pierced tongue

I received an interesting question from a piercer who wanted to know my opinion on piercing the tongues of minors:

I received a message from a woman who had concerns about her recent tongue piercing:

Okay so I got my tongue pierced Tuesday and this is how it looks not on Friday. Is that just bruising? Is it normal? It bleeds whenever I sleep so I think I'm just biting it...my boyfriend had his pierced a couple months ago and it healed completely different...do I need to go see the piercer?

My reply:
Bleeding, bruising and swelling are all normal consequences of piercing. I couldn't tell for sure, but it didn't look very swollen, so it seems yours is doing the first of the two more than the last. It is more common for the tongue to swell instead, but your reaction isn't necessarily abnormal.

That said, it couldn't hurt to pay  your piercer a visit. They ca get a lot clearer look at it than I can from here.

Is this the oral aftercare instructions you're following?

Here are some additonal suggestions from The Piercing Bible that could prove helpful to you:

I received a question about tongue piercing risks:

I wanted to ask about the tongue piercing. I've been doing research on it and I see that there are prons and cons of having it. I've done my research but I do value your opinion and expertise on any type piercing. Despite of everything that I've read and heard, (negative comments..i.e., chipped front teeth, nerve damage in the tongue, a permanent lisp) is there any reason a 44 yr young lady shouldn't get a tongue ring? Also, how do you feel about PTFE or Bioplast in the tongue after it's healed?

Take your time answering me back. I'm in no rush and I know you're busy. In the meantime, take care and God bless! T.

My reply:

I received this message from a piercer:

Hey Elayne! I know you hear this all the time but you are amazing! I love the piercing bible and your blog is such a great resource! I have an aftercare question for you, any information you can provide would be such a help. Im a piercer and I recommend Biotene to all my clients with oral piercings, Today I did a piercing on a client who is a representative for Listerine Zero, We spent quite a while discussing the both Biotene and Listerine Zero, She told me Listerine Zero contains four different essential oils and no alcohol but can kill germs, Biotene cannot. I compared the ingredients and they share the same common main indgredients(propylene glycol, sodium benzoate, poloxamer 407 etc etc) but they have many different indgredients. She gave me a case of Listerine Zero, really nice of her, anyways before I start recommending it to clients I'd like your thoughts? My concern is since we recommend clients rinse 4-5 times a day and listerine zero has the ability to kill germs could this to irritating to a fresh piercing? Would you recommend I dilute the Listerine Zero with water to make it milder? I trust your opinion and I hope to hear back from you! thanks for reading this Elayne! M.

My reply:

I just received a brief message about tongue piercing:

Hi!
A few days ago I got my tongue pierced and I am still very swollen. What can I do for that?

Thank you, Liz