Help My 15 y.old wants to get her tongue pierced

Harris

She is adamant. She has rung a few places and they have told her she has to be with a parent if under 16. I think even if i don't say yes, she will just go off and get it done somewhere anyway.
What are the risks and should I try and stop her??
I am pretty liberal about stuff like that but I just think she's too young.
Can anyone offer advice, or if I have to give in, where is the best place?
Many thanks

Will

Tongue piercings are pretty serious, if not taken care of properly and after care instructions not followed to the letter she will have problems.

There's a reason piercing studios have an age minimum (self imposed) it is because some people are not mature enough to care for piercings and in very serious and rare cases e.g tongue, it can lead to death.

You will have to lay down the law with her, but easier said than done. Since she is 15 no proper and professional studio will pierce her. However, they will inform her of the dangers and importance of the aftercare and following it to the letter.

My studio of choice is Snakebite on middle abbey street. If you ring the studio, or even walk in and ask them to explain the seriousness of the piercing it may put her off. Rob and Steve are very professional and will tell her all the facts and why she should wait.

Hope this helps

Star Lord

The risks are mainly concerning the aftercare, which will definately have to be followed rigidly. You'll find some good information on this in the sticky topics at the top of this forum.

Warn her that if she does go off to try to get this done, that the only places that will do it for her are places that you REALLY would not want to get pierced in, and these places would often have poor/lax hygiene practices. There's a good reason that they resort to piercing minors.

Best place IMHO would be Snakebite in Middle Abbey St.

[edit]
Damn you will and your beating people to it

Greenmachine

Could also pose a prob with her school dress coDE. When I was 17 i was given the option of taking it out or taking an extended break from classes.

Harris

Have already tried that one and she says "loads of people" have it done. Which I doubt. She has already been pulled up about too many earrings even though they are tiny and she has long hair.

CianRyan

I doubt they can say anything about a tongue bar, dress code wise.
Still though, it shouldn't matter. She's not 18 yet and you're her parent, it's ultimately your say.

Go with the scaring her in snake bite method i'd say.
Show her the big pointy needles and all that lot.

-lala-

Harris wrote: »

She is adamant. She has rung a few places and they have told her she has to be with a parent if under 16. I think even if i don't say yes, she will just go off and get it done somewhere anyway.
What are the risks and should I try and stop her??
I am pretty liberal about stuff like that but I just think she's too young.
Can anyone offer advice, or if I have to give in, where is the best place?
Many thanks

I think 15 is really too young. Snakebite (by far the best studio in Dublin imo) doesn't do oral piercings on anyone under 18, even with parental consent. At 15, she probably isn't mature enough to look after it properly, and as Will said tongue piercings can go a bit arseways if not looked after properly.

Having said that, there is your worry that she will just go and get it done anyway - in which case the only place that would pierce her would be a very dodgy place which will not be named. This would be a very bad idea as she would probably get a nasty infection.

Maybe as a compromise, wait until she is 16, and say you will take her to get it done on her 16th birthday if she still wants it? There are some decent studios that will do oral piercings on 16-year-olds with parental consent afaik (the ones I'm thinking of are celestial ring and inkwell, could be wrong though). Hopefully, she will see that waiting less than a year isn't a huge deal, however if you try to make her wait 3 years, she might go and get it done anyway somewhere dodgy if she is as adamant as you say she is. Let her know that she needs to be very careful with it - avoid dairy, alcohol, spicy foods, smoking, other things you may not want to think about as a parent... - this may impress upon her the seriousness of getting her tongue pierced, and why it's a good idea to wait until she's that bit more mature.

!!!

Fifteen isn't that young compared to thirteen, which seems to be the new age to get pierced at. :rolleyes:

I must say though, the tongue is easier to heal than an ear piercing, if she follows the correct aftercare routine it is doubhtful she will have problems. I asked for my tongue pierced when I was like 14, my mum said no so I went to the dodgiest place in town and got it done anyway. I was a fool, it was pierced crooked and messed up my teeth.

If she's the type of person that's going to go and get it anyway, I would really recommend just taking her to somewhere reputable. Maybe agree that it be her only piercing until she's 18? Or she can get it done if she does good in her junior cert? I dunno. Anyway, best of luck with this situation and well done to you for posting here looking for advice.

Thoie

3 people I know have had to pay quite a lot in dental work after they managed to damage their front teeth with tongue piercings (they are 3 incredibly stupid people, to be fair). Suggest to her that she saves up a grand, puts it in a joint deposit with you to pay for any dental work that might arise, and then she can get it pierced. She gets the money back when you're no longer responsible for her dental bills.

