[kokosas]

Body Art Series: Piercings

By SABRINA BRADEY, MACINSIDERS

As with tattoos, piercings have become very popular amongst youth and young adults. Piercings are most appealing to those who are new to the body art craze. They are relatively painless (most piercings only hurting for a few

seconds when the needle is put in) and if the individual experiences buyer’s remorse they can simply take it out and let the hole heal. However, there can be complications with piercings, as with any foreign object that you put in your body; you run the risk of getting an infection.

So what's the deal with piercings? Which of the myths surrounding them are true? What are things to look out for? Are there ‘bad’ spots to put a piercing? These are some of the questions I’m going to deal with in this article.

As someone who has had over 10 piercings since I was 13 years old I would never tell you that you should not get pierced, however, I would tell you that you should make an educated decision about being pierced as it can have serious ramifications. Not all piercings heal over cleanly and sometimes they have effects that are not reversible.

As with tattoos you should make sure you know what you’re getting into before you get a piercing. You should go to a proper studio and make sure that the tools being used on you have either been sterilized properly or are brand new. To read more about proper studio sterilization see the article on tattoos.

Something to consider when you’re getting a piercing is whether or not it’s going to become an inconvenience for you. I used to have an eyebrow ring but it became too much of a problem for me because of martial arts. Getting punched in the face with a bar in your eyebrow isn’t pleasant. It eventually got ripped out (though not in martial arts) and ended up being a waste of money for me and painful too.

It may seem foolish to mention it but I must make sure to note that if you have any blood disorders, skin allergies or irritations you should avoid getting a piercing. Blood disorders (like haemophilia) will most likely prevent you from ever having a piercing or tattoo. If you are taking drugs that thin your blood or are under the influence of alcohol or like substances do yourself a favour and don’t try to get pierced. Any piercer worth his/her salt won’t let you in the chair and if they do give you a piercing you can bleed heavily which poses medical dangers.

Allergies are more common and many piercing shops do not carry rings that include things like nickel and they are never plated. You should inquire about your allergies with the piercer before you go in and they will most likely recommend the titanium rings. Piercers also use petroleum jelly to grease the needle before it goes in and rubbing alcohol to clean the area first so if you have any allergies to those you should notify them before hand.

Common assumptions about piercings:
Surface piercings aren’t worth it as they will eventually fall out:
This is fairly true. It is rare that a surface piercing will stay in the body for a long period of time. Surface piercings only pierce a small amount of skin and not anything substantial like cartilage. With navel rings and ear lobes there is a large enough chunk of flesh to stop the ring from being pushed out (although some people have still had it happen to them). Personally I don’t think a surface piercing is a wise investment because they’re often difficult to clean and have a high rejection rate but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get one if you really want it. Surface piercings can be put practically anywhere and the risks surrounding them change depending on where they are located.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do and get your nipples pierced!
Apparently there is a myth that Roman Centurion’s used to pierce their nipples and attach their capes to them. Honestly I spent a good while laughing about this when I heard it because it is absurd, they did no such thing. Roman soldiers did not pierce themselves because piercings could be used against them in battle. There is also the myth that men had them to hold up sagging togas which is also ludicrous

If a woman gets her nipple pierced she’ll never be able to breast feed:
This is not necessarily true; many women who have had nipple piercings have been able to breast feed but there are still some who cannot. It is not a question that you can really answer at the moment when you get pierced because you won’t know until you’re producing milk for a baby. If your nipple ring gets infected or is not done properly you can develop scar tissue in the nipple which may impede your milk ducts. Blocked milk ducts can lead to swollen and painful breasts full of milk that can’t get out as well as infections or abscesses. This is not the case in every nipple piercing however, this is another time where consulting a doctor would be your best option before going to get pierced. Make sure you get pierced at a respectable studio with a professional and you minimize the odds of having it done wrong.

If you get your downstairs pierced you’ll never be able to use it again!
Genital piercings make many people cringe and I’m honestly one of them, there is only one person I’d let get to my downstairs with a piece of metal in their hand and that’s my gynaecologist. Nonetheless, genital piercings have become more and more popular... although you have to establish a close relationship or have x-ray vision to tell if someone has a stud down there. There is a justifiable fear about piercing your genitals because both the male and female genitalia have many nerves running through a small area, especially with the female genitalia. Unfortunately there is no definitive answer as to whether or not one could lose the use of their genitals if they pierce them because it’s never been reported to have happened. Theoretically it is possible, if there is an infection that isn’t taken care of instantly it could cause serious damage. Infection is the biggest worry with genital piercings: the female genitals are much like the mouth in the sense that the warm, moist atmosphere makes it easy for bacteria to grow. There are certain types of bacteria that are necessary for the female downstairs but that doesn’t mean that that bacteria should enter your bloodstream which is where the problems occur. These types of piercings require that you adhere to the cleaning schedule and avoid sexual conduct while they are healing.

