Teens and adults from age 15 to 25 are among the most common people who get their bodies’ pierced.  One of the most popular kind is a tongue piercing. There are actually a variety of tongue rings to choose from if you decide to get this particular piercing.

The tongue ring was a way for you to express yourself and be unique, right? Some teens that get the piercing done live in strict homes where the parents would be furious if they found their child with a hole in their tongue. Luckily, the tongue ring is relatively easy to conceal from parents.

One of the most difficult things to get adjusted to after getting tongue rings is the way people talk. Usually, this is what parents pick up on. Some people develop temporary lisps after getting the piercing and some can’t say certain words; it’s a challenge.

Of course, parents are sometimes able to see the tongue ring or ball in your mouth. Wearing light or clear colors can help eliminate the possibility of this happening.  Keep in mind the size of the ring as well. If it looks like it’s bigger than a pea, walk away. Don’t buy anything too large if you are trying to hide the fact that you have a piercing.

The most common side effect to getting a tongue ring is simple swelling, which is what causes the speech problems. A tip to reduce this is to soak a tea bag in hot water and then sit it on top of your tongue. The hot temperature will help the tissue absorb the heat particles and will later decrease the swelling. Tricks like this will return your speech to normal in no time.

Follow these tips, and they will help you- for a while, at least- in getting rid of swelling and avoiding consequences from your parents.

Tongue piercings first became popular in the 1980’s when the availability of high quality, surgical steeltongue rings and other types of body jewelry were readily available for the first time. The tongue piercing is largely associated with the Gauntlet which was the first professional piercing studio in the United States and from which many extreme piercings emerged.  Jim Ward, found of the Gauntlet was known for promoting this piercing throughout his career.

When a tongue is pierced, it is done so with straight barbell style jewelry, rather than a ring. However, the term tongue ring has, over time, become the slang term used by many to describe the piercing. As the popularity of tongue piercings has grown, so has the variety of tongue rings available for individuals with such piercings.  Originally only metal balls, the decorative ends of tongue rings have evolved into everything from acrylic balls to soft plastic designs.  As a way to accommodate corporate Americans with a liking for this body jewelry, manufacturers have developed clear, flat and “no show” tongue rings. Others can enjoy neon, metal, glowing and shaped beads and balls.

Proper placement of tongue rings and proper care is essential to avoid infections and even damage to an individual’s gums and teeth.  The traditional and proper placement of a tongue ring is in the center of the tongue, near the center of the mouth. The tongue ring should be angled to slightly lean back from the teeth to make talking and eating easier. Although there are concerns about teeth damage, this can be avoided when the tongue piercing is carefully done and properly cleaned.  Other than a slight impact on the way a person talks for the first few days, there is only a very slight chance of any teeth, gum or tissue damage due to a tongue ring.

Piercings are good, temporary way for individuals to express themselves in a world in which places more and more value on being an individual and not a “follower”. With proper care and research, a tongue piercing can be a way for an individual to accomplish this.

The most important thing to do is find a good piercing salon.  Make sure that it is in a sanitary environment and you could even ask for Health Department records. If you want a tongue ring, don’t let price affect your decision.  NEVER choose a questionable salon just because the price of a tongue ring is cheaper.  You may spend less money now, but you’ll pay for it in the future.

The first thing that will happen when you get to the piercing salon is paperwork.  They will ask you to provide some information, as well as provide idea to ensure that you are old enough to get a tonue ring.

After you select your new tongue ring, the piercer should take you to a clean and sterile environment.  The piercer will mark your tongue after selecting a spot that will not interfere will blood vessels and nerves.  This is another reason to go to a trained professional; he or she will have been educated in the anatomy of the tongue and know how to perform the piercing safely.

The next step is to place a clamp on your tongue after the piercer has ensured that you like the location.  The clamp sort of looks like a long pair of scissors with two circles on the end where the needle will pass through.  The piercer will use a hollow surgical grade needle to actually pierce the tongue.  This is a tool that should come in a new, sterile package.  Your piercer will hold out the clamp and push the needle through your tongue.

At this point, the piercer will be ready to inster the tongue ring.  First they will remove the bottom ball, then put the end inside the hollow part of the needle.  This makes it easy to actually insert the body jewelry. As the piercer pulls the needle the rest of the way through, the tongue ring will remain in position inside the tongue.

The whole piercing process will only take about five minutes.  Most tongue rings are 3/8″ but they may use a longer tongue ring to allow for swelling during healing.  Between two and four weeks later, your tongue should be fully healed.  At this time you can change your tongue ring to one that expresses your personal style.

