The Snake Eyes Piercing

Of all the piercings that I have performed over the years this is one of the most controversial and for good reason. I want to start this with full disclosure, I have performed many of these and I have seen many people heal them and wear them proudly over the years. They do look pretty dope and I understand why people would want them. That being said I no longer offer this piercing and I confer with the majority of my colleagues that this piercing is not safe and can cause much more damage than what it’s worth. There are several reasons why I have decided to retire this service and I will go it to detail on each. First is the anatomy of the tongue. If you didn’t already know the tongue is actually two separate muscles and by piercing them horizontally we are essentially binding them together with the jewelry. Why does this matter you ask? Well by binding them together we are limiting the mobility and function of the tongue. Move your tongue around in your mouth and you will notice it can move in a plethora of directions and the two muscles move independently. Also when the mouth is closed and the tongue is at rest, the tip sits directly against the back of your front two teeth (go ahead, try this too). When you put hard jewelry there, that is pressed directly into the gums in time it can wear them away. This brings me to the speech aspect of it, because of the limited mobility one can develop a lisp that may or may not go away even after removing the jewelry. If that is not enough think that when talking, certain letters and sounds are made by your tongue over your teeth (TH, L, S, sounds in particular among others). With a piercing at the tip, your teeth are contacting metal as you talk. This can change your speech and is a good way to end up with a chipped tooth. You could also pull and maybe rip your piercing or even worse bite down on the jewelry accidentally and crack a tooth. In conclusion after careful consideration of the inherent and unavoidable risks behind this piercing, and I do not feel that this or any piercing is worth your risking your health, your teeth, and or your speech. I hate saying no to piercings but this one gets a hard no and a speech every time.