Your tongue is there to help you appreciate food — it’s not really meant to be ornamented with studs, bars and other sorts of jewelry. However, more and more people are opting to get their tongues pierced these days.
Before you decide to have yours pierced so that you may be regarded as part of the in crowd, it is of utmost importance to note that tongue piercing comes with certain risks — aside from the great deal of pain involved! These are some of the things that you may end up with if you choose to get your tongue pierced:
Bacterial Infection
Are you aware that one of the dirtiest places in the body is your mouth? It’s for this reason why it is very much likely for your pierced tongue to end up infected. If the infection is left uncontrolled, it may become systemic — the kind of infection that involves the entire body. This is a very serious matter as you could lose your life because of it!
Damaged Nerves
Especially if the procedure is performed by an inexperienced individual, getting your tongue pierced may cause a nerve in your tongue to be damaged. It’s something that can lead to a problem that lasts for a lifetime, such as numbness of the tongue and inability to perceive taste properly. The tongue’s movement may also become limited.
Impaired Ability to Talk
Having something placed through your tongue alone is enough to leave you unable to speak correctly. This doesn’t come as a shock because your tongue is one of the things that you use to produce sounds or words. In case a nerve in your tongue ends up damaged by improper piercing, you may actually end up with a speech impediment for life.
Reeking Breath
Cleaning your tongue is important to eliminate odor-causing bacteria in the mouth. Having your tongue pierced can make it really challenging to get your tongue cleaned. Also, the ornament itself can collect plaque and bacteria, and this can leave your breath smelling terrible. You can end up feeling embarrassed each time you open your mouth!
Excessive Saliva
Here’s one more embarrassing problem that having your tongue pierced may bring: excessive saliva in the mouth. If you think that having a sparkling stud on your tongue can make you look cooler than everyone else, think again. There is definitely nothing cool about drooling or saliva splattering all over each time you are saying something.
Chipped Pearly Whites
Are you getting a lot of praises because of your stunning smile? Having your tongue pierced may take that beautiful asset of yours away. Accidentally banging your tongue ornament against your pearly whites may leave them chipped. Also, you may actually end up with a space between their two front teeth because of that tongue jewelry of yours.
Damaged Gums
Other than ending up with chipped tooth, you may actually wind up losing your teeth if you have your tongue pierced. Initially, that stud, bar or any other type of ornament on your tongue may leave sore spots on the gums. In severe cases, it may expose the roots of the teeth that can lead to an infection, causing your choppers to fall out.
Risk of Choking
It is very much possible for the jewelry in your tongue to end up unscrewed, causing you to swallow the ornament. It may end up inside the airway, or in the lungs which may require surgery to be removed. It is possible for the jewelry to also end up in the digestive system, with its sharp corners scratching against the lining of your GI tract.
Consider getting some other body part of yours pierced if you don’t want to risk it. But if you can’t be persuaded to keep your tongue from being pierced, look for a body piercer who is very much qualified and practices safe measures. And at the first sign of an infection or any other problem, seek a physician’s help right away!
