Tongue Piercing - What Would Your Mother Say?

Tongue piercing is a historic ritual in honor of the gods. But somehow I do not think 20 something college crowd has in mind when you walk into your local body piercing studio and have their tongues tight and studded. As a mother of 3 young I thought it best to get some facts about this question before I faced him in his home.

tongue piercing has a long history in the religious practices of the Aztecs and Maya cultures that practiced blood letting from the tongue and the Far East and the Islamic practice of tongue piercing as an offering proof of a state of trance in meditation. These piercings are temporary in nature, but today is a permanent or long term tongue piercing is part of a larger revival of body piercing in contemporary society. Most tongue piercings are done as a counter culture statement or done to enhance sexual pleasure to a partner. By no means have become mainstream, but all kinds of body piercing has increased in recent years.

languages ​​have a remarkable ability to heal and piercings can close very quickly. Completely healed piercings can close within a few hours, if jewelry is removed. This is good news for someone with piercing remorse after a rash decision (as opposed to tattoos, which include a long and expensive process of removing ).

The most common side effect of tongue piercing is immediate swelling of the language for a short time after it was broken. American Dental Association (ADA) reports of possible adverse outcomes secondary to oral piercing include increased salivary flow, damage to teeth and fillings, the formation of scar tissue, and the development of metal hypersensitivity. The most common long-term complications include tooth fractures and dental wear. Tooth damage from rubbing jewelry barbell with your teeth or biting down on the bar with the teeth causing tooth fracture. Additional tooth damage caused by piercing time by pushing against the front teeth. This causes the gums recede and the bone underneath to be reabsorbed by the body. This can eventually loosen teeth and cause them to fall - Yikes! If any of this happened, I would seek compensation for any orthodontic treatment that I paid for several straight years of perfect teeth. Needless to say the ADA (and I would guess most mothers) do not support the practice of tongue piercing.

Piercings interfere with eating and speech. New piercers need to learn to speak all over again especially the SS and TS. Re-learning how to eat and speak is not something I would want my grown children. To me this seems like a lot of effort for that perfect piece of jewelry you don 'want anyone to notice.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) has identified piercing as a possible vector for blood borne hepatitis B and C transmission. More serious complications include penetrating the lingual artery, which will cause the tongue to bleed and swell which in turn can interfere with the airway and cause choking. Some are very rare cases of tongue piercings lead to a fatal brain abscess or endocarditis episodes were reported.

If you have a piercing done, be sure to do your homework and find a clean, safe piercing shop and choose a professional and good reputation for performing piercing. Watch to ensure that washing hands with soap before doing germicidal action. Ask them to wear disposable gloves, use sterilized tools, new needles for piercing. Not that anyone would, but do not pierce or let someone who is not professionally done your tongue piercing.

I'll admit the risk of death for the piercing on any part of the body is still very, very low, but it's always good to be informed of any risks, complications and maternal care. Now knowing the facts about the tongue piercing, if my grown daughter tells me she pierced her tongue'll just bite my!