-lala-

Thoie wrote: »

3 people I know have had to pay quite a lot in dental work after they managed to damage their front teeth with tongue piercings (they are 3 incredibly stupid people, to be fair). Suggest to her that she saves up a grand, puts it in a joint deposit with you to pay for any dental work that might arise, and then she can get it pierced. She gets the money back when you're no longer responsible for her dental bills.

Right, fair enough you're suggesting this as a deterrent for the kid, but I'm just going to point out that damage to the teeth tends not to happen when the piercing is done by a competent piercer, so it's not really a big worry.

Star Lord

Really depends -lala-, the damage can still get done when the piercing is performed by a competent piercer, particularly if the person 'plays' with the piercing a lot.

Toots

Last time I was in Celestial Ring (about 3 weeks ago), it was 18 with ID for tongue piercing. They turned away a young lad (who in fairness was probably only about 16) because he didn't have ID.

One thing you could do to 'scare her off' the idea, is go on youtube and search 'tongue piercings gone wrong' and show her the videos that come up. Tell her that anywhere that'll pierce a 15 year old is gonna be seriously dodgy and her piercing will most likely end up like the ones on the vids. Hopefully that'll put her off. I suggested this to a colleague of mine who's 14 year old daughter wanted her navel pierced, and she said this worked (apparently some of the videos that came up were pretty gross.)

phic

Toots* wrote: »

Last time I was in Celestial Ring (about 3 weeks ago), it was 18 with ID for tongue piercing. They turned away a young lad (who in fairness was probably only about 16) because he didn't have ID.

One thing you could do to 'scare her off' the idea, is go on youtube and search 'tongue piercings gone wrong' and show her the videos that come up. Tell her that anywhere that'll pierce a 15 year old is gonna be seriously dodgy and her piercing will most likely end up like the ones on the vids. Hopefully that'll put her off. I suggested this to a colleague of mine who's 14 year old daughter wanted her navel pierced, and she said this worked (apparently some of the videos that came up were pretty gross.)

Like a fool I decided to look up some tongue piercing gone wrong videos myself....oh God, never ever getting it done now!

Seriously OP show your daughter those videos, it will work! Don't tell her why though or she'll just get annoyed your trying to stop her! Pretend your being supportive and doing research for her! Then hit her with those videos and scare the sh1t out of her....hmm my poor future kids...I'm gonna be such a cruel mom!

Kelly-

I Think She's To Young But, There Are Places That Do Not Care About Age They Just Pretend They Do, And if she is stubborn about it your better off being by her side in a clean place other then her going to a dirty place with dirty needles, for cheap money and then it gets messed up.

I'm Only 15 and i went to get my eyebrow done in a place, it wasnt the cleanest but i wanted it done more then anything, and it was over 18's i cetainly dont look over 18 and neither did my friends but he didnt care all he wants is money and he done it for me and others for my friends,

so just be careful where she goes if she is getting it but i'd advise her not to specially at this age!

Lillylilly

I agree with fifteen being too young to get a tongue piercing, but in saying that, I was sixteen when I got mine done. No amount of persuasion or threats from my parents would dissuade me...
I think if she really wants it done, then she will probably disobey you and get it done anyway. Would it not be better to compromise with her and and possibly put a time in place to allow her to be SURE she wants it, (like, "you can get it in 6 months/ for your 16th birthday etc. if you're still interested")?!
This way you can be sure it's not a phase and you can help her find a safe place to get it done. You could also use it as a reward for good behaviour or something
I'm sure she would appreciate you being on her side and not having to do it behind your back, which she may do!

xxcocochanelxx

I got my tongue pierced when I was 15..at first my mom went crazy when I asked her but gave in after a while. To be honest, I think the dangers of tongue piercing are over-estimated- unless the bars are metal instead of plastic they will not do amy damage to your teeth (my dentist told me so), and not trying to come across as some kind of a macho woman but the piercing itself was virtually painless in comparison to other piercings i have! With proper after care the piercing shouldn't be a problem. However on the other hand, I have seen really nasty-looking, infected, swollen tongues but this is all the time down to carelessness....BUT you are her mother so the decision lies with you. I would advise that you let her go ahead with the piercing, chances are she'll get it done anyway if you don't allow her

vinnysixx

I think whatever plan you decide to go with to deal with this (there's some great advice and solutions here) do it quick! At 15 i think there's a trend (myself aswell when i look back to when i was 15) for kids to just one day show up at home with things done to them.

Fly High

A serious piercing like the tongue isn't for all fifteen year olds but I did get mine done at that age, I got my parents consent as a Christmas present!

I think they gave me the consent because they knew me and that I was responsible enough and it was something I was willing to deal with.

Do you as a parent think your child is ready for this?

