body piercing jewelry

After care for an oral piercing

Take care of that wound!  Tongue piercings typically heal in 4-6 weeks but the amount of discomfort you feel during this time is directly related to how you take care of that open wound in the middle of your tongue.  Follow these tips specific to tongue piercing and you should be free of pain and infection before you know it.

1. For the first three to six weeks you should use an antibacterial mouth rinse after every meal.  Biotene and Tech2000 Dental Rinse are really popular rinses for good reasons.  They have the proper ingredients and they're not too strong and not too harsh. Mouthwash is too weak and homemade mixtures, well, we don't even want to think about those.

2. Check in the mirror to see if there are any small bits of food lodged in the hole.  Some salami with your tongue stud and you're asking for an infection.  It doesn't happen too often but food bits can work their way into the wound where they fester for a long time delaying the healing process.  Consistent checking after every meal will cut back on the chances of a chunk getting inside. 

3. Rinse your mouth frequently with a salt solution.  8 ounces of warm water to ¼ teaspoon salt and swish this in your mouth for 15-20 seconds.  do this after you drink or smoke or put anything in your mouth.  Some people swear by natural sea salt but NaCl is NaCl wether it comes from the Sea the kitchen table or wherever.  Salt water rinsing is great because it kinda feels good and you quickly get into the habit of doing it often to sooth your aching tongue.  

4. Brush! Titanium piercing jewelry, salt from the Artic Ocean and nightly prayers to ward off infection won't do a damn thing if you don't brush your teeth.  Three times a day, if you don't allready.  Get a travel toothbrush set for when your away from home.  Buy a new brush with really soft bristles that won't irritate the piercing.  It's also a good idea to gently brush the ends of the stud in yout tongue. You never know you might get some sparkeling white teeth as well as some sparkling stainless steel jewelry in your tongue. 

Now that you know what to do here are a few things that you shouldn't do:

-Don't chew gum or tobacco this is a really bad idea

-Don't play with your piercing jewelry swishing it around your mouth and clicking it against your teeth.  You will eventually crack the emnamel on your teeth causing them to decay rapidly. There's nothing worse than a toothless 40 year old with a tongue stud.

-Don't go kissing a bunch of people.  This isn't really practical, but the exchange of body fluids really increases the chance of infestion. If you do, make them brush their teeth first.  Just show them the stud in your tongue and they should understand.