It's so important that people realise they are putting themselves at serious risk of significant blood loss, infection, nerve damage and problems being able to breath or swallow. “In England and Wales, practitioners who offer tongue splitting are doing so illegally as the law currently stands.
If you are under 18, it's illegal for someone to perform a body modification on you like earlobe stretching, scarring or tongue splitting. It is illegal for anyone to do this to you, even if you want them to. If you perform a body modification procedure on someone under 18 years old, you will be breaking the law.
Splitting the tongue may lead immediately to various complications, including excessive blood loss and swelling of the tongue, which can in turn cause difficulty with breathing and, at least theoretically, suffocation.
Splitting may be reversed surgically by removal of sutures, excision of healed tissue on edges, and re-suturing the tongue together. Once healed, muscle control of the individual sides can be gained with practice if the split is sufficiently deep.
GBH BY CHOICE
The Court of Appeal's judgement on tongue splitting found that such procedures, when undertaken by a body modification practitioner for no medical purpose, constitute grievous bodily harm (GBH) even if someone has given consent.
Backlash. In March, the Court of Appeal found tongue-splitting to be illegal when performed by a body modification practitioner for cosmetic purposes, even in instances where consent has been obtained.
Offences and penalties
Extreme forms of body modification do cause actual harm and generally leave permanent marks and can result in disfigurement. They can therefore be considered as assaults to the body and so are potentially subject to the legislation concerning assault.
Tongue motility was mildly reduced as a result of tissue scarring. Speech was rated to be highly intelligible and acceptable by 4 raters, although 2 raters noticed slight distortions of the sibilants /s/ and /z/.
A cut or tear to the tongue can bleed a lot. Small injuries may often heal on their own. If the injury is long or deep, it may need stitches that dissolve over time.
Both segments of a bifurcated tongue are able to move independently, meaning that people with a split tongue have more manual dexterity -- which is said to be quite the benefit when it comes to kissing [source: Siegel].
Things to Consider Before Splitting Your Tongue
Consider the long-term physical risks, which generally are said to potentially include loss of taste or sensation, infection and trouble speaking (many people with split tongues develop slight lisps).
The cutting and sewing during the split will only hit a minimum of taste buds, which will not affect taste sensations. Some "splitters" claim to feel the sweet taste more, which is probably due to the fact that with a jagged tongue they move the food down their throats in a different way.
The first confirmed bifurcation, however, dates to as recently as 1994, referenced in the online body-modification magazine bmezine.com, which in 1997 published the account of an anonymous Italian man who had had his tongue divided surgically by a dentist friend for cosmetic reasons.
In fact, I was eating and talking essentially back-to-normal about two weeks after I split my tongue. And yes, I can still taste everything the same. Mobility when eating is just as unconscious as any person controlling their own tongue while eating food: After healing, it's involuntary.
Total cost of tongue splitting will vary greatly and ranges from $1500-$3000 for the procedure. Warning: As with other elective cosmetic procedures, some surgeons will jump on the “me too” band wagon when they see that they can make money from a new procedure, even though they may not have performed it before.
There is no written or non written ethics code that prevent the dentist from having a tattoo. A2A.
Surgical resections alone create volumetric muscle loss whereby muscle tissue cannot self-regenerate within the tongue. In these cases, the tongue is reconstructed typically in the form of autologous skin flaps.
It is vital that people seek help as soon as possible for severe lacerations, particularly if the tongue is partially or completely severed. In a 2015 case study , doctors successfully reattached a partially amputated tongue with sutures.
Proper Diet — Avoid eating foods that could deepen the cut. Instead, opt for soft foods. Saltwater Solution — Rinse your mouth with a saltwater solution to prevent bacterial infection. Apply Ice — If the cut is deep enough to bleed, ice the wounded area to keep it from swelling.
43-year-old Amber Lane, a resident of California, has revealed how getting her tongue split helped her cope with her medical condition. Body modifications refer to the intentional alterations of the human body, often for aesthetic or cultural reasons.
However, in England and Wales, a Court of Appeal judgement recently found tongue splitting to be illegal, constituting grievous bodily harm, when performed by a body modification practitioner for cosmetic purposes, even in instances where consent has been obtained.
Cracked tongue is characterized by one or more grooves running along the tongue's surface. The number and depth of the grooves, or fissures, varies. If the fissures are very deep, the tongue may seem to have distinct sections. In most cases of cracked tongue, a single groove runs down the tongue's center.
The law in the UK currently allows those who are 18 or over to have a tattoo anywhere on their body. But in the workplace - there are no protections against an employer discriminating against someone because of tattoos. Ben, who is in the army - has had mixed reactions to his tattoos in the workplace.
According to the NHS website there is no legal age restriction on most body piercings, but performing genital or nipple piercing on someone under the age of 16 could be considered an offence.
The UK prohibits anyone under the age of 18 to have a tattoo, and any artist found to do so will be prosecuted and fined, so, it's imperative you always ask for proof of age and to include a copy in a consent form.