Tattoo Talk Thursdays: TONGUE PIERCINGS

This week, I've decided to take a little detour from tattoos to talk about piercings! I'm no stranger to the piercing needle and I'd like to share some of my experiences with you guys! I've had my regular tongue piercing for about 7 years now. 3 years ago I got my snake-eyes done and then 6 months ago I got my tongue web pierced. I couldn't be more thrilled with all my piercings and how they've turned out. And yes, there are risks with having oral piercings. You have to focus a little more on chewing, so you don't crack a tooth on one of the balls. You can swap the metal out for bioplast jewellery, but I'm a fan of the metal. My dentist doesn't have an issue with the piercings nor has she seen any kind of oral issues. I wear a mouth guard at night to help keep my teeth protected from my snake eyes piercing.

KEEPING IT CLEAN 

I really don't do anything different than non-pierced people. Brushing, mouthwash and flossing. I use a non-alcohol based mouthwash, which works best when you are healing your new piercing. Be careful to brush around your tongue bar. I never brush my snake-eyes or web, but make sure that I wish completely with mouth wash.

TONGUE PIERCING: PAIN LEVEL 

When I got my regular tongue piercing, it was completely painless. The only part that was a bit annoying was having to keep my tongue out and not laugh while my mate was about to pierce me. No, don't worry, he's a licensed body piercer! My tongue web was more or less the same way. I couldn't believe that he'd done the piercing already. My snake-eyes, well that one was painful. And its probably my most painful piercing. The girl who started to pierce it kind of panicked and had her co-worker finish the job. Sliding the needle through was like a sharp, stabbing pain, the same with when he slipped the jewellery through. He custom made the piece for me, which is what should be done for people who want this piercing and have the right anatomy for it. It was painful to heal a bit as well since the tip of the tongue has many nerve endings. A few over the counter painkillers and soft foods during the first week of healing helped it greatly and by week two I could eat my normal things again!

HEAL ME
All the piercings were easy to heal. Sea salt soak and alcohol-free mouthwash. That's all I did to heal the piercings. I was careful to not move or touch the jewellery unless I absolutely had to.

I'll also be finishing the left side of my ribcage when I'm in NYC next week! I've been waiting for the perfect piece to cap off the upper portion of my ribs right below my armpit. There will be a whole blog on my rib tattoos coming soon! I'll talk about the pieces, the pain levels, why I chose the placement, etc.

You can also check out my video of me getting my Peter Rabbit tattoo in Napier, New Zealand! It's just a short little clip. Links to the shop and artist are in the video description! 

https://youtu.be/WMwabdw21JE

Time to break out the Advent Calendar!