It certainly looks very cool and unusual, though it is quite popular. You need to make sure that the tongue piercing healing process is complete if you truly want to enjoy your tongue piercing. It is no fun suffering from infections!

The good news is that it does not take very long to heal; your tongue piercing healing can take just about four to six weeks, although some people are lucky enough to heal in just two weeks!

Since the tongue is a muscle that is rich in blood vessels, it helps in speeding up the healing process. There is an enzyme called ptyalin, which along with a substance called lingual antimicrobial peptide, kills bacteria. You must take care not to use too much mouthwash since that can prevent the bacteria from doing its job of healing.

Another good thing about tongue piercing healing is that the process of getting the piercing done is not too painful. The needle does the piercing smoothly and quickly. One thing to watch out for is swelling and tenderness, so an expert piercer would use a longer barbell to accommodate this. Don’t be worried about the swelling as it will go down gradually. In fact, you may find it tough to speak or eat regular food. During the tongue piercing healing, it is better to eat soft food like mashed potatoes, soft fruit and shakes.

The glands that produce saliva in your mouth will be on an overdrive and you will end up swallowing quite a bit, but be patient as it will all become alright as the tongue piercing heals. You might even find that your taste buds are somewhat tender. The barbell’s balls may feel uncomfortable while pressing down under your tongue and roof of the mouth. Do not panic if you see a whitish fluid coming out of the piercing since this is just the natural cleansing process- getting rid of dead cells.

The swelling will reduce in eight to ten days. How quickly your tongue piercing heals will depend on the length of your tongue, where the piercing is on the tongue and the care that you follow. Longer tongues are said to take more time to heal. If the piercing is farther back on the tongue, it would take longer to heal. Usually after a couple of weeks when the swelling clears up, the right sized tongue jewelry can be fixed in!

But anyway – even though it heals fast, there are a few tongue piercing aftercare tips you have to always abide by to make sure your fresh tongue piercing is not going to get infected. However, it’s worth pointing out that thanks to the natural mouth’s microclimate your fresh tongue piercing is very little likely to get infected at all!

These aftercare guidelines are universal for all kinds of the tongue piercing. Whether you have a simple vertical tongue piercing, horizontal tongue piercing or tongue web piercing the basic principles remain the same. The tongue piercing aftercare tips don’t involve treating the very piercing place with a cotton bud, for example.

As you can imagine, the mouth is constantly getting salivated and kept moist so it would be of a very little help to try to wipe the very tongue piercing’s place with a saline solution. It would be much easier just to take the cleaning solution in the mouth and rinse it, wouldn’t it?

Well…Yes! So this is the first tongue piercing aftercare recommendation.

Rinse your mouth a few times daily using saline solution or an alcohol free mouth wash. This way you’re going to facilitate the healing process and that’s the most important thing right after getting the swelling gone.

Do it after the meals and before going to bed to clean the food remains and other kind of microscopic plaque. And if you’re using mouth wash that contains some alcohol, dilute it making a ¼ solution.

The second tongue piercing aftercare tip – ease your tongue’s swelling by using plenty of cold drinks and chewing on ice during the first weeks after getting the tongue pierced.

Right after getting pierced your tongue will swell up and your first tongue ring should be longer than you’d wear normally. It’s going to be especially hard in the mornings. Having been lying down the whole night will cause the blood pump into your head more than during the day and the tongue therefore will get swollen following the piercing.

So drink cold water and suck ice cubes frequently during the first days after the piercing. And try not to eat or drink anything warm or spicy as such things will irritate the fresh tongue piercing.

The next important tongue piercing aftercare step is to change your first tongue ring you got inserted at the moment of piercing to shorter tongue body jewelry. It’s very important because you have to prevent any possible damage to the fresh piercing.

After around 10 days after getting pierced the tongue’s swelling will be gone and then you can insert a new, shorter tongue ring. I’d suggest you visit the piercing studio where you got it done and most likely your piercer is going to tell you that.

When the tongue is back to normal and you’re getting the final tongue ring, make sure the beads sit tightly on the surface of the tongue.

Every now and then check that the piece of tongue jewelry is sitting normally in the piercing and isn’t about to fall out. You know, sometimes the ball may become loose and you certainly don’t want to accidentally choke on it!

So wash your hands before touching the tongue ring and make sure the balls are screwed on securely.

But one tongue piercing aftercare advice can never be underestimated – don’t take the piercing out even when it’s well healed! Your tongue piercing is different to the other body piercings and will close up very quickly if left without body jewelry!