Try walking along a busy intersection and observe the people that pass by. You will see the men in three-piece business suits jockeying for space with similarly clad women. Look down and you are bound to see a race among either brown or black leather footwear. You'll hear a phone ring and you'll see almost everyone in the vicinity grabbing for their similar-looking cell phones. The world has indeed become a veritable sea of people who walk, dress, act, and look the same.

However, you'll find people who refuse to be carbon copies of others. You'll see people with earrings far from where their ears are. The earring-like pieces are not actually earrings, though. They are body piercings.

Body Piercing

Essentially, body piercing is a form of body art, done through deliberately piercing a particular part of the body and inserting a particular piece of body jewelry. This piece of jewelry will not be removed for a certain period for the complete healing of the pierced body part. The length of the healing period depends on which body part was pierced and on what kind of jewelry was used. The healing period may take as short as 2 weeks but it can take as long as one year.

Reasons to Get Pierced

Body piercing is usually done for ornamental purposes. Ladies who are proud of their flat or sculpted stomachs can wear belly rings to draw other people's eyes to their physical attributes. This use of body piercing to beautify oneself is something universal, though details of execution differ from one culture to another. For instance, members of some tribes pierced their ears and used heavy gold jewelry on them so that their ears would droop down. In such tribes, long, big ears are a true mark of beauty. Again some members of particular tribes pierced their noses and inserted a piece of bone through them to mark their valor.

Ways to Get Pierced

The simplest and widely used method is the standard needle method. The hollowed-out needle is used to pierce the body. After completely piercing a particular body part, the piece of jewelry - usually a stud, is inserted through the hollow needle.

Other methods known today are scalpelling, which makes use of a scalpel to create a slit in the body tissue for larger types of jewelry; piercing guns, which are usually used for piercing the ears; dermal punching, which creates circular piercing and sometimes removes both skin and cartilage; and indwelling cannula method, which makes use of a hollow plastic tube placed at the end of a needle so this is a process similar to that of a standard needle method.

Each method is unique in terms of the tools and techniques used. The part of the body to be pierced, the type of jewelry to be inserted and the period of healing required are the basis for selecting a particular body piercing method.

Lethal Beauty

There are risks to body piercing, a few of which are very serious. For instance, one can conceivably acquire bacterial infection from contaminated needles and piercing tools. Some may experience dental damage, keloids, excessive bleeding, nerve damage, and allergic reactions. Worst of all, one could contract HIV if the piercing tools used were not properly sanitized.

If you wish to get pierced - for whatever reason - beware of the risks of body piercing. Furthermore, avail of body piercing services only from the most reputable body piercer in town so you can be assured of a trouble-free body piercing experience.