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For animals with natural splitting, see Forked tongue.
A woman\'s split tongue
Tongue bifurcation, or tongue splitting, is a type of body modification in which the tongue is cut centrally from its tip part of the way towards its base, forking the end. Most who have had the procedure report that it enhances the pleasure of kissing. With a bit of practice, one learns to move the forks of the tongue independently. In addition to being covered under laws prohibiting the unlicensed practice of medicine, tongue splitting is now explicitly illegal in some U.S. states and banned in the U.S. military,[citation needed] so, by necessity, it is an underground practice. The issue of tongue splitting has also divided bioethicists. Appel, Jacob M. In Defense of Tongue Splitting, Journal of Clinical Ethics, Fall 2005. Pp. 236-8.
Tongue bifurcation is, however, not necessarily a surgical procedure. Self modifiers often choose to achieve a split by gradually tightening nylon bindings inserted through an existing tongue piercing over a long period of time. This method is long, arduous, and requires a high pain tolerance. Often, the only bleeding in this method occurs during the suturing of the tongue edges to create a more rounded, natural look. It is not rare that some of the inner area grows back while healing.
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