I had an exchange with a reader about cheek piercings:

Hello im Jessica from the UK. I have recently had my cheeks pierced by my partner who is a proffesional body piercer for purely piercing in the UK. We read your story about your cheeks and i took it all into account. I did lots of other research especially on BME. We understood the complications but i have wanted them done since i was 12 im now 18. He pierced them perfectly no further back then the first molar like you said. I picked up your book today to have a snoop at how long they will stay swollen i had them dont on halloween they've already started to go down :). But i was quite annoyed when i looked into your book and all it said was cheeks are unrecomendible and your worst story. this was NOT the information i expected from someone as good as you. Please get in touch with some information you didn't place in the book. thank you,

I replied: Jessika, After what happened to me, I can't recommend that cheek piercings be done. If your piercings are in front of the first molar, then you can consider them lip piercings and refer to the information on pages 140-150 of the revised and expanded second edition of The Piercing Bible.

The bulk of initial swelling should be down in the first 2-4 weeks, though some swelling could remain for longer. If you have other specific questions, feel free to sign up for an online consultation, and I'll do my best to answer them. What did you want to know. Elayne

Her surprised and much more pleasant response to me (admitting that she didn't think I'd respond):

wow thankyou for replying :) i didnt think you would. your book is amazing by the way my partner and i look at your information alot. Are they really classed as lip piercings? they still are no where near my lip and they feel more like when i had my tongue pierced the same sort of after ache. jessika

My final response: Jessika, As Shakespeare put it, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," meaning, it isn't entirely important what they're called. And because human bodies are so unique and the healing process for each person is different, it is difficult to predict with any accuracy what might happen in YOUR healing process. The tissue of the cheek area is far more like lip piercing than tongue piercing, as you have a mucous membrane surface and an exterior facial surface that both need to heal (and that heal at different rates) (rather than two mucous membrane surfaces like in a tongue piercing). In any case, if you have any questions, do let me know. Heal well! Elayne