Splitting the tongue
Tongue splitting ( English splitting tongue, forking ) is a type of body modification . A medical procedure cuts the front part of the tongue from the tip towards the root of the tongue in such a way that two tongue tips are created similar to a snake tongue.
history
In the Byzantine Empire , splitting the tongue was a punishment that was applied to an emperor after his overthrow, so that he could not rule again after the mutilation. Alternatively, his nose was split open or blindness caused.
Starting from the modern primitive movement, splitting the tongue was carried out as a body modification in western cultures from the 1990s.
execution
The procedure should be carried out by medical personnel, otherwise there is not only the risk that the tongue will grow back together after the cut, but serious complications can also arise.
For this purpose, after local anesthesia of the tongue with a scalpel, a sagittal longitudinal incision about two to five centimeters deep is made starting at the tip of the tongue. This cuts the lingual septum without damaging the individual muscles. In the case of heavy bleeding, the use of an electrocautery or a silver nitrate solution can be useful, but the bleeding can usually be controlled without any problems. The edges of the wound are often sutured to prevent bleeding and the tongue from growing back together. An alternative is the use of a completely healed, to several millimeters widened or by Scalpellings large diameter inserted tongue piercings as a base. The cut is then made from the tip of the tongue into the piercing hole. A growing together of the halves, which usually occurs from the rear edge of the wound, at the beginning of the bifurcation, is then very unlikely and suturing is unnecessary.
Another, now less common, method uses an electrocautery instead of a scalpel to split the tongue. However, this method is controversial due to the damage to the surrounding tissue caused by the glowing metal with which the tissue is burned instead of cut. It can cause permanent nerve damage, and the smoke that is produced is also considered to be harmful to health. The advantage of the method is that there is practically no bleeding, the procedure can be carried out more quickly and the risk of infection is considerably lower. Subsequent sewing is superfluous because the destroyed tissue can no longer grow together. In the USA in particular, this method is often used without anesthesia, as is the scalpel method. The electrocautery is described as more painful than the scalpel; However, since cauterization is often carried out after that to stop bleeding, the overall procedure with the cautery knife is ultimately less painful. The cautery method is mainly practiced in France and the USA .
A few doctors, mostly oral surgeons , perform tongue splits with an argon laser , although this is considered by many experts to be too weak for such a procedure. In the case of laser treatment, a more powerful CO 2 laser should be used. The first known splits of the tongue in industrialized countries were performed in 1997 by an oral surgeon in New York . The laser method has all the advantages of the electrocautery method, but is much less traumatic.
Finally, there is a modification of the scalpel method; instead of a scalpel, surgical scissors are used.
In the first few days after the procedure, speech and food intake are severely restricted by swelling and possibly pain; pain medication is sometimes recommended. Then you can start with soft food (soup, porridge, tea). The healing process is complete after two weeks.
However, the tongue can also be split without a surgical intervention. In the so-called “Fishing Line Method”, a nylon thread is pulled through the stinging channel of an existing tongue piercing and knotted tightly, which in the long term can achieve a “cheese-cutting effect” by cutting the thread through the tongue. However, this process is very tedious (several weeks) and painful. During the entire time, impairment in speaking and eating is to be expected.
Mobility of the tongue
After complete healing, the independent mobility of the two tongue tips in the longitudinal and horizontal axis can be achieved through training. Exercises in front of a mirror have proven effective for this. Any speech disorders that may have occurred (e.g. lisp ) that have arisen as a result of splitting the tongue can also be trained off again in this way.
Complications
After splitting the tongue, bleeding and infection can occur. There is also the risk that the halves of the tongue will grow together. Changes in taste and numbness as well as speech disorders are also possible.
Public acceptance
In some states in the United States , splitting the tongue is prohibited by law and not permitted during military service. As a result, doctors in the United States usually refuse to do it, which makes tongue splitting mostly at greater risk within the subculture.
In Germany, social rejection is predominantly to be expected, which could therefore be associated with professional disadvantages. There is no criminal liability.
The episode of the TV series Boston Public , broadcast in America on September 19, 2003, is about a group of students who had their tongue split, which was heavily criticized by the school administration.
Splitting the tongue in the media
- The one with the Akutagawa Prize excellent novel TokyoLove of Hitomi Kanehara treats the issue tongue splitting.
- Show artist Erik Sprague has a forked tongue.
Web links
- Split tongue at body-modification.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ (720 ILCS 5 / 12-10.2) Sec. 12-10.2. Tongue splitting . Illinois General Assembly. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
