Priests would pierce their tongues and either draw blood from them or pass rough cords through to inflict pain.

Similarly, Spirit Mediums in certain Australian tribes would practice tongue piercing as an offering and as a way to demonstrate their trance state.

[3] From the turn of the 20th century, Western carnies borrowed many of their sideshow tricks from fakirs bringing to American and European audiences their first glimpses of tongue piercing.

The ready availability of high quality, surgical steel barbell style jewelry is associated with the emergence of this piercing in the 1980s.

The piercer will check the underside of the tongue for large blood vessels, sometimes with a bright light, and mark a safe placement for the piercing.

Initial jewelry should always be considerably longer than will ultimately be required to allow for the swelling, which is common following the piercing.

Piercers often recommend drinking cold beverages, and sucking on crushed ice to help reduce the swelling.

Some people find that taking Ibuprofen or similar anti-inflammatory drugs can greatly reduce the swelling associated with a tongue piercing.

It can be difficult for an inexperienced recently pierced person to replace the barbell with a shorter version, so often the help of the piercer is asked for.

There is also the "snake-eyes" which is one curved bar going horizontally through the tip of the tongue, it is mostly painless other than a mild amount of pressure.

[citation needed] Documented complications of tongue piercings have included blood-borne infections causing brain and heart abscesses (with some deaths); hepatitis B and C, HIV, tuberculosis, and tetanus infections; swelling of the tongue causing airway obstruction, swallowing or choking on loose jewelry, damage to gums and broken teeth.

Common complaints include pain, scars, excessive salivation and damage to tooth enamel.