Posted on December 17, 2007 in Latest News
Dental damage, bacterial infection, keloids, allergic reactions, excessive bleeding, severe pain, nerve damaging are some of the common and curable infections caused by tongue piercing. Everyone feels that it’s really cool to have a tongue piercing. However, most people don’t realize the potential life threatening dangers of tongue piercing.
Here are the fatal dangers of tongue piercing:
- The barbell of the jewelry can become loose and can go down in a wrong way i.e. it can wind up in your lungs. Now you can imagine clearly the consequences, if it really happens with you.
- Your mouth is full of bacteria and it contains major blood vessels which can spread deadly infection to the brain which can easily kill you.
- Chances are there that you can get a serious infection like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, if the artist by chance uses unsterilized equipment.
- In extreme cases it may cause blood poisoning which ultimately leads to death.
- It may cause oral cancers.
- Your tongue can swell so large blocking your airways, and ultimately leading to death.
- It can cause speech impediments.
- Deep cyst formation
- Severe damaging of veins and nerves
- Neuromas i.e. overgrowth of nerve tissue
- Endocarditis, it’s a disease caused when bacteria enters the bloodstream and damages the heart valves.
Here are some dangerous consequences of tongue piercing:
- In one case, a 25-year-old woman who was admitted to hospital after her tongue swelled up. She was found to be suffering from a rare condition called Ludwig’s Angina which did not respond to antibiotics. This news came in the British Dental Journal.
- In one case, a teenage boy in England died of blood poisoning after getting his lip pierced. This news was published in the London’s Telegraph in November 2005.
- In another case, a young girl died from Brain Abscess following a tongue piercing. This condition is rare, but it can happen to you too.
Think hundred times before you go for a tongue piercing!
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February 10th, 2008 at 8:49 am
well i got my tongue periced today and now after reading this u scared the effing shit out of me.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I’ve had my tongue pierced for about two months. I didnt have any problems with it after the piercing session other than the normal can’t eat, can’t talk dilemmas. The past three days, out of the blue, I woke up and my tongue has been swollen. I just started moving the barbell and played with it for maybe 10 seconds, and its back to normal. Its not sore or anything. What could this be?
August 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
My tongue has been pierced for more than 5 years and i have never had a problem with it.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am
im going through my rebelious stage and have dicided to get my tongue peirced to get back at my family
September 13th, 2008 at 7:16 am
ok i pierced my own tounge when i was around 14(stupid i know) but i know 4 years later have had no problems, its all common sense and knowledge, most people should know its stupid to use metal topped bar bells because yes you will hit ur teeth chip crack them whatever. Clean them daily, and use soft/plastic barbel tops, dont get the piercing to far, or too close in the mouth. Common sense people
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:06 am
I got my tongue pierced twice and it was fine both times. It has been out for about 3 months now and there is mild pain on the bottom of my tongue every once in a while. What could this be
October 1st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
like every piercing. Its at ur own risk. Ive my tounge and labret done and no problems so far. people just relax, i just leave my peircins to it and dont go to mad on the cleanin. Sometimes to much cleanin does moee damage. Ive had my labret in for 2 weeks no problem. Cleaned it twice lol. Bit its fine
October 11th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I REALLY WANT MY TONGUE PEIRED BUT IM SCARD! IVE HAD MY NOSE PEIERCD HAD SINCE I WAS 15 AND CLEANED IT EVERYDAY WITH NO PROBLEM I JUST WANT A TONGUE PEIRCING IM JUST REALLY SCARD WHAT TO DO???
October 24th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
im so effing` scared to get my tonge done,
ithink that if i just keep it clean and do what im supposed to then it will be fine
November 17th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I wanted my tongue pierced for a while now but, I thought about it and knew deep inside I was only doing it cause I thought it would look good and If I really wanted to go through with it I should research it. So for the past month I have done research on hundreds of websites, watched videos, read stories of happiness and regrets. But I still have found myself unsure. Its a 50/50 chance that it may go wrong and everyone can be affected differently. So, what are the chances generally, that something will go wrong?
December 5th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
this is pretty rediculous, cancer? blood infections? I mean your saying things that are extremely rare and can happen with any injury.
January 13th, 2009 at 11:45 am
i’ve had my center tongue piercing for about 7 years now and it hasnt given me any problems. I even got my venom tongue piercings done and everything is going smoothly.
January 16th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
okay i was supposed to go get my tongue pierced today, but after reading this i’m scared to death.
January 30th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
i had my bellybutton pierced last year but it was rejected does this mean my tongue will too???
February 8th, 2009 at 3:59 am
after a couple of months with a tongue ring, can i remove it without it closing up on me? or do i have to keep a ring in it 24/7?
March 30th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
kristie,
it could be because it didnt completely heal before you stopped the aftercare. or it could be as simple as you’re getting dehydrated overnight which generally causes tongues to swell but is more noticeable when it’s pierced..so drink more water!
and everyone else…the conditions mentioned in the article are INCREDIBLY rare, as long as you follow your piercers aftercare instructions and take care of your piercing it should be fine.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:07 am
i have my tongue pierced and it looks awesome lol
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
oh god…i wanna du my tongue so bad…but wit wats bein said…i jus dont no
April 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am
OMG, i’m getting a tongue piercing on tuesday and i was like lets go online look it up and this has scared the bejesus outta me!!! i dunno if i should get it done or not! what if my tongue swells up and i’m not able to breathe!!! holy crap…so scared!
