Do you want to find out the latest trends? That’s it, tongue piercing has got lots of fame these days. People believe it’s one of the ways of expressing yourself. You can go for a classic silver sterling barbell or a colorful hoop to customize your collection.
These are all after talks, the main issue arises with the process of heal up and fast recovery of the tongue piercing. You can enjoy all the marveled pieces of jewelry once your wound heals up. So, all you need to do is to take some extra care for a faster recovery process.
A tongue piercing is usually thought to be one of the fastest healing piercing. After piercing, it generally takes up to three to four weeks to fully heal. But of course, the infection causes a delay in the healing process.
The healing process of tongue piercing is quite lengthy and painful unless you make sure that your mouth is extremely clean all the time. For healing a tongue piercing fast, you need to take these measures:
- You need to brush teeth using a soft & bristle toothbrush; three times daily. This keeps your mouth clean and free from irritation, causing bacteria that might infect your piercing, and thus becoming a barrier in the healing process.
- You should rinse your mouth with a medical-grade oral rinse after every meal. Moreover, make sure that your mouth wash is alcohol-free as it might react and cause irritation. This will keep your mouth sterilized and free from bacteria. Thus, it will speed up the healing process.
- The only way to prevent infection is to be more and more careful. You are advised to clean your hands germicidal soap before touching the piercing. Moreover, don’t play with your jewelry.
- For extra care, you should floss your teeth daily to remove all food chunks that might cause infection. Keep the area sterilized as it will help to heal faster.
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Secondly, make sure you are wearing the right jewelry that isn’t causing any hindrance in the healing process. Initially, a longer barbell is used to accommodate the swelling. Mostly, a straight 16 mm to 18 mm long barbell of surgical steel or titanium preferred.
Titanium is suggested as the best material as it is least likely to provoke any allergies. Also, make sure that the barbell you are using is tight and comfortable. You can tightly hold the bottom ball when twisting the top one in place.
Once the initial swelling goes down, you can switch from a longer barbell to a shorter one. The shorter ones are more comfortable and accessible as compared to the longer ones. After your piercing gets healed, you can even go for a greater variety of jewelry; captive hoop ring or labret stud.
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Thirdly, make sure you avoid all the unnecessary irritants. Don’t always keep fiddling with your jewelry. It is mostly suggested that you should minimize talking after piercing for a few days.
Moreover, try not to touch or poke unnecessarily to the jewelry. Also, keep away from oral contact and alcohol drinking during the early healing process. Likely, don’t share items that come in contact with someone else mouth like plates, straws, and toothbrushes.
Also, avoid going for spicy food when you have got a tongue piercing. Instead eat soft and bland food like milk shakes that are quite easy to intake. Furthermore, stay away from hard or sticky food that may push your jewelry that might hurt and increase swelling.
Finally, it depends on person to person that how much time will be required to fully heal up. People’s bodies heal the wound just like a scar. But generally, it is expected that most people experience these stages as their tongue piercing heals:
Just after getting the piercing: Days 1 till 4
Immediately after you get the tongue piercing, you will experience irritation and swelling. After all, it’s a quite big change as you have a hole in your tongue. The pain would be the worst in the first four days and you might have trouble talking and adapting to the new features that are added to your mouth.
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Also, you need to alter your diet for a few starting days. It is quite difficult to chew food in the starting, some people prefer liquid foods or smoothies. You need to be careful that the food you eat doesn’t stick around your jewelry as it may trigger infections in your mouth. You may switch to yogurt, mash potatoes, applesauce, noodles, and other bland foods.
In the starting days of the healing process, it is vital to use an oral rinse to keep your mouth free from bacteria. Moreover, follow the advice of your piercer unless it is quite necessary to visit a doctor.
For quicker healing, you should stay away from drinking alcohol and hot drinks, smoking, and avoid touching your jewelry unnecessarily. To minimize the effect of pain and swelling you can suck ice cubes or go for a cold drink that will help cause relief.
Main risk of infection: Days 5 till 7
This is the stage where the risk of getting an infection is at its height. It is a point where you need to take extra care of the piercing as the sensitivity is at its peak. Make sure you are washing your hands thoroughly before touching the piercing.
By the end of this stage, it is expected that the swelling will tend to decrease slightly. Although, it is a fact that some people recover or heal faster than others. Also, you should rinse your mouth after each meal or any food intake to prevent the sticking of food to your jewelry.
The bleeding of the wound is literally normal, but if it is consistent then it is surely a signal for the problem. Take good care of your piercing and avoid extensive contact with others.
Decrease in swelling: Days 8 till 12
The swelling should go down by now. You will need to replace the barbell to a shorter one. The shorter barbells are more comfortable and accessible to wear. The outermost tissue of the tongue heals first, but hole from inside won’t be healed completely for the next few weeks.
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You can start eating harder and crunchier food items by this time, but if the irritation develops, try to stick with softer food for some longer time. And yeah, be sure to stay away from spices as it will irritate the wound.
By the end of this stage, the pain would become less and you will start to get adaptive to the new piercing. Still, you need to take care of the piercing and give an oral rinse three times a day.
Complete healing process: Weeks 3 till 5
If you take complete care, there will be no such complications and by 3 to 5 weeks your wound will be fully healed. Now the piercing won’t be having any swelling or pain, but if there are any symptoms beyond this stage it may be a sign of infection.
Once the piercer agrees that it perfectly healed you can resume your everyday routine habits again. Now you can try out different jewelry options in the market. But be sure to take proper care of your piercing for a long-term.
Long term-care tips for healing tongue piercing:
- Make sure you maintain a good oral hygiene to prevent infections and other oral diseases.
- Always search for a good quality jewelry for your piercing made with steel, titanium, or 14-karat gold. These are least desirable metals to cause allergic reactions.
- Be sure to keep a regular check up with your dentist as the piercing may trigger gum recession, tooth trauma or cuts.The dentist will monitor for any changing to the piercing.