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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.^[1]

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. The most recommended procedure however, is to perform the split using a surgical laser^{[citation needed]}, which cauterizes the wound, reduces the healing time, and cuts down on the amount of blood loss. Often, the only bleeding in this method occurs during the suturing of the tongue edges to create a more rounded, natural look. Scalpeling is NOT recommended because of the profuse blood loss and pain involved^{[citation needed]}. The scalpel is often heated to help cauterize the wound, but this adds to the pain.

It is not rare that some of the inner area grows back while healing. For this reason, some have a relatively thick tongue piercing (about 6-10 mm in diameter) where the base of the split is supposed to be, and wait till this is fully healed before going through the splitting procedure.

To achieve a more rounded and natural look, the upper and lower part of the cutting area in both halves are often sutured together with stitches during the healing process. This prevents sharp, unnatural looking edges on the new "tongues" which would otherwise occur.

• The Lizardman