BODY PIERCING PICTURES
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Many different cultures have pierced their bodies for centuries. If you look in a history book, you will find that Eg
yptians, Greeks, and Romans decorated their bodies
with piercings and tattooes. People pierced their bodies to show the their importance in a group, or because they thought it protected them from evil. Today, we know much more about the risks of body piercing. Body piercing is a serious decision. Before you decide what you want to do, ask your friends, parents, and trusted adults what they think.
What are teens saying about body piercing today?
Ask other teens who have been pierced what they thought of the whole experience. How much did it cost? Was it painful? How long did it take to heal? If they had the chance to do it over again, would they?
Some tips teens have passed along to us:
- YOU do NOT have to pierce your body to “belong”.
- YOU can ALWAYS change your mind or WAIT if you are not sure.
- If YOU do decide to have your body pierced, NEVER pierce your own body or let a friend do it because you can run into very serious health problems.
Are there any medical reasons why I should not get a piercing?
Yes. There are medical conditions (see the list below) that could interfere with the natural healing process after a piercing, which makes getting a piercing under these circumstances not only a bad decision, but a risky one.
The Association of Professional Piercers feels that you should not consider getting pierced if:
- You have a skin irritation or an unusual lesion or a rash, lump, cut, moles, or lots of freckles (where you want to get pierced)
- You have diabetes, hemophilia, an auto-immune disorder, certain heart conditions, or another medical condition that might interfere with the healing process
- If you have plans to become pregnant and want a nipple or navel piercing
- If you are all ready pregnant
- If a licensed professional piercer feels that it would be a bad idea
Bottom line, if you are wondering if it is safe for you to have an oral or body piercing, you should talk to your health care provider.
What are the risks of body piercing?
The most serious risks are infections, allergic reactions, bleeding, and damage to nerves or teeth. Infections may be caused by hepatitis, HIV, tetanus, bacteria, and yeast. If the piercer washes his/her hands and uses gloves and sterile equipment and you take good care of your piercing, the risk of infection is lowered (but still exists).
Did you know that:
- You CAN get and/or spread a serious infection (including HIV), if the piercing equipment hasn’t been sterilized properly
- Infections caused by bacteria getting into the puncture of the piercing may also happen later, even after the piercing has healed
- If the studio uses a piercing “gun” to do body piercings, LEAVE! Piercing guns cannot be sterilized and should NOT be used for body piercing
Another cause of problems from piercings is using wrong kind of jewelry for the area pierced. If the jewelry is too small, it can actually cut off the blood supply to the tissue, causing swelling and pain. If the jewelry is either too thin or too heavy, or if you are allergic to the metal, your body may reject the jewelry. This means that your body reacts against the jewelry because it is a “foreign object”.
Know the risks before you have your body pierced:
- Bacterial infection (where you had the piercing)
- Excessive (a lot of) bleeding
- Allergic reactions (to certain kinds of jewelry)
- Damage to nerves (for example, you may lose feeling at the area that gets pierced)
- Keloids (thick scarring at the piercing site)
- Dental damage (swelling and infection of the tongue, chipped/broken teeth, choking on loose jewelry)