RxQueen

I got my tongue pierced when I was 15..at first my mom went crazy when I asked her but gave in after a while. To be honest, I think the dangers of tongue piercing are over-estimated- unless the bars are metal instead of plastic they will not do amy damage to your teeth (my dentist told me so), and not trying to come across as some kind of a macho woman but the piercing itself was virtually painless in comparison to other piercings i have! With proper after care the piercing shouldn't be a problem. However on the other hand, I have seen really nasty-looking, infected, swollen tongues but this is all the time down to carelessness....BUT you are her mother so the decision lies with you. I would advise that you let her go ahead with the piercing, chances are she'll get it done anyway if you don't allow her

the dangers of tongue piercing isnt over estimated, its pretty serious..

my brother is 14, and looking at him, i really think 15 is way to young to get a piercing of that seriousness.. he got his ear pierced and promised to look after it, and my mother and myself practically took over all after care for him.. way to young.. he is now looking for his eyebrow pierced.... he will in me tank

CianRyan

Wasn't there a case of an infected tongue piercing that caused someone to have to have brain surgery, or at least some sort of surgery on there skull?

RakkoonKidd

To be honest, I'm sixteen, and i kept asking my parents to let me get my lip pierced when i was fifteen. they wouldn't let me, so i went and got it anyway.
The best bet for you as a parent, is to let her get it done, but tell her before hand, that this piercing is her responsibility, she must take care of it, and if it gets infected and she has to take it out, then it is her loss, and that she wont be getting it done again.

My parents have learned that by saying flat out no, that i'll just do it any way, they're more open to talking about them now instead of just saying no.

Good luck whatever happens.

xxmarymoxx

my daughter wanted this done also and shes just turned 14.We came to a comprimise and i let her get her belly button pierced instead.

RakkoonKidd

xxmarymoxx wrote: »

my daughter wanted this done also and shes just turned 14.We came to a comprimise and i let her get her belly button pierced instead.

Yeah thats a good idea also, to comprimise, I already have my belly button done out of choice because I had money to get it done so my parents let me, but I think this a good way of dealing with your children wanting to get a piercing

valpuk

Hi guys

I got my tongue pierced when I was bout 17 / 18.

I got it done in a top class tattoo parlour in Waterford.

I would like to point out that I am petrified of needles so this was a stupid idea from the beginning....
I went in, sat in the chair and as she held my tongue in the clamp, she introduced the needle in front of my eyes and ........ I passed out :eek:

Mortified !

The woman refused to do it cause I kept fainting, but i begged her and she eventually did it for me.

I was extremely good with keeping it clean, I bought Corsodyl and used it 3-4 times a day.
I had 2 tongue bars but really wanted another so i saw a sale on and I bought a cheap one........ I put it in straight away and by evening time my tongue was HUGE

I took it out that night and when i woke up the next morning, my tongue piercing was gone.
You have to be so careful with the piercing. Your mouth contains so many germs so it is so quick to get an infection.

Celticbard

I have only read horror stories when it comes to tongue piercing but people I know who have it done seemed to be cool with it, just a matter of soup for 3 days straight and its all good! Not sure about letting your 15 yr old get it done though, may be a bit soon, leave it to the ears.

gabrielle x

i think you should let her go for it as long as its a qualified peircer

Pierced Off

gabrielle x wrote: »

i think you should let her go for it as long as its a qualified peircer

No decent piercer who has any self respect would pierce the tongue of a 15 year old, with or without parental consent. I can't stand all the rush. If someone isn't mature enough to understand the benefits of waiting then they are hardly going to be mature enough to properly care for a body mod.

pooch90

Thread started in 2009 so matter has probably been decided by now.....Wonder if OP is still around?

Agree that 15 is still way too young for a tongue piercing, especially as it can lead to so many complications. I got mine done at 18, after waiting a year. Sean in Snakebite did it for me. Gave me great advice and put me really at ease. However, even at 18 I still wasn't mature enough to follow the aftercare instructions properly (ie dairy, alcohol and smoking). No way should a 15 year old get it done. Only scumbags will do it for them.

Sparkles:)

i have VERY relaxed parents and i'd have been beaten black and blue and had the yoke ripped outta me...

sayin that someone pierced my belly button at 13ish! which now doesnt seem right...

nearly 22 and hiding my shaved head from my mother and she still hasnt seen my tattoo and she wont!

Why don't kids have the fear anymore!!! and that line
"everybody has it" fair doesn't fly... that always met a "have you no mind of your own" which was always incentive not to do something when i was growing up... apparently bright colours and dance was in, not grunge and black :P so following the crowd would have gone against my anti conformist persona! lol

Sparkles:)

also navel and tongue piercings have sex written all over them, when i was in school and even now in college they're the sexy things to have and when i was 14 i thought it was hot to have my belly done...

i don't think "sexy" piercings are right for a child...