• Traditional Tongue Piercings

The most famous tongue piercing is the traditional tongue piercing. This tongue piercing goes directly through the top of the tongue and exits on the bottom side. This special piercing is also known for it’s increasing swelling after the initial piercing and swelling can last up to a week or more. Healing time is approximately one to two months.

• Tongue Exposed Piercings

Tongue surface piercings can be placed anywhere on the surface of the tongue, whether it be horizontally or vertically down the tongue. In addition to this, they can also be on either the top of the tongue, or the bottom of the tongue (which is often referred to as a lingum piercing,) or the tip of the tongue.

• Horizontal Tongue Piercings

Horizontal tongue piercings are fairly honest. They are a piercing that passes horizontally from the tongue whereas local tongue piercings corss vertically through the tongue. Sometimes, if not correctly pierced, a tongue ring in this piercing can interfere with eating, speech or both.

• Tongue Rim Piercings

A tongue rim piercings can be thought a variation of a tongue surface piercing. This piercing or group of piercings sits on the rim of the tongue. Generally, the wearer uses traditional tongue rings or types of captivating beads. Unfortunately, this piercing has been known to cause serious tooth damage if improperly placed.

• T-Bar Piercings

The T-Bar piercing is a little more complex than some other tongue piercing. This piercing takes a bit more time and wait than other tongue piercings because it needs two separate arrangements to meet someone. The first appointment is used for the piercer to insert the tongue ring used for piercing horizontally or vertically, based on the user’s preference.

After several weeks of becoming well, a second appointment will be required for a third hole to develop the ‘T’ appearance of the piercing. Custom body jewelry is inserted and the third piercing is screwed into the tongue ring barbell to form the desired ‘T’ shape.  From a viewing standpoint, the piercing appears as three separate tongue ring balls on the surface of the tongue.

• Tongue Web Piercings

The tongue web piercing is also somewhat self-explanatory. The piercing itself corsses through the webbing on the innerside of the tongue. Oftentimes, the wearer inserts either straight or curved body jewelry, sometimes using tongue rings with beads or rings.  Healing time is constantly sharp, as with most oral piercings.

Tongue ring piercings are becoming increasingly popular with younger generations. Tongue rings are comfortable to hide for work matters and socially accepted among their peers. It is not hard to determine why tongue rings and other body piercings are becoming more and more popular.

Tongue piercing is most popularly done with straight barbell. 14 Ga is the most common gauge used for tongue piercing. In order to give room to the swelling, the early length of the pierced barbell should be at least 3/4″. Once the tongue piercing has been healed, it can be replaced to a shorter barbell of 9/16″(14mm) which is the most common size. Wearing a shorter barbell after the piercing is healed is suggested.

Barbell fashion of body jewelry is composed of a straight bar and with a bead on each end, one or both beads unscrewable for removal and/or replacing of the beads. Often one of the beads is fixed, either via epoxy or welding, so that only one bead is used to fix or remove the jewelry. Barbell threads are mostly right-handed.

There are roughly about 5 kinds of barbells for body jewelry.  The internally threaded barbells are slightly more costly than externally threaded barbells as there will be additional machining and labor included. It is also considered superior to the external barbells as it is less likely to cause damage or irritation especially at the time of piercing. An internally threaded barbell has a bead with a receiving tube machine into it which connects with a threaded post extending from the center.

Although the externally threaded barbells have become less common, the internally threaded barbells have increased in popularity. It is named so because shaft of the bar has threads at both ends to allow beads with the receiving threads to be attached to the tongue ring.

Named because of the curvature, curved barbells can also be known as a navel curve. It is mechanically same to straight barbells instead of that they are curved. Curvature on a curved barbell can range from about straight to circular, with some barbells basically being spiral, with the ends overlapping but separated to allow the insertion
of the jewelry. A variation on this design is a J-bar, a slightly curved barbell (sometimes referred to as a bananabell or banana barbell) with a 90 degree bend near one end, used in verticalnavel piercings to position the decorative  end of the body jewelry more appropriately. They can be either internally threaded or externally threaded.

Circular barbells, also known as horseshoe barbells are used in some types of piercings. They are named so due to their shape.

In all surface piercings, surface bars are used. Barbells for surface piercing have a pair of 90 degree bends in the same direction, so they can be used for surface piercing. Because of this design the pressure that would be affected by other body jewelry designs that participate to disallow in healing surface piercings is minimized.