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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 27, 2017 1:39:07 GMT
Four years and six months ago, I got my tongue split for the first time. Sadly, there was a lot of re-growth (at least half the split), and I was ultimate left unsatisfied with the final result. I finally decided to take the plunge and get it cut once again. My appointment is tomorrow, and I'm starting to get really nervous! I've heard varying experiences about splits, but my initial procedure had a very rough healing period. I keep telling myself it won't be as bad the second time around, but of course it's still going to suck. I'll update tomorrow with some photos once it's done, and I'll write a post every day until the stitches come out one week later. Feel free to ask me questions. Here's a photo of how it looks now. The regrowth starts exactly where the open part of the split ends. The visible line after the gap is just scar tissue.
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Post by priestesslolo on Oct 27, 2017 2:06:50 GMT
Excited to see the re-cut! I've considered having my regrowth cut again, but I'm happy enough with the amount of separation I have left to leave it as-is.
I honestly had such a hard time even gently pulling the two sides apart both times around. I hope it'll be doable for you, or at least that the split wants to stay apart more the second time.
Good luck and happy healing!
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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 28, 2017 1:23:43 GMT
I got called in early, so I ended up getting my split done a few hours earlier than I was expecting. The artist was really great! I felt at ease the whole time. He was actually able to go deeper than he originally anticipated, so I'm really happy about that. He also cut the rest of my frenulum, since the artist who did my split initially left it partially there. Right now, I'm super uncomfortable but not in excruciating pain. Similar to last time, my throat also hurts a lot, so that makes swallowing difficult. Currently, I'm drooling into a cup and wiping away the drool on my chin with a towel I have with me haha. I'm drinking a ton of water, and I also managed to drink some juice too. It was super cooling on my tongue and felt really good haha. It's starting to swell a lot rn so I can't stick my tongue out very far without it hurting, but here's a picture anyway.
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Post by lishd on Oct 28, 2017 6:19:37 GMT
that looks fantastic.
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Post by priestesslolo on Oct 28, 2017 11:13:51 GMT
It's looking great!
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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 29, 2017 1:57:10 GMT
Thanks, both of you! <3
Day 1
Last night was rough. I couldn't sleep at all because everything was so sore and beginning to swell. I laid a towel down on top of my pillow and just let my drool flow wherever it wanted to go. At around 12am, I started taking ibuprofen intermittently with tylenol. So I took ibuprofen at midnight, tylenol at 2am, ibuprofen again at 4am, etc. I set an alarm every two hours and would rinse my mouth with salt water after taking the medicine. The ibuprofen gave me that little bit of relief to sleep properly.
The sore throat and glands is honestly the worst part. It's so hard to choke down water and stay hydrated. I made some soup with veggies and noodles, and I blended it up and drank a couple of cups that way. It made me feel sick, but I know it's essential to force myself to eat something so my body can have the fuel to heal.
In the last hour or so, the pain started getting really bad again since I had already taken the maximum daily dose of ibuprofen by 8am this morning. I was in enough pain that I decided to take just one more. It's already helping immensely. My bf bought me a soy frapp from Starbucks and I kind of spooned it over my tongue and let it slide down my throat. I'm surprisingly not hungry considering how little I've eaten.
Here's hoping tomorrow is better!
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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 30, 2017 1:39:29 GMT
Day 2
The swelling in my tongue has gone down a little, but it's still fat af. My mouth is starting to taste awful, and I'm pretty sure it smells bad too. There's a gross, lymphy white film all over the surface. It was the same when I initially got it split, and it's definitely something I didn't miss! I still have a bit of dysphagia, but it's certainly nowhere near as bad as yesterday. The drool is still never ending. I've actually just looped plastic bag handles onto my ears and I've been drooling freely into the bag. There's just too much to keep swallowing, especially with how my throat is feeling. It's easier than constantly holding a cup up too.
I tried to eat some mashed potatoes but couldn't. So it was smoothies, lukewarm soup, and juice again. I keep telling myself that this is the last of the really rough days, but it's still hard to go through!
