Thinking about getting either an industrial or my tongue pierced. Leaning more towards an industrial since I don’t want to talk like an idiot for a few days. If anyone has it, how bad was it getting it done? Any tips for after care?

 

I have both...industrial and tongue pierced. Here's my feedback:



Tongue

You WILL talk with a little bit of a lisp when you first get it done until you learn to talk with it. Your tongue will swell up pretty good, so they use an extra long barbell because of this. When the swelling goes down, you can put in a shorter barbell. Swelling lasts anywhere from a day to 4 days depending on how fast your body heals. Mine only lasted for a day and I was fine. The actual procedure of getting it pierced isnt too bad. They clamp down your tongue really tight to get it as thing as possible. I didnt really feel the needly going through, but the worst part for me was the popping sound it made as the needle went through my tongue. Afterwards, you get up, gargle with mouthwash, and you're good to go. Eat fozen ice or popsicles afterwards to help if there's any pain. You can also take medicine like Ibupfrofen to help with any swelling or pain.



Industrial

One of the coolest piercings you can get. That said, its also one of the biggest pain in the asses too. It took close to 2 years for mine to fully heal. Reason being is due to being a club DJ, my headphones were ALWAYS rubbing up against it and causing irritation. Normally, it takes anywhere from 4-6 months to heal if you take care of it properly. You have to clean it every day, and no matter what anyone tells you, you WILL develop a cheloid, which is just scar tissue. Some people rip it off, which will cause alot of bleeding, while others tend to apply medicine. If you develop a cheloid, you can crush up some aspirin and mix it with water so it becomes a paste like substance. Then use a Q-tip to apply it to your ear where the cheloid is. You can also get vitamin e pills, break them open, and apply that on the cheloid as well. The only way to NOT get cheloids, is if you clean the piercing every day, and dont do anything to irritate it. So good luck never sleeping on the side where the piercing is for a few months. Hats, hair, pressure from sleeping on it, etc...will cause cheloids to form. Sometimes they're big and noticable, other times they're just really tiny bumps.



As for the actual procedure and pain of it all, its just like getting your ears pierced normally...maybe a little more pain since its upper cartilage, but honestly...I didnt even really feel it either. After it fully heals, you can change the barbell often without any issues.



Also, dont buy into the whole marketing gimmick of H2Ocean. You can get the same healing and cleaning power of regular salt water and saline solution.



Good luck!

 

I got my tongue done 9 years ago. It was swollen for a day or two. That was what hurt. The actual piercing didn't hurt [me]. If you get that done, I recommend buying a few bottles of Biotene (it's a special mouthwash) and use it a LOT. Don't want to get any infections.



I was going to get an industrial, but then I got the job I have now (which doesn't allow me to wear my 6 ear piercings as it is), so I never got it done.