A body piercing, as the name implies, is a piercing or puncture made on the body. And afterwards, jewelry is inserted into the hole.
Commonly pierced body parts include the ears, nose, brows, lips, tongue, cheeks and belly button
I personally love piercings. I find them very attractive and sexy. I’ve had several parts of my body pierced: earlobes (I have 3 on each ear although it used to be 5), tongue, nostril, septum, lips (monroe and snake bite piercings) and belly button.
People get piercings for various reasons ranging from spiritual reasons to cultural reasons, for self expression, sexual pleasure, need for self mutilation, peer pressure, personal narratives of reclaiming the body whereby piercings tend to have a self-healing effect, resistance (to parents and other subcultures).
I wish I had some deep, personal stories as to why I got my piercings. But I don’t. I just thought I’d look good in them. It was part of my aesthetic sense. I remember the first piercing I got. It was the tongue piercing and I was 17 years old at the time. I went with my best friend to this really cool place that doubled as a piercing salon and tattoo shop. I met the receptionist who booked an appointment for me on the same day. She was good looking, had this amazing long sleeve tattoo and really cute dermal piercings. We got ushered into the waiting area where we given drinks while we waited. The lady who did my piercing was a medical doctor. She was so cool and reassuring, told me I won’t feel any pain. Turns out she lied. The pain stung as hell.I couldn’t talk properly or eat solid food for a few days. But it looked so cool and I loved it.
I have never had an infected piercing but I know of people who have had, and it was pretty nasty. How do you know if a piercing is infected? You’d notice:
•the area around it gets swollen, painful, hot, very red or dark (depending on your skin color)
- a discharge ; could be blood or pus
A lot of things can cause a piercing to be infected and they include;
•Removing the jewelry before the piercing heals
•Touching the piercing with dirty hands
•Forgetting to clean the new piercings twice daily as recommended by a professional
•Contact with open water including lakes, rivers, pools and hot tubs. Showers are better than baths since bathtubs can hold onto bacteria
To avoid the above, you should always :
•wash your hands before touching your piercing for any reason
•clean with saline or chlorhexidine solution twice a day
•clean with a clean cotton pad or swab not cloth as the later may habor germs.
•Avoid using perfumed soap
•Do not go swimming for the first 24hours after a piercing. I will recommend first one week tho
•Do not have oral sex until a mouth piercing has healed
•Do not have sex until a genital piercing has healed
•Do not do your own piercing ( it must be done by a professional).
Unfortunately, I’ve had to take out my facial piercings as it is not considered professional in my current line of work in this part of the world. However, lately I’ve been thinking of getting a nipple piercing. But I’m too scared. Lol. How bad can it be? It can’t be that painful right?
