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Body Piercing
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Body Piercing
Carrie Beisel, University of Northern Colorado
Every culture throughout history has enhanced their appearance by either injecting dye
under their skin or piercing odd parts of their body. I wasn't sure whether all of them
would be appropriate to talk about in class, so I won't. Archaeologists have found
evidence of Egyptian and Macedonian jewelry for pierced earrings dating back to 2000
BCE. Many contemporary cultures reserve piercing parts of the body for a rite of passage
from child to adult. In the 1960s, few women in the US had their ears pierced and
almost no men did. And now in the '90's, it's become an everyday thing for the women
and very many of the guys as well.
Piercing was reintroduced to this generation by "bikers, punks and skinheads," and
then became a trend of contemporary fashion. The most common piercing area for men
besides the ear is the tongue. The biggest problem from that has been dental problems.
Many teeth have been broken, and it causes a speech impediment and problems eating
certain foods. For women, the most common part besides their ears is the navel. I have
my belly button pierced which is why I chose that. In the Miss America contest this year,
a few contestants had their belly buttons pierced and it was a big controversy over
whether they should be allowed to show it during the pageant. The biggest problem it
caused me when I got mine done was wearing particular clothes. You can't wear jeans or
skirts that rub on it because it becomes very sore. And a bonus is it can be covered. My
parents are very conservative, and I wasn't allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 16,
so it was quite an interesting thing at my house when they found out about my belly
button. Other body parts that are popular to pierce are your eyebrows, your lips and your
nose.
A common question is: does it hurt? It hurts. The body responds to pain by
releasing endorphins, which are a natural pain killer. Piercing only hurts for a moment or
two, and it doesn't hurt after it heals. For me, it took about a month to heal. I went to
Lake Bower right after I had it done, and that didn't help things too much. I depends on
how you get it pierced. The most common, but worst way of piercing, is a friend who
does it for a friend. We didn't do that. A bunch of my friends and I got it done by a
technician, and she use the right tools, including a stainless steel ring, which is supposed to
keep it from being infected. Guns should only be used on the earlobes, but some people
try and do it with that, and they can cause a lot of problems, including disfigurement.
Needles are never to be reused, even on the same person. It took them twice to get
through mine. And the patient is carefully instructed in after-care after the piercing. We
were supposed to use Bactine on ours. A lot of people use different things. That worked
for me.
In conclusion, if it's done by the right person and taken care of properly, there's
nothing to worry about because it's safe.
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