Eyebrow piercings can leave half your face paralyzed:
As far as I can determine this is a complete myth. There is a risk of infection leading to sight problems seeing as the piercing is so close to the eye. If the person being pierced moved there could be some serious problems but professionals are trained to handle that kind of situation. As for an eyebrow ring leading to a paralyzed face it seems that this is false. There are no major nerves going through that area that control all the muscles/nerves in your face. However, I am not a doctor and you should consult your family doctor if you’re worried about this. On that note, I never had problems with the actual piercing of my eyebrow; it was just a bad place to put it for me.

Tongue rings can lead to brain complications:
Although this has only been reported once it is entirely possible. If an infection happens in the tongue it can spread to other parts of the body via the bloodstream. In the reported case the bacteria that made its way into the woman’s brain was the kind of bacteria found in a human beings mouth. Bacteria grow very well in the mouth because it is warm and moist; your mouth is one of the areas on your body with the most bacteria at all times. Keeping this in mind it is essential to clean out mouth piercings after each meal and even in between. You should avoid smoking but if you have to smoke you must rinse your mouth out with mouthwash immediately.

Lip/Tongue rings damage the teeth and gums:
Yes they do... and no they don’t. Some people experience problems with it and others simply do not. Many people with tongue rings change the bar to one of a softer material after it has healed to help avoid dental complications. With tongue rings the size has to be adjusted as it heals because the original bar is too large (it has to take swelling into account). Metal balls chip the teeth easier than plastic ones so it’s a good idea to change from the metal once your tongue is healed. Many people prefer the look of metal balls and don’t want coloured ones but there are some that mimic the look of metal without being as hard.

Serious damage can be done to your mouth by accident with mouth piercings: if you bite down on your metal bar/ball you can crack teeth which will require quite a bit of dental work to fix. Labrets and lip rings can, over time, push the gum line down in your front teeth which can cause the teeth to fall out earlier as you get older. These are things to take into consideration when piercing your mouth. See an article about it here

Piercings should be done with a gun:
Only when getting ear LOBES pierced should it be done with a gun. Your nose should not be pierced with a gun. Your upper ear should not be pierced with a gun. Your navel should NOT be pierced with a gun. ONLY your lobes should be pierced with a gun. Do not go to a beauty parlour or the local Claires that pierces ears and expect your septum to be pierced. If they try, you should start running.

Things to avoid/ tips for after getting pierced:

• Avoid pools and lakes while the piercing is healing, especially public pools. Don’t be fooled and think that the chlorine will help clean it, it will just dry it out and make it more vulnerable to being pulled out. Also, with public pools: there’s probably more bacteria in there than chlorine so just stay out. People pee in there; do you want that in your piercing?
• Take into consideration your clothing. Don’t get your navel pierced in the middle of winter when you’re wearing big sweaters that may snag on it. Get it towards the end of the summer when you’re still able to wear light shirts for the first few weeks while it heals but it doesn’t ruin your ability to go swimming all summer.
• Don’t use peroxide or rubbing alcohol on the piercing. Yes it will kill bacteria but it will also dry out the wound
• Don’t pick at it. It is normal for it to weep a clear or slightly yellow fluid in the first few weeks. Soak it in warm water with sea salt and gently wipe away the gunk. Once the ring is clean of the gunk rotate it gently.
• You can use polysporn if it gets really dry but don’t rely on it
• Use sea salt and warm water or soap with tea tree oil in it when you’re cleaning your piercing as they are both natural.
• Avoid using chemicals or harsh soaps on your pierced area. Do not put makeup, lotion, sunscreen, etc over it until it is completely healed.
• If it starts producing a puss (green fluid, often smells) it means you’re not cleaning it enough or properly. Try increasing your cleaning habits and be thorough about it. If it continues to puss you should take it out.

[davey]

People pee in there; do you want that in your piercing?

Although it is quite gross... isn't urine sterile? =p

[kokosas]

Uh no... thats your body's waste right? I can't say for sure... LETS GOOGLE IT!



And Wiki says.... that urine from healthy kidneys is sterile!



But still, do you want someone elses pee in your wound? And one wouldn't know if everyone who has peed in there has healthy kidneys!

[davey]

Originally Posted by kokosas

But still, do you want someone elses pee in your wound? And one wouldn't know if everyone who has peed in there has healthy kidneys!

lol. it would definitely be unpleasant... that reminds me... supposedly you are supposed to pee on the wound if you are stung by a jellyfish?

