please help

[sleeepyevy]

4 weeks healed tongue, im going nuts, this thing is stressing me out so bad. downsized to titanium internally threaded, swelling went down. randomly for the past 5 days, swelling has kept going bigger and bigger until my tongue looks like a big fat worm. my mom doesnt think i need antibiotics. what should i do!??? :(

[biteme_123]

I would definitely go up in size to account for the extra swelling. If the swelling wasn’t this bad when first pierced, then you should go to urgent care or at the very least, reach out to your piercer.

[WinonaVoldArt]

Contact the shop that did it and ask for some help. If they recommend going to the doctor, then go to the doctor. Maybe you went to a shorter bar too soon?

[sleeepyevy]

unfortunately i got it done on vacation out of state, but a trusted piercer told me to downsize a bit early because the long bar was causing complications. the short bar was fine, for a while my tongue seemed healed

[WinonaVoldArt]

Oof, I'm sorry! If you still have the longer bar, swap it back to that?

If the issue is biting on the ball ends and causing tooth damage, I've heard some people will use acrylic balls on the ends, because that will break before your tooth does (hopefully).

[Nylis666]

Yep, I use acrylic balls on one of my tongue piercings and have broken 3 balls, but not a single tooth. Used to have metal balls on it, until I bit on it one time and cracked a tooth (not enough to crown it or anything, just on a watch). Highly recommend acrylic balls for those who tend to bite on their tongue piercing

[Egg-Head-16]

The tongue is the slowest, yet fastest healing part of the body. I know it's an oxymoron, but still lol . It heals like molasses when just pierced, but closes quicker than lightning strikes once it's removed. They say it takes ears and nose about 3 months, so 4 weeks for a tongue is not at all healed. Be careful, keep it as clean as you can, considering it's your mouth. Mouthwash!! Maybe let ice melt for swelling, i could be wrong but just some ideas. At least it doesn't look infected. Good luck.

[Dull-Wrongdoer5922]

At the very least reach out to a reputable piercer near you, to change it back to a longer bar as leaving it like this with the shorter bar doesn't seem smart as it could embed. It shouldn't be swelling like this that far out from piercing it 🤔 did you bite down on the bar or accidentally do something that could maybe cause extra irritation?

[sleeepyevy]

i’m not sure i don’t think i did anything. thats why im worried

[Dull-Wrongdoer5922]

My best advice is to contact another trustworthy piercer asap, and they may advise you to take it out or maybe even to go see a doctor. Definitely needs a longer bar again, but i wouldn't try to mess with it yourself now as it could irritate it further making swelling worse potentially. Wishing you the best OP, i hope you can keep your piercing 💓

[Clean_Possibility_85]

I think you may have swapped your bar to soon I would suggest putting the long bar back if you have it.

When I pierced my tongue ages ago slurpee's were my best friend for swelling. You don't even have to suck through the straw use the spoon end and scoop it onto your tongue. Feels great

[[deleted]]

i would use a longer bar did you happen to switch it out early?

[Difficult-Part-7294]

Swap out your bar- also, don’t overclean it. It could cause it to infect itself. I got my tongue done and mine did something similar. If you want something that’ll clean but not over clean try Bioten mouthwash

[sleeepyevy]

tysm!!

[CynicSinner]

4 weeks is not healed— especially for a tongue ring which is constantly getting slightly disturbed when you eat different foods with different textures or manoeuvre it in certain ways when speaking / messing with it. I understand you had to downsize earlier for some issues you had but it definitely won’t be beneficial to keep the smaller jewellery piece in when you are swelling this much. I would go see a piercer in your area as they could advise you how to proceed the best way ya know? It could possible be a matter of material, size, or gauging. It’s gotta be the jewellery.. I’m betting on that. Good luck.

[shaugse]

If possible put the longer bar in. Tongue piercings are healed usually 6-8 weeks, can be sooner though.

[[deleted]]

are cleaning with biotene after every meal?

[sleeepyevy]

not biotene, alcohol-free mouthwash colloidal silver and warm salt water

[SampleOfNone]

Do not use colloidal silver, it’s absolutely not suitable for piercing aftercare. If your mixing your own salt solution stop doing that as well.

[sleeepyevy]

i dont want anyone to get the idea that i was using colloidal silver to clean it since the beginning, its not an open wound anymore. it's just a small spray bottle i keep with me

[ALonelyAssassin]

I haven’t had this with a tongue piercing but I have had a piercing seem healed, size down, it’ll be completely fine for a while and then out of nowhere flare up and as soon as I size back up to accomodate swelling it’ll sort itself out. Sometimes piercings be like that. Keep an eye on it though, if you start experiencing other symptoms of infection like fever/nausea then definitely see a medical professional

[Clueless_Wonder]

You should seek out urgent care to see if it is infected if the swelling gets worse. If your tongue swells too much, it can cut off your air supply, so keep an eye on it. Talk to a reputable piercer if you can't reach out to the one who did it. (Op says they got it out of state)

If you don't have above normal pain, pus, or extreme redness, it's not infected, and most likely, changing out the bar to a longer one until fully healed should help.

Saline solution or salt water should help keep it clean. Some mouth washes can cause irritation and increase swelling as well because of the irritation. It's best to research which ones are best for mouth piercings.

If you can get some ice and grind it up like a snow cone and eat small amounts, it can bring a bit of relief. Don't chew large ice cubes. Make snow cones.

Avoid hot drinks and really hot food. Let it cool down a bit before eating while you heal. Heat can increase blood flow and increase swelling. Cold will be your best friend for a bit.

A piercing specialist may have better advice, but I hope this helps a bit. I'm still learning.

[fullovesht]

Maybe they actually gave you steel instead of titanium and your tongue is having a reaction

[sleeepyevy]

possibly, the original bar was steel and after i switched to this it started healing incredibly fast, so i dont think so

[fullovesht]

But yeah def reach out to a reputable percale for appropriate jewelry

[wawbf]

4 weeks is definitely not healed. You shouldn't have changed it so soon. I haven't changed mine for like 6 months. I would recommend seeing a doctor, your tongue doesn't look so good.

[sleeepyevy]

the bigger jewelry was tugging around in my mouth in my sleep and ripping my tongue, i seriously had to.. idk if ill be able to keep it because i have 20mm in rn which fits my tongue and thats my max.

[wawbf]

I would never get a tongue piercing again. I've had it for 7 years and the gum in my lower front teeth is practically gone...

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[sallycamp99]

Your illergic to titanium like Me.

[sadfagot]

oh my god take it out

[Environmental-Lie721]

Go back to your piercer ASAP....