Ok based on the fact that when I was trying to find out info regarding getting venoms or any tongue piercing for that matter, there was a lot of mixed opinions, healing methods and preferences and often not always enough of an explanation as to why I could/ shouldn’t do something. The info also came in dribs and drabs. I much prefer all my info in one hit rather than find something out later down the line. So for this reason I have compiled some research into what is hopefully a helpful and well-informed (ish) Venoms ‘FAQ’.
Getting Punctured:
The Studio
So you’ve sought out a reputable, fully licensed, clean piercing establishment with a nice happy piercer, having asked about and chatted with a few to determine if they are right for you- cliché but if you are nervous or this is your first piercing then it helps to make sure you are going to be looked after from Day 1 and you are comfortable in that environment and with that person. Nothing worse than going somewhere, feeling uncomfy, then are too scared to ask any questions because you don’t like the piercer.
Nom nom nom
Eat before hand. Get that blood sugar level up a bit and get some water down you too. Your body is about to get a rush of adrenalin and will need a bit of back up. Also- eating is going to be hard from here on out, so make the most of your breakfast whilst you can.
The Initial Jewellery
Make sure that the jewellery that will be used is good quality and titanium- this is so you wont have any potential allergic reactions to nickel. There are few metals that are completely compatible with our body chemistry and will not cause any allergic reaction, skin irritations or discolorations. Titanium is safe for people suffering from nickel allergy. Don’t be afraid to ask about it- or anything else for that matter.
The straight barbells that will be used for your initial piercing will be about 30mm long to accommodate the immense swelling that can occur. Some people say they were lucky and didn’t get any swelling; some people like me skulked about for a few days with a mouth full of angry tongue. Everyone is different but generally speaking when a thick piece of muscle has 2 foreign objects rammed through it – it will swell. The further back from the tip the piercing goes the more it will swell. Also bigger/ longer tongues will swell for longer than ickle tongues due to blood supply and tissue mass. Regardless of whether or not your other piercings swelled longer bars are a must.
The Placement
You’ll have your tongue checked to make sure that your tongue is suitable for venoms. This means checking the anatomy of your tongue. Using a little torch the piercer will check to see where your veins are. There are 3 arterial veins in your tongue. If you hold 3 fingers out in front of you, palm up, you get a general idea of how they are placed- one central to the tongue, and two others that fork to the left/ right, all three running almost to the tip of the tongue. Again everyone is different and your veins may be closer together, wind towards each other or the central may not be so central etc Depending on where your wee veins are will determine if you can be piercered or not.
Dribbling
If it can be done you’ll be marked up by a pen that some say tastes horrid, others never comment so it couldn’t have bothered them. I couldn’t taste anything and it washes off- naturally its non-toxic. You’ll then be clamped and your veins triple checked again based on the placement markings. Ok here is where the needles are about to make an entrance; yes you might dribble- its only natural. Some people will dribble madly, others a tiny bit, some not at all. At this stage being nervous can cause you to produce excess saliva, naturally not being able to swallow doesn’t help. But don’t worry your piercer will have seen it all (and prob seen a lot worse). It’s not really embarrassing. It happens. Tissues will be at hand so don’t worry.
Will it hurt?
You’re causing yourself an injury of course pain will be involved. But once again, everyone’s different. Pain is relative. Some people will scream through the whole procedure, some will wince; others won’t notice anything has happened. And even if it the most painful thing you ever happen to experience in the world it wont last more than a few seconds. The piercing itself is pretty quick. And the most common part people say is painful happens to be the bars being put in and the balls tightened. This is because of the angle the bars are pulled at for the piercer to get a good grip.
Depending on your veins and your piercer they will pierce top to bottom or bottom up either for both piercings or alternate between them. I was pierced top-bottom for the left and bottom-top for the right because of my veins.
You will have to wait a lil bit between the first and second piercing as your piercer will only (hopefully) have one set of hands. They will also clean up any bloody dribble etc so you are nice and fresh and clean.
I’m bleeding!
Indeed! You’ve just consented to two bars being jabbed into a muscle with a damn good blood supply. Some people will bleed loads, others a bit, some unnoticeably. Generally speaking you shouldn’t bleed freely for more than a few mins less you have taken blood thinning drugs 24hrs before piercing, are on certain meds or been drinking the night before. You might also experience intermittent bleeding for the next 3ish days. As long as you aren’t bleeding freely- just a tiny bit, this is fine. Its just the body healing and the clotting being knocked, stretched and aggravated as you move your tongue naturally.
Job done
You might feel a little ick 5mins after the last piercing. You adrenalin levels are dropping almost as quick as they shot into your system and your blood sugar levels are too keen on rollercoaster rides. My piercer looked at me and just said ‘lay down’. I can only assume I looked like I was about to pass out. I was then sprayed in the face with a coolig agent as I broke into a light sweat (sexy). Naturally, you could just skip on out the studio completely fine- everyones different. But give yourself 10/ 15mins just to make sure your body isn’t going to surprise you.
