Question:
Hi, I am working on the piercing faq (haven’t started on the tattoo faq but there certainly has been enough material posted in the last week). My question: I have no experience with lip or tongue piercings and I would like those that have them to tell me about them; ie did it hurt more/less, did it take longer to heal, does it get in the way, etc. Hopefully, some people will answer (Beverly 8^) | "The effects of technology do not occur Paul Davies / Synthetic Man | at the level of opinions or concepts, but | ception steadily and without resistance." | - Marshall McLuhan
Response:
>The healing regimen for a tongue piercing [...] > You also use a substance called Gly-Oxide, which is >basically a hydrogen peroxide-like compound dissolved in glycerin, and >foams up nicely when you drip it on your tongue.
I’ve always been susceptible to canker sores, so I’ve investigated various oral wound cleansers. I’ve found sodium perborate to be a much more effective treatment for mouth wounds, with a favored brand being Amosan. -j- Harry Bob? Somehow, that doesn’t roll trippingly off the tongue. Could it be the bar gets in the way?
Response:
[...] >My question: I have no experience with lip or tongue piercings and I >would like those that have them to tell me about them; ie did it hurt >more/less, did it take longer to heal, does it get in the way, etc.
I got my tongue pierced last June. The piercing itself hurt much less than my other piercings, aside from the fact that it turns out I have a shorter-than-usual tongue which had to be extended so far and for such a long time that I think I sprained it (:-). The reason the piercing hurt a lot less is that the tongue is different from most other pierceable body parts; the tongue itself is muscle instead of skin. For one thing that means it has no nerves on the inside and few pain receptors on the surface. The striations in the muscle also make it much easier to physically pierce; the needle tends to slip between them – unlike a regular piercing, this one (when I saw it being done to other people) resembled pushing an embroidery needle through a piece of fabric. The morning after the piercing my tongue was swollen and *very* tender, both of which are normal (a longer barbell is initially used for tongue piercings; the barbell is replaced with a smaller one once the swelling goes down). "*Very* tender" means it hurt to talk and it HURT to eat; I was not a happy camper that day. But within 24 hours the pain started to diminish (the first time I started playing with the piercing I discovered something very weird: this was the first of my piercings which went through muscle instead of skin. That meant I could literally fuck my tongue (by lodging the barbell against the backsides of my teeth and thrusting my tongue against the barbell), which was a lot of fun and a real mindbender). Within two days I was no longer in serious discomfort. The healing regimen for a tongue piercing is slightly different than for most other piercings; Neosporin and Hibiclens and Ivory soap and suchlike are not good things to put in your mouth 
. Instead, you use Listerine. A *lot* of Listerine – before the piercing itself and after every meal and toothbrushing. I went through a giant-sized bottle in a week. You also use a substance called Gly-Oxide, which is basically a hydrogen peroxide-like compound dissolved in glycerin, and foams up nicely when you drip it on your tongue. Putting anything fun in your mouth other than food and drink is strictly out; aside from the standard still-healing-piercing infection dangers, cocksucking is no longer a low-HIV-risk activity if you have an open wound in your mouth. That phase lasted 6 weeks, I think, although more conservative estimates call for 2-3 months. Like the septum piercing, a tongue piercing is not really noticeable if you don’t want it to be. It takes a little more self-control – you have to remember not to throw your head way back when you laugh, and not to stick your tongue out for emphasis when talking – but I haven’t had any problems with scaring the horses at work. Nor does the piercing get in my way; since the bar was downsized, it’s basically a pair of metal balls riding just above and just below the surfaces of my tongue. Sex with a tongue piercing is a *lot* of fun (male-male sex that is; I’m afraid my biases are wired pretty firmly. Word of mouth, however, says that tongue piercings are even more fun when applied to women than to men). Imagine for a moment that your tongue is a chorus. Hear to the music it makes – choral music, broad and rich and a real tough job to make anything sound like it has pointed accents. Now add a tenor soloist to the chorus, and imagine all the new kinds of music you can make – Harry Bob says "check it out" (although I think I’m going to get the bar replaced with a slightly larger one; this one is so flush against my tongue that I have trouble keeping track of where the ball is). On the other hand, I have to learn how to kiss all over again; there’s now an energy hump that I have to surmount every time I extend my tongue outside my mouth or retract it again. But if I keep practicing, I’ll get to Carnegie Hall yet… Harry Ugol [no lthrwings address, and none for several months] "Briarpatch household rule #6: It’s only a *little* apple – go ahead, take a bite…"