it has come up over a couple of days
tongue swelling
Your tongue will swell anyway and as for getting it to go down quicker there's no real cure, You can use ice water & crushed ice in your mouth. Also one thing my piercer recommended was Ibuprofen that melts in your mouth so you can allow it to actually enter the piercing site. :)
Swelling of the glands under your tongue could indicate an infection, such as a blocked salivary gland or an oral infection. It's best to consult a healthcare professional for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Dehydration
Sounds like you are not keeping your tongue swelling in check, if your tongue is swelling you need to get on some ice and motor down to your local body piercer and ask about a longer barbell. You should be following the written aftercare instructions you were given, these would detail how to handle swelling and aftercare. For now get some ice on your tongue and then deal with the other points I have made here.
its not so much the swelling that hurts, its the fact you have a bar shoved through your tongue, and it hurts for like a week. the next day is horrible you can move your tongue at all and you talk with a lisp for a week or two
No, the barbell is too short and your tongue is swelling. The barbell should always be longer for new piercings due to swelling, contact your piercer to see about getting a longer barbell. If left the tongue will swell to a point that will cause the barbell ball to be pulled into the tongue, get on some ice to control the swelling and contact your piercer.
Yes, this is due to the localized swelling from the piercing process. Follow the aftercare guide you were provided with by your piercer and the swelling should go down in a few days.
OK simply put a tongue piercing once done will have localized swelling for the first two weeks, once the swelling has eased the barbell may seem some what longer (good time to get the barbell stepped down to protect the teeth). Once the step down barbell is in the piercing will remain slightly swelled for the next 4 weeks. So over all, so long as you don't get a cold* (*this will prolong the healing time) you are looking at a time period of 6 weeks to attain a light heal. This is far from considered healed, professional piercers consider a piercing seasoned and fully healed when the piercing is a full year old.
A complete healing of tongue piercing can take up to 4 weeks.
Your tongue swells because the piercing is still healing and when you sleep, your heart and tongue are on the same level. With your mouth open and snoring at night this tends to dry the tongue and the swelling occurs. The swelling will ease off over time as the piercing toughens up and heals further.
Very carefully, depending on the size of the swelling.