All about my tongue ring!

Hello everyone! We are having such gorgeous weather in Texas today. For those of you that don't know, I live in The Colony, Texas, I have lived here my whole life in the same house, guys. I know, it's crazy. Anyways, back to the topic of this post: my tongue ring. My tongue piercing is my latest piercing and yall probably saw this picture already from my profile but its the only picture I really have of it at the moment. This picture was taken like the day that I got it done, which was on Saturday and today is Wednesday. Therefore, it has been 4 days and I can already tell that the swelling has gone down a little bit and it isn't hurting as much. If any of you reading this do not have your tongue pierced but you are thinking about getting it done or you have it done but want some more information this post is for you guys (FYI when i say "guys" I am referring to guys and girls just so ya know I'm not having any gender bias here ha). OK so as far as pain when getting the actual piercing, it is minimal if any. I will be straight up with you guys when my piercer put the needle through my tongue I did not feel it whatsoever, it was painless. He was like "OK the worst part is over with, now I just have to put the barbell in" and I was like "really? you're done?". I can't say everyone will have this same experience but just know that when they pierce your tongue they place it towards the back where there are not so many sensory nerves. This was definitely my least painful piercing to get done.  Afterwards is a different story though. Nobody told me how hard it would be to eat after getting my tongue pierced, no one explained it online so I am going to tell you right now: you will have to learn to eat all over again in a different way than you did normally! Not to scare anyone away from getting this piercing done but if you aren't ready to deal with the trouble when trying to eat again then this may not be the piercing for you. You see, when you eat, you use your tongue to push the food around your mouth. When you try to eat with a tongue barbell in you can't really use your tongue as much, at least not after you first get the piercing because it will be sore; but, more so because if you use your tongue to push the food around you risk accidentally biting down on the metal jewelry. This can cause broken teeth if you aren't careful which is why dentists absolutely hate tongue piercings. Besides having trouble eating, your tongue is also going to swell for 5 days to a week after you get it pierced and also be a little sore. It can swell up to twice its size but so far the swelling has not really bothered me that much, I have been taking ibuprofen to help with the swelling and soreness. For the first few days I recommend sticking to soft foods and drinking a lot of water. Ice cream and smoothies also feel good (and taste good!). OH AND BY ANY MEANS DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT DRINK BEER! Drinking beer after you just get your tongue pierced can cause a yeast infection in your mouth which sounds completely disgusting and unpleasant. To keep your new piercing clean you will want to rinse randomly throughout the day with an alcohol-free mouth wash. To aid in the healing process you can also take non iodized sea salt and dissolve it in warm water and swish that around in your mouth and spit out several times a day. You also need to brush and floss your teeth and rinse after every meal. I know it sounds like a lot but if your not up for it then by all means do not get this piercing because it would be way worse to get it, not take good care of it, and get an infection. That's all for now, I will give yall an update after my tongue has had more time to heal. Thanks for reading!

First Post: All about my belly button

Ok everyone, today for my first post I'm going to talk about my belly button piercing and what you can expect if you get yours pierced. First off, my situation isn't typical because I pierced my belly button myself. Before you start freaking out, let me explain. There is a smoke shop by my house that sells needles and clamps so I didn't go piercing it with a safety pin yall. I sterilized everything and wore gloves to do it. Honestly though I recommend to everyone out there that you go the professional route and get it done by someone who is licensed because I have had some complications with mine. I have actually pierced my belly button twice because the first time it was pierced too shallow and it rejected. I was so pissed when this happened guys, I love my belly button ring and I just don't feel right without it. The picture above is from the second time I pierced it. I did my research online and found out that belly button piercings are one of the most common piercings to reject due to the fact they are surface piercings. For those of you who don 't know what it means for a piercing to reject I will explain. When you get a new piercing your body does not know that it was something you did intentionally, it just thinks you have been injured so it starts working to heal the piercing. If your body thinks that the jewelry in your body needs to go then it will slowly push it out of your body until the skin comes apart and it just falls out. I know, scary stuff, but it doesn't hurt at all when it happens. I am hoping this time it will not reject but one thing I have read online is that if it rejects once it will reject again. Anyways, as far as pain when you are getting the piercing done, it really isn't that painful. With all of my piercings I experienced more pain in the days after getting pierced than the actual piercing part itself. The person doing your piercing should clean your belly button first and then use a chemical safe body marker to place a dot where they are going to pierce at. They will ask you to look at it in the mirror to make sure you like the placement. If you think it's good then you will lay back on the table and they will clamp off the skin that is going to be pierced and they will ask you to take a deep breath in and they will pierce you as you exhale. When you are finished they should give you aftercare instructions. For all of my piercings the after care instructions have been the same: wash with a liquid antibacterial soap and pat dry several times a day. Do not use antibiotic ointment or anything scented. If you notice any signs of infection such as green or yellow pus, excessive heat or redness coming from the piercing, or excessive pain do not remove the jewelry because this can trap the infection in your body and cause an abscess. The best thing you can do is continue to clean it really well. You should also take a clean wash cloth and dip it in a mixture of water and non iodized sea salt and soak the piercing with it several times a day. If the infection persists seek the advice of you healthcare provider.