[kokosas]

Originally Posted by dvy88

lol. it would definitely be unpleasant... that reminds me... supposedly you are supposed to pee on the wound if you are stung by a jellyfish?

Apparently thats a myth and it doesn't always work, sometimes it's said to make it worse. That's only hearsay though, I couldn't say it's a fact

[lorend]

nice pic nerd face.

are my piercings not good enough for you or something?

[kokosas]

Originally Posted by lorend

nice pic nerd face.

are my piercings not good enough for you or something?

Hey shut up it took me a long time to get that picture. You should see how stupid I look in the rest of the pictures.

If you wanted your mug in the article you should have asked dear room mate of mine who lives downstairs and can easily yell at me to come take a picture of her many piercings! So there!

And the fact that I put this up while you were in class is irrelevant!

[KaylaMarie]

"If it continues to puss you should take it out"

Just a side not on this, I've always heard that you should never remove an infected piercing because, particularly if it's new, the piercing will close up over the infection, trapping it under the skin. Just a little tid bit, don't know how much truth there is in that, but it makes sense to me hehe

[KaylaMarie]

Great article by the way! I myself have had/still have a number of piercings, all of which I still love!

[ferreinm]

This is an amazing article! I just wish I read this back when i was 16 and got 9 piercings done. Yup, they are ALL gone now!

[kokosas]

Originally Posted by KaylaMarie

"If it continues to puss you should take it out"

Just a side not on this, I've always heard that you should never remove an infected piercing because, particularly if it's new, the piercing will close up over the infection, trapping it under the skin. Just a little tid bit, don't know how much truth there is in that, but it makes sense to me hehe

I've never been told that but you raise a good point. I've had to take piercings out before because they were infected and I didn't have a problem with it getting trapped. I guess I should have mentioned that you should continue to clean it even after the ring has been removed to help flush the crap out of the wound.

[kokosas]

Originally Posted by ferreinm

This is an amazing article! I just wish I read this back when i was 16 and got 9 piercings done. Yup, they are ALL gone now!

Haha, oh dear. 9? Was it a whim? Something to piss mummy off? I admit, I did that with my eyebrow ring, I called her from Wasaga Beach and told her I was going to get my tongue done and she said she'd kick me out of the house so I said fine, I'll get my eyebrow ring done. It turned out to be a bad idea but *shrug* live and learn I suppose!

[ferreinm]

Originally Posted by kokosas

Haha, oh dear. 9? Was it a whim? Something to piss mummy off? I admit, I did that with my eyebrow ring, I called her from Wasaga Beach and told her I was going to get my tongue done and she said she'd kick me out of the house so I said fine, I'll get my eyebrow ring done. It turned out to be a bad idea but *shrug* live and learn I suppose!

Yeah it was definitely on a whim. My mom didn't want my bellybutton pierced but I told her I'd die without one. Let's just say, mother knows best! My entire stomach was swollen and blue. It got severely infected. I won't go into further details though! Word to the wise, make sure the person who is piercing you isn't on drugs. Years later I found out that the place I went to was super sketch because the owner/piercer was always on drugs. Since none of my friends ever did drugs (and I'm ignorant on the topic) I couldn't tell he wasn't on any.

I wanted an eyebrow ring but my mom was like, If you do that you will not only look ugly but you'll also be homeless! And I opted out, she was right the first time so I gave her the benefit of the doubt for the eyebrow piercing. I find for eyebrow piercings it really needs to suit your face. It wouldn't suit me at all! Plus, I move my eyebrows a lot apparently so it'd probably be painful! Why do you regret your eyebrow piercing though? And did you ever get your tongue done later on?

[kokosas]

I didn't ever get my tongue done which is probably a good thing since they seemed to be connected with hookers these days which is really a shame since that's a HORRIBLE connection.

As for regretting my eyebrow ring, it was a bad spot. I did martial arts back then (notice how I say did cause there's no bloody time for things like that now a days!) and getting punched in the face, even with a wrapped hand, hurts on a normal basis. Add a bar right over the bone of your eyebrow and you stop being able to see out of that eye. The pain is actually blinding because your eyes water up so much and it hurts to blink and open them so you just end up losing the match and you're bleeding at the end of it. Hence it wasn't worth it. It ended up getting ripped out by my t-shirt though. That sucked. Big time.

[Iman]

"Only when getting ear LOBES pierced should it be done with a gun."

I wouldn't even get my ear lobes done with a gun because you can't stick one of those into an autoclave, hence it isn't sterilized completely... Sure, ear lobes are low-risk areas, but I'm paranoid. :P A needle is only slightly more expensive anyway! Claire's was $50-something for my friend, and when I went to New Tribe, it was $58.