General Aftercare:
Hurray you did it
Congrats, hard parts over. Ha ha ha- not. You piercer should give you an aftercare kit or a sheet or whatever it is they happen to provide. I got a bottle of ‘easy piercing mouth wash’ to see my through the duration of my healing. Its not compulsory to follow the instructions of your piercer. Its common to be sold some brand name saline solution that has other chemicals in it that will irritate your newly adorned tongue. Take note of what is said and bare in mind that warm sea salt mouth rinses are cheap and easy and all you really need.
Think clean thoughts
Healing times are thought to average out between 4 and 16weeks, in this time you’re going to have to keep it clean clean clean. This means keeping all dirty things you normally put in your mouth, out of your mouth. No wet kissing, oral sex, nail biting, mud eating, window licking- anything, is allowed for at least 3-4 weeks. The body heals piercings outside in, so even if you think its healed and is ok, its not. So wait it out before sliding back into your dirty habits.
You mouth is home to some nice happy bacteria that as part of your body’s natural defences ward off and kill germs and viruses as they enter the mouth via breathing, drinking and eating…you biting your nails etc Some of the solutions sold can kill off these happy lil bacteria and that isn’t going to do your tongue any good. Treat your tongue to a new toothbrush as well; your old one will be harbouring tons of bacteria (depending on how old it is).
Listerine?
If you want to. Make sure it has no alcohol in it as that will inflame the tongue and make the swelling worse and for longer. Water it down too 1:3 , again as to not irritate the piercing. Some people find that even weakened mouthwashes burn, if this is the case just use warm sea salt solutions (not too salty- more salt does not mean its better for the piercing) it depends on what you want to use. All you are washing the mouth out for is to aid in healing and germ defence. Sea salt rinses can help draw out dead cells and cellular debris and doesn’t upset the mouth bacteria too much. Listerine murders plaque and other bacteria but can be too harsh. You want to be rinsing your mouth out with the solution of your choice 1-2 times a day. Some people suggested 3 times but the more you do it the more you are unbalancing the bacteria in your mouth and irritating your piercing. Whilst eating just drink water to swill round. You don’t really need to rinse with Listerine after every drink, smoke, sarnie.
Speaking of smoking and drinking
You might wanna pack it in for a bit. Both will make healing harder. Smoking is pouring tens of thousands of toxins into a fresh wound and drinking is thinning the blood, weakening the immune system and causing more swelling.
Look at my new tongue
Put it away please. No playing allowed. Pulling tongues at every given opportunity can irritate the bottom of the piercing. You’ll catch it on your lower teeth, rip the bottoms, cause keloids and ulcers and just make your healing time even more miserable. Playing with it and showing it off, as tempting as it is can easily wait 2weeks. Don’t put extra stress on your piercings if you want them to heal hassle free. Naturally you will find what your limitations are over the coming days but its best to just sit tight for a bit and give them a chance to settle in and start healing.
You also risk damaging your teeth. Yes its all true. You can chip away at your enamel on the back of your teeth angering the entire dental profession- and causing yourself issues. With 30mm bars in your mouth you’re going to have to be careful as biting them, clicking them evening accidentally is easy to do. But once you’ve downsized some nice acrylic balls, tongue studs or threaded tabs will solve that.
Nom nom nom take 2
From now on its tiny bite size pieces of what ever you fancy eating place directly on the molars and carefully chewed so not to bite down on the balls. Your piercer may say ‘just eat normally’, but honestly you cant. Some people will say they went straight home and gorged on pizza- well all I can say is lucky them. Don’t worry about how and when other people managed to binge eat. Your tongue is likely to be tender for a good few weeks yet. Soups, mash, smoothies, yoghurt etc all these nice soft foods are out there for you to munch on. Importantly get hold of a decent, complete vitamin and mineral supplement. This is not to replace your RDA but to make sure your body is getting everything it needs whilst your food intake reduces for a bit. You cant repair things if your tool box is empty- same with your body. You’re also going to have to eat as best you can to help ward off the impending gloominess that follows the discomfort of having a mouth full of tongue.
Try and steer clear of extra spicy foods, acidic fruit juices and fizzy drinks- this includes teas and coffees. You wouldn’t poor lemon juice into an open wound on your leg, so it’s advisory not to do the same with a wound in your gob.
Sorry I can’t talk I have a mouth full of tongue
Yeah… such a bum. Bottle of water + Fridge = your new best friend. Its near impossible to suck anything as this stage so just ice-pick some ice to death and just let the shards melt on your tongue, or eat ice-cream…milkshakes, water with ice in it…you get the drift. Ibuprofen will help with the swelling too, but must be taken with food less you want the lining of your stomach to bleed. Naturally don’t take it if you are allergic like me. I just drank 2.5 litres of iced water a day and ate ice pops extremely slowly (I had no choice, I couldn’t suck).
