We had a call yesterday that made me wince: “16 year old female states her tongue has split after having it pierced”. I actually have several body piercings myself (in my nose, lips and belly button - and no, I don’t wear them to work) but it still made me squirm. Fortunately, I managed to stop squirming long enough to text my body piercer friend for advice. His reply was: “Sounds impossible, unless she had it pierced right at the tip and then pulled it really hard. Also her mouth would be filling up with blood so she would not be able to call you in first place.”
It turned out that there had been a certain amount of exaggeration and melodrama within the diagnosis. The girl didn’t have two independently wagging tongues or anything like that, it was just that the hole had opened up further and become very sore. CTA referred her to NHS Direct.
It didn’t stop me grimacing for the rest of the shift though. I am a bit squeamish when it comes to tongues.