If you are a fan of piercing, getting your tongue pierced maybe your way of leveling up your body modification efforts. We admit that body modification at times can be so tempting.
If you are ready to take care of a new piercing on the spot like the tongue, then, by all means, go ahead. Today’s blog is all about types of tongue piercing, Â and how to select the right tongue jewelry to put in your new piercing.
Table of Contents
Tongue Piercing Types
Midline Tongue Piercing
This is the ‘standard’ or a traditional form of tongue piercing. The piercing is done on the midpoint of the tongue, well away from the webbing. Normally, artists punch a hole about 1.9 centimeters away from the tip of the tongue.
The most common jewelry used here is the standard straight tongue barbell. The straight barbell is stud-type jewelry. Healing time takes a month to two months.
Snake Eye Tongue Piercing
Considered to be one of the riskiest types of piercings. Also called the tip of tongue piercing. One or two horizontal piercings are done near the tip of the organ, connecting the two muscles.
Unbeknownst to many, the tongue is two fused muscle bundles.
In addition to the pain, the snake eye tongue piercing also has a longer healing time and can cause gum problems and even chipped teeth because the barbells will rest close to the gums and teeth. Many professional piercers do not agree with it and will refuse to perform such a piercing even if they technically know how to do it.
Frenulum Linguae Piercing
The frenulum is the flesh that attaches the tongue to the base of the mouth. This is a hidden type of piercing that will only be visible when a person lifts his tongue completely. A circular tongue barbell or a curved tongue barbell may be used for this piercing. The barbell rests on the base of the mouth, near the gums and teeth.
Tongue Web Piercing
This creates two perforations side by side at the midpoint of the tongue. The tongue web piercing is also widely known in the body modification community as the venom piercing. It is so-called because it looks like a poisonous snake bit the tongue. Unlike your conventional tongue piercing, the perforations lean toward the sides of the tongue instead of the dead center.
Vertical Piercing
A vertical piercing goes through the tongue at the midpoint. This is another example of a risky tongue piercing that is generally not recommended.
There is a risk of damaging the tongue’s nerves, which can, later on, make speaking and swallowing difficult. A curved tongue barbell is used so that both ends of the piercing have the proper adornments.
Side Tongue Piercing
This is just a variation of the standard tongue piercing. Instead of putting the piercing in the middle of the tongue, the piercer will move the point toward one side. A straight tongue barbell can be used.
Selecting a Tongue Ring and Other Jewelry for Tongues
The tongue is commonly pierced and held with 16-gauge to 18-gauge straight barbells. The best material for a tongue piercing is either surgical grade stainless steel or something that is more hypoallergenic or less likely to irritate, titanium barbells.
Despite the lower risk of irritation or allergy, you will still be required to sign a waiver about tongue piercing potential risks. If you know that your body reacts to different metals (though gold is less likely to irritate), opt for titanium instead.
The straight barbell is the ideal type of jewelry for tongue piercing. We do not recommend curved ones or very short barbells. The longer the straight barbell for the tongue, the better off you will be.
You are free to choose the color of the barbell. When the swelling has finally subsided, and there isn’t a lot of pain anymore, you can return to the studio and ask the piercer if you can shift to a short barbell.
The professional piercer will first evaluate how well healed the piercing is before it can be removed.
As a word of caution, do not remove or replace your tongue piercing on your own after the procedure. You may be tempted to do so because of the pain. Removing the barbell this early in the recovery period is likely to cause swelling and possible infections.
Now, other studios may be using thinner posts for tongue piercings. You may want to get a 14-gauge straight barbell if this is the case. Again, the length is important because there is going to be some swelling in the first five to seven days after the piercing.
The longer the straight barbell, the more room for the tissue of the tongue to expand. It will be able to accommodate the swelling. This isn’t the case for shorter barbells. Use a shorter straight barbell when you are sure there will no longer be any swelling.
The moment the swelling ceases, this is the time that you can truly start shopping for different kinds of tongue jewelry. In the meantime, be happy with the surgical steel or titanium barbell that the piercer used.
It is also a good time to discuss that there are many fakes on the market, and these poorly constructer tongue jewelry can irritate and even cause infections in your mouth.
To be on the safest side, we recommend getting only medical-grade metal jewelry. Anything less is risky. The piercing in your mouth is going to come into contact with everything inside your body.
The saliva and food acids in your mouth are going to act on the metal. If you use metal that corrodes and rusts, you will ingest the byproducts of the corrosion. And if the corrosion comes into contact with a wound? That’s a huge problem that you wouldn’t want to deal with; trust us on the tone.
As for tongue rings, you can shift to one once the healing period is done. Sterling silver is alright for tongue rings once the wound has completely healed.
