing. Chewing food is possible with a newly pierced tongue; however you are more likely to end up biting your enlarged tongue by accident. Many people recommend a diet of mashed potatoes and soft canned foods like soup and spaghetti-o’s. Fruit juice is another good idea.
Drooling is another symptom of a newly pierced tongue. Laugh if you like, but the “wound” created by the piercing actually stimulates the salivary glands into releasing more saliva than usual, so you may find yourself swallowing every five minutes or so. Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything you can do to prevent this overproduction of saliva as it is the body’s natural defense against infection.
Speaking of which, the saliva in your mouth contains a couple of enzymes that kill infectious bacteria, making it very difficult to contract an infection. However, overusing the mouthwash that your piercing artist recommended could kill off these important enzymes, thus paving the way for infection to set in. Mouthwash should only be used once or twice a day and in the typical amount you would normally use. You should endeavor to use the mouthwash after eating, as this will put it to best use and prevent any food particles from lodging in the unhealed piercing.
You should clean the piercing twice a day—usually after you wake up and just before going to bed. Make sure that your hands are washed with soap and warm water before touching the piercing and try not to remove it unless the piercing artist has instructed you to do so. It is highly recommended that you avoid smoking and drinking coffee during the 10 – 12 days it takes for the tongue to completely heal. These can seriously slow down the healing process and cause irritation. If this is impossible for you, go to great lengths to rinse your mouth out thoroughly after every cigarette or cup of coffee.
Once your tongue has fully healed and you are ready to swap out jewelry, be sure to sterilize any new jewelry you put in your tongue. You should also make it a point to regularly sterilize the ring or bar that you frequently wear. You can do this by bringing a bit of water to a boil. Pour about 2-inches of the boiling water into a coffee cup and completely submerge your jewelry in the water. The boiling temperature will kill off any nasty bacteria that may potentially cause infection.
Just follow these tongue piercing aftercare tips and you should find a great deal of satisfaction with your new piercing!