Piercing Pictures

Body piercing is an art of puncturing or cutting the part of the body creating an opening in which jewelry can be worn. It is also known as form of body modification or body decorations. Body piercing is a practice which is governed by various states and agencies especially of the health department. A body piercer must meet some basic requirement and should have basic training before he can lawfully practice piercing on people. Before a person can practice body piercing he needs to have a basic knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

Body piercing is a form of art which is in practice from the ancient times. The actual time of it coming into practice cannot be predicted due to lack of information and scholarly articles. Body piercing became popular in the west after the World War II. Piercing other than that of the ear became popular in the late 60's and 70's.

Types of piercings:

• Ear piercing
• Nose piercing
• Lip
• Tongue piercing
• Nipple and genital piercing

For more piercing type information, also check piercings pictures bellow:

Piercing in ear	Eyebrow piercing	Gone wrong piercing	Lip piercing
Septum piercing	Tongue piercing	Weird piercing	Nipple piercing

Ear Piercing - Ear piercing has been practiced since the ancient times in almost all the tribal cultures of the world. This type of piercing was earlier limited to females but is also becoming popular in males. The ear piercing includes piercing the lobe of the ear which can have multiple piercing. The oldest piercing found dated 2500 B.C.

Nose Piercing - Nose piercing also has a long history. It's customary for India women to wear nose stud, usually in the left nostril as it is associated with the female reproductive system.

Lip and Tongue Piercing - Lip piercing and lip stretching is common in African tribes. In 'Malawi' women used to adorn their lips by a disc called 'pelele'. These days teens around the world are getting themselves pierced in lips and tongue to look trendy.

Nipple and genital piercing - According to the Kama Sutra genital piercing permits sexual enhancements with the help of pins other objects. Nipple piercing was a sign of masculinity amongst the soldiers of Rome.

Piercing Tools

Permanent body piercing is made by creating an opening using sharp objects. This can be done by either puncturing or by scalpel. Tools used for piercing includes:

• The piercing needle - The most common method involves making an opening using a hollow medical needle which is available in different shapes and sizes.
• The indwelling cannula - Many piercers use a needle contain a cannula having a hollow plastic tube at the end of needle.
• The dermal punch - A dermal punch is used to remove a circular area of tissue for placing jewelry and is mainly used for larger cartilage piercing.
• The piercing gun - Piercing guns were mainly developed to tag livestock but are now used for ear piercing. They are more painful then needles and not preferred by professional.
• Forceps - Forceps and clamps are used to hold and stabilize the tissue to be pierced. Mostly triangular headed forceps are used but for tongue oval headed forceps are used.
• Corks - Corks are placed on the other side of the body part that is pierced to receive the needle.

Risk associated with body piercing

• Allergic reactions due to the metal in the jewelry mainly nickel. It can be minimized using high quality jewelry made from titanium or other similar inert metals.
• Infections may be viral or bacterial. Reports indicate that bacterial infections are serious and nearly 10-20% results in local benign of bacterial infection. Risk of infection is higher in those with congenital heart diseases. Viral infections may include hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
• Excessive bleeding in some cases is also observed.
• Keloid formation is also a common problem which features formation of scars.
• Physical trauma like friction, bumping and tearing may cause edema delay healing.
• Oral trauma features swelling and infection of tongue, dental fractures.

Prevention

1. Hands should be washed before touching the piercing area or the jewelry.
2. Use of peroxides and alcohols can be dangerous.
3. Rinse the pierced area after exercising.
4. Rinse tongue or lip piercing after meals.
5. Avoid tanning lotions, tanning oils and direct sunlight as they might cause irritation.