April 12th, 2009 at 1:40 am
I’m getting mine done, I’ll be 18 in 4 days. I’m really excited. but my dad found out and he started screaming at me that i’m going to get Gangreen. LMFAO!! So dumb ha.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Yeah these problems are real but how many people does it happen to, really…. I don’t think people should get their tongues pierced without knowing this stuff but it’s really being taken overboard. it’s just like every other piercing find someone who knows what their doing and take care of it, it’s common sense to take care of a piercing seriously.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I’ve had my tounge pierced for a week now and im happy to know that i wont get any infections because the tounge is moist and once your tounge is pierced you have alot of saliva so it wont get any infections
May 20th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
ive had my tounge peirced for at least 5 months
and none of this has happened to me
its just like all my other peircings
keep it clean and u will be fine
May 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
wtf? i’m so scared now!!!!! don’t know what to do…
June 2nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
well i just got mine. its fine but i took a LOT of precautions. i DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS AT ALL!!!!!!! but i did mine at home. HOWEVER ive been doing different body piercings since i was 14. if you get it professionally done you’ll have a professional who can tell you everything you need to do.
heres what i did: an PLEASE DO NOT DO IT AT HOME. as of now [2 days] its fine but who knows wat could happen.
i looked up all the stories. success, failures. i read them all. i was willin to take the chance if you are then go for it. if your a worry wart this is NOT the piercing for you.
i looked at my friends. he had his done at home [by someone far less experienced than i] but i looked at it for WEEKS to see if anything funny happened to it. which nothing did but it could have. i was ready.
i bought a fake stick on one to see how i would talk and practice eating. im so glad i did cause my parents dont know but im talking so well they havent noticed. plus i bought a clear pink ring so its unnoticable almost. but im SO glad i practiced chewing and everything because being in school i only have 20 minutes to eat lunch and i want to eat my food lol
i looked at my veins day after day. i made sure i knew EXACTLY where my veins were. i popped them out and used a light to look through my tongue. EVEN THOUGH YOU WONT NEED TO BEUCAUSE you wont do it at home.
how i did it:
i have a hollow needle and i probably did it so wrong but it was the most comfortable i could. i went through the bottom and broke one layer of skin on the tongue [not in the middle!!! that white line looked dangerous!!]and took it out. i waited about a minute to see if it would bleed and then stuck my barbell in [without the needle] and broke through another layer. i didnt take it out. i then took the needle and stuck it through the top. [i looked at my taste buds for a week!!! i made sure i didnt hit any] holding the top open with the needle i pushed the barbell through the last and top layer entering my needle. pulled the needle out and put my PLASTIC ends in. my barbell is not metal. i didnt know how i would react to metal so mine is a flexible material.
folks i took a chance and my worrying is driving me insane. it would look just as good if i had gotten it done professionally and i would have nothing to worry about. GET IT DONE PROFESSIONALLY.
after care:
i use an alcohol free mouthwash. crest to be exact.. it says alcohol free.
i use it after i brush my teeth, eat, and before bed.
i check for signs of infection after every cleaning.
i drank a lot of ice water to keep the swelling down. mine went down in about 2 days.
good luck AT THE FREAKIN PARLOR.
dont be like me. dumb. it could go terribly wrong! read those stories!
June 6th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I have had my tongue pierced 2 times with no problems and i’m about to go get it done for the 3rd. Always carry extra balls just incase one falls out, our i wouldn’t have to do it again. I think they just want to scare you.
June 13th, 2009 at 2:30 am
I have had my tongue pierced for 5 years, no such problems ever occured! Don’t freak out, it isn’t like it happens to everyone. These are just freak occurances!
June 18th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Im getting my tounge pierced today!!! after reading all this i was s*@t Scared!! but everyones reassurances has helped and i think i will be fine!! hopefully im not one of the very rare people that get all this things! wish me luck!!! im a wimp when it comes to pain!
July 5th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Seriously this is a stupid article. They should have put what the odds are of getting these things. Tongue piercings with proper aftercare and common sense are an awsome piercing. I have had my tongue pierced for 8 years and streched it to a 1gauge and I have no problems. Dont let this article freak you out, please keep in mind that most of things that this article says can happen are rare cases.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:33 am
i have had my tongue pierced for about 4 days its still swelled up. i can eat solid foods. but im scared because im noticed these little white spots on the inside of my lip. and if it come of it bleeds should i be concernd
July 16th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
idk if i should do it.. i mean it would look so cool and i already have my ears peirced like 5 times each (im 13 lol) and yea i have a long time 2 wait but im just conserned how badly does it hurt and 4 how long? if you have an answer plz plz plz post me a responce! i come here often and i will see if you care thanx!!!!!!!!! :~)