Yeah, Just Don't Get a Tongue Piercing
So remember that post I did about piercings? The one that pretty much said that piercings can seriously impact your body?
Yeah, so it turns out, there’s one piercing you DEFINITELY don’t want to get. But which one takes the cake?
Tongue piercings.
Now, who would have thought that piercing your tongue, which is basically a roadmap to your body (mainly your gut), would be a problem?
Quite a few people, and not just medical professionals. But what is it about them that makes them so bad? I mean, ear piercings can apparently be used to relieve migraines, and the body can desensitize itself from an acupuncture needle after 30-40 minutes, so what is it that makes them so bad?
For starters, it can break some of you teeth.
If that doesn’t stop you, it can also cause serious gastro-intestinal issues, chronic illness, and consistent nausea and vomiting.
Ummmmm, yeah, no thanks.
And since it's “one of the most common piercings for teenagers,” according to this article from Rawfork [1], it’s one that is always under scrutiny. While we know (obviously) that it’s bad for your gut, it can also lead to fatigue, increased acne, and even acid reflux.
Ok, so it’s common, but why? Is it the aesthetic? Is it the cool lisp it can sometimes give? Is it the certain *ahem* suggestions it entails?
Well, whatever the reason is, it’s not a good one.
Seriously, just check out this study [2] and see the number of problems the case study subject were having due to tongue piercings.
I’ll break the study down super quick for you (but seriously go back and read the whole thing).
Two young women were studied over the course of a few years that had serious GI health issues thanks in part to their tongue piercings. However after removing the piercing and getting yearly shots of procaine (a form of Novocain) directly into the piercing scar, their symptoms subsided drastically.
(Note: the treatment of the scar aka FASCIA, is what helped them. More on fascia in my next blog!)
Yeah, I’m not a fan of having constant stomach issues from something that isn’t even that important.
Do you have a tongue piercing and experience chronic stomach issues, but aren’t sure if that’s the actual cause?
When in doubt, take it out!
If you get better, it was the tongue ring. If you don’t, it might be something else. But you can almost guarantee that the piercing exacerbated the symptoms.
But these are just my thoughts. I’m not a doctor or anything, just someone with a good understanding of the body.
Until next time!
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