I'm a professional piercer of almost 9 years now so I have just maybe a wee bit of experience. haha There is lots of misinformation in this thread.
Tongue piercings are one of least painful and easiest healing piercing.
From what I've been told, it's very painful. It's also hard to eat for a couple weeks after because chewing jostles your tongue. And you're going to talk very funny for quite a while due to having a swollen tongue. And infections are common. You can also chip your teeth thanks to it. Oh, and most jobs will make you take it out while you're at work anyway.
I personally also don't see the point.
It's hard to eat for a few days, yes it does swell but proper aftercare will minimize this. Infections are VERY uncommon in the tongue. Teeth can be damaged but changing to a shorter, more form fitting, barbell will greatly reduce this risk. You can also put acrylic beads on as well.
Could you leave it out every day at work, and wear it the rest of the time, if that was required? Or would that cause a problem?
After it's fully healed (about 4-6 weeks) some customers have no problem taking theirs out for a few hours at a time. If you NEED to take it out for work I'd take it out at the beginning of your work day, insert on lunch break, then remove again for rest of your day.
Some customers do have success with leaving theirs our for days, sometimes weeks, at a time without it closing up.
I enjoyed it while it lasted, but as time went on it became a bit juvenile for my job and I ended up cracking a tooth (you WILL do the same thing eventually).
I had mine in for close to 10 years and never once damaged a tooth with it.
At one point I was heavily involved in the body modification scene. I considered a career in it as well, and read up on a lot of subjects. In my opinion, tongue piercings are a bad idea. You can and will chip teeth and cause gum damage. There is a risk of slight facial paralysis if your piercer is inexperienced. And as an aside, I also think it looks kind of trashy. As far as the pain/healing process, it's not a huge deal. Your piercer should run you through the healing process and tell you how to keep your piercing clean.
9 years of piercing and 15 years of being in tattoo/piercing studios and I don't know of ANY documented cases of someone having facial paralysis from a tongue piercing. The nerves/tendons/muscles that control your face are not located in your tongue.
If the thread starter has any questions regarding the piercing PM me and I'll give you a quick rundown on aftercare and what to expect during the procedure.