The Healing Process:
Oh my god my tongues gone mank
Ugh and your breath too! Dead skin cells and a slight imbalance in the mouths acidity levels cause your tongue to greyish, whiteish kinda yellowy tinge…mank furry colour. Don’t worry its perfectly normal and wont last more than 2 weeks. Just keep Sea salt/ mouthwash rinsing 1-2 times a day and with water after you eat- and naturally brush your teeth. The area in front of my piercing also went numb and felt like it had been burnt. This is also due to dead skin renewal. Most people complained about it, but like always some people didn’t notice.
I can’t stop dribbling
The glands under your tongue that produce saliva will be over active for about a week or so. Stimulated by the piercing to flush out the foreign invaders and also purely because of the shock of having two bits of metal pushed through the tongue. You might find that the saliva is also a little thicker resulting in really sexy strings of spit.
I’ve got a sore throat
The glands in your throat or just under your jawbone will snap into action as a immune defence. The ears, nose, throat and mouth all being connected form one mass dense of lymph vessels and bacteria massacring cells. You might or might not get a sore throat and glands as a result of the piercing. The piercing itself could lead to you having a cold as your immune system is put under pressure with healing the venoms, in turn this will make your healing time less comfortable and longer.
Thee thells thee thells on the thee thore
Temporary speech impediments are fun! The swelling will account for most of the difficulty in speaking. The placement of the venoms generally doesn’t affect normal speech once the swelling has gone. However it has been said that occasionally S’s have to be relearned as the downsized bars still get in the way of the tongue to roof of mouth for pronunciation.
Leave me alone I’m so depressed
The swelling really does cause some serious discomfort. Its not painful it’s just not nice. Generally swelling goes down between 5-10days. Again some lucky people say it went down in 4 and they were eating and speaking like nothing had happened. For those not so fortunate it will go away and soon you will have lovely, healing venoms that you can pull out to innocent pass-a-bys, teachers, partners, parents etc Or the mirror in my case- cant stop looking at them.
Getting plenty of decent sleep also helps your mood and immune system. Your body puts the most effort and time into repairing and healing when you sleep. If you don’t give yourself a good 8 hrs from time to time you’ll wear yourself thin.
Puss! There is puss coming from the hole
Assuming its not green/ bloody you’re ok. Whitish/ creamy and somewhat tacky fluids are lymph. Generally you will experience this in larger amounts after the first week. This is just another healing sign. Lymph is secreted from the piercing, leaking out as the wound cleans itself. If this were outside of the moist mouth area it would harden up and become the much loved ‘crusty’ you soak off in the shower. In the mouth however it’s not as satisfying. Clean cotton buds and a bit of gentle wiping and dabbing will get rid of any build up and free the hole so it can breath.
The swelling was going but now its back again
Check what your rinsing your mouth out with, what are you drinking or eating? Taken any different meds recently? Have you been gabbing on the phone non-stop for the past 2 hrs? If you can’t think of anything obvious it’s not too much to worry about. Swelling will be worse first thing in the morning and last thing at night, also over the course of the next 2 weeks the swelling will naturally go up and down because of different stressed, knocks and tugs etc Just take it easy and relax. If you are really concerned however, at any point during the healing ask your piercer.
Still hurts a little
It will. You are trying to heal something that is constantly in use. Although it will heal a lot quick than most external piercings its still going to be tender, sore and feeling worse for wear. Some people will experience more twinges, aches and pains than others. There are a lot of nerve bundles in the sensitive tongue muscle so you will feel discomfort and pain from time to time. Talking to much, catching food on the bars, when you first wake up after 8hrs of not being used and it’s a little dry etc if you can take some ibuprofen and relax. If it really hurts for hours on end see your piercer.
7- 14 days later
Pop in to see your piercer whenever it was arranged to do so. They will assess the swelling and progress and if suitable downsize the bars to a more fitting, comfortable length. Generally sizes are 14mm- 16mm. However if you are pierced at angles etc the bars will have to be longer. Don’t go madly changing jewellery just yet. They will not have healed. Give them another month or so to settle in and you get use to having them. Also taking the bars out will mean the holes will close up pretty quick. Even after years they can close up within minutes. As a general rule of thumb if you like your jewellery leave it alone. You might also find you can’t undo the balls as your super strong piercer bolted them on with all his/ her might. If this is the case don’t dig out your dad’s wood clamps, pop back in and just ask your piercer to help change the bars.
Downsized and doing dandy:
Keep rinsing, reducing to once a day now- when it gets to a few months make sure you get ahead of the plaque that will build up on the bottom balls, crack open the booze, the full strength mouthwashes and give your partner a smack on the lips.
Get hold of some retainers for dental check ups, hospital appointments, suave interviews etc and enjoy!
Some people say their piercings still play up from time to time, even after having them for years. But if you follow the basic rules for keeping things clean, sea salt being your best healing-friend, sleeping and eating right everything should be dandy.
Disclaimer: This FAQ is based on common experiences, common sense, my experience and a bit of asking around- god bless chatty piercers. None of it may apply/ happen to you. I could be wrong. I am not the authority on tongue piercings. This is not a gospel just a little insight, helpful little guideline.
