It's cool, and a lot painful. If you've got it done, you must have gotten a swollen tongue after piercing. In this article, we tell you the possible treatments to reduce the swelling as well as various techniques to ease the pain. Give it a read…
Let me have a recap. Your friend got her tongue pierced, and looked extremely sexy with it. She didn’t tell you the pain she had to go through post-piercing, and so, you decided to get it too. You went to a professional piercing artist, got it done (not to forget you were brave enough to get your tongue pierced), and came back home. It was all cool for a few hours, but in the night, you realized that not only has your tongue become swollen, it pains like hell. Well, it didn’t come as a surprise. No, seriously.
Piercing takes at least 15 days to heal. During the first two days of your tongue piercing, you will experience excessive pain, and chances are, your tongue increases in size due to immense swelling. Doctors often recommend consumption of cold beverages and crushed ice to reduce the swelling. The good thing among all this is that, a swollen pierced tongue is totally normal, and if you’re panicking by any chance, don’t. The compliments you will receive during all these days will soon overpower the pain you have gone through.
How to Treat a Swollen Tongue Post Piercing
The mouth contains Ptyalin that is a powerful enzyme being capable of killing the bacteria inside. During the first few days of your swelling, it will be real hard to even talk and chew food. In this case, you can keep taking in ice to calm down the swelling. Try consuming cold stuff, and stay away from hot beverages such as tea and coffee. As far as food is concerned, you need to avoid any product that contains yeast as it tends to work against the healing process of your tongue. Acidic foods are a big no-no, and only salads, canned spaghetti, or potatoes shall be eaten all throughout the healing process.
Rinsing your mouth every now and then with a mouthwash will kill all the bacteria in your mouth that contribute to the process of healing. Hence, it is highly recommended you avoid washing your mouth frequently, and let the tongue heal by itself. The only key here is to be prepared to take the pain. However, you do need to make sure it doesn’t get infected. Refrain from alcohol all throughout as it just aggravates the swelling. Instead, you could keep gargling salt water to relieve till your tongue heals totally.
You know, after your swelling reduces, you could switch to smaller jewelry with the help of your piercer. A bit of mindfulness will help reducing the pain as you start wearing a smaller barbell. All throughout the healing process, there are many instances when you will be discouraged to keep the piece of jewelry in your tongue. If such be the case, don’t be alarmed, but act wisely. When a tongue swells, salivary glands tend to produce more saliva, leading to swelling in the salivary glands too. You could also experience your taste buds becoming softer, and inflammation every time you eat something. What’s more, chances are, the wound also secretes a white fluid which is nothing but dead white blood cells. As you keep consuming cold stuff and refrain from acidic foods, not only would your wound heal, but you will also feel that the swelling is reduced. In a few weeks, your tongue will return to normal, and you won’t feel a burning sensation while eating acidic stuff.
If not taken care of, the swelling can lead to infection in tongue due to piercing, leading to many severe oral problems. However, if you find it hard to take the pain of the swelling, you could consume some pain killers during the initial days. Note that, healing of a swelled-up tongue happens by itself, and you really cannot do much about it. All you can do is avoid its aggravation by refraining from foods and drinks that may cause inflammation and worsen the swelling. Once healed totally, the more compliments you get, the easier it will be for you to forget the pain you had to withstand during the initial days of your tongue piercing.