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Post by priestesslolo on Oct 30, 2017 10:10:50 GMT
You're almost there! I think I took my stitches out on day 5 or 6. I remember that feeling of extreme relief lol.
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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 30, 2017 17:51:42 GMT
You're almost there! I think I took my stitches out on day 5 or 6. I remember that feeling of extreme relief lol. I get mine out on Friday! Honestly can’t wait. I remember the sutures being the most annoying part once everything deflates. I had the same extreme relief when I removed mine the first time too haha.
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Post by Adrenalynn on Oct 31, 2017 4:05:43 GMT
Day 3
I managed to swallow some mashed potatoes today and it was awesome! It made my mouth a bit sore, so I ate soup and smoothies for the rest of the day. But having that little bit of solid food in my stomach was awesome and had me feeling better about life. I didn’t have to drool into a bag today, which increased my morale tenfold.
Swelling has come down a lot and my throat isn't really sore anymore. Other than that, there's not much to update.
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Post by Adrenalynn on Nov 2, 2017 7:57:09 GMT
Here are two more days of updates! I haven't taken any photos because my tongue still looks gross.
Day 4
My throat wasn't bothering me at all today, so I ate huge quantities of mashed potatoes. They were the most delicious things I've ever tasted in my entire life, haha. It's funny how exciting real food is after days on a liquid diet. My tongue fit into my mouth properly now and I was no longer drooling, so I went out for a bit with a friend. I was even able to slur out some conversation, although it made the sutures feel really uncomfortable. Later on in the day, I attempted to eat some strawberries and was able to chew them gently without any issues. Three more days until the stitches are out!
Day 5
My speech has improved even more! I thought I was sounding pretty good, until I ordered a soy coffee frappucino and the barista made a non-soy cotton candy frappucino lmao. I ate a huge bowl of spaghetti and also some tater tots. I had to cut the tots into tiny pieces and it took a while to get them down, but I did it! If I could describe the way my split feels today, I'd say it's similar to how a canker sore feels. So basically it's nothing compared to before haha. The sutures are achy and a little bit itchy. This time around is a lot nicer because the tips of my tongue don't have sutures, and I think that's why I'm able to eat so many soft foods now. I'm pretty sure all I could consume on day five of my initial split was soft noodles that I had to eat one at a time and swallow whole.
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Post by Adrenalynn on Nov 4, 2017 3:43:33 GMT
Day 6Basically identical to day five. My speech was a tiny bit better but not much. One of the sutures was pulling super bad and felt tight and sore. Everything else was the same. Day 7Finally, time for the sutures to come out! I opted to go back to the artist to have him remove them. That way he could check on my tongue and make sure everything looked peachy. Some of them didn't hurt at all when they came out, some of them stung, but one in particular hurt SO much. It was the one that had been pulling badly the last couple of days. The artist told me that it was directly over top of the old scar tissue. My eyes watered up and I had to take a second to recover before he took out the remaining one haha. My mouth immediately felt so much better! The suture removal understandably caused some swelling, especially where that painful stitch was located. I got an icy drink not long after and it helped a bit. The back of my tongue hasn't healed yet due to the exercises I've been doing to prevent regrowth, but the sides are looking nice. I'm lisping pretty badly but I know a large part of it is because I'm still swollen. Right now I'm having a bit of trouble with "R" sounds because they cause discomfort. Even though it's not fully healed yet and still looks/smells kinda off, my tongue has gotten to the point where I feel comfortable taking a photo of it. This was less than 10 mins after the suture removal (Sorry, some of you have seen this on IG already). I've put a comparison photo underneath (that some of you have also seen lol) that better shows off my tongue than the one in my first post. And that's it! I'll update again in a month or so when everything is healed. I hope you enjoyed following along with my journey, and don't hesitate to ask me any questions.
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Post by Adrenalynn on Feb 6, 2018 1:20:26 GMT
I just realized that I never posted a healed photo of my split. My phone finally came back from repair today, so I figured it was a good time to take an updated photo. Sorry again to those who have already seen it on my IG haha. The regrowth is noticeable, but not as bad as I was expecting. Overall I'm extremely happy with the fix.
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