What is body piercing ?
Body piercing is type of art that practices puncturing body parts to create an opening for adding jewelries or ornamentations. This practice dates back to ancient and biblical times, wherein mummified bodies have been discovered recently to wear piercings. Many cultures still practice body piercings to represent slavery, royalty, femininity, masculinity and other beliefs.
Today, local and state departments govern body piercing due to its health concerns. As such, anyone who pierces other people’s bodies should have undergone proper training and meet specific health-related requirements before performing piercing on the public legally. These requirements are important because undergoing body piercings may increase the risk of transmittable disease as well as blood-borne pathogens. Depending on the location of a body piercer, proper registration and licensing are needed before opening a piercing shop.
Contrary to popular belief that body piercing is unsanitary, piercers who undergo proper training would know how to take care of fresh piercing and avoid possible infections through the act. A trained piercer also instructs its customers about proper cleansing and healing after being pierced, regardless of which body part was pierced.
Many parts of the body can be pierced, including the tongue, nostrils, cheek, bridge, eyebrows, ear lobes and ears, being the most common. Some undergo piercings on their genitals, nipples and navel, but most parts of the body can be pierced.
Piercings done by a licensed piercer are done with sterile needles, which are required to be disposed after a single use. However, other reusable piercing equipments, such as piercing guns, should be thoroughly sanitized.
Non-Western countries have no minimum age requirements. Some even perform ear piercings to month-old babies. However, most legal piercings shops in the U.S. require their customers to be at least 16 years old with parental consent.
