History

Body piercing has been practiced for as long as five thousand years. It has, in the beginning, as it is now, been used as a personal expression, a religious ritual, an official, or royal distinction, or more often recently, a trend in fashion.

It began with the first tribes and clans, the oldest human races. The jungle tribes in South America, Africa and Indonesia. The religious castes of India and the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The philosophers of Greece and the soldiers of Rome. Then all the way up to the middle classes, and the aristocracy of the 18th and 19th century. It was all but forgotten in Europe during the early 1900’s, what with two world wars, and the concerns of a growing world, until the 1970’s where it found itself being nurtured by London’s pioneering fashion gurus and artists in the Underground!

By the 1990’s, piercing had finally reached the attention of the entire globe closing the link from the ancients, to the modern.

Ear Lobe

The ear lobe is by far, the most common place in history and now, to find a piercing.

An ear lobe piercing could have once distinguished a wealthy person from a poor one. Now it is simply the most popular way to display piercing jewellery.
Sailors once pierced their ears believing it gave them better eyesight, while Romans associated ear piercing with wealth and luxury. South American and African tribes pierced ears and stretched the hole, similar to the flesh tunnels you see now. The bigger the hole, the higher your social standing.

Nose

Nostril piercing was first thought to originate in the Middle East almost 4000 years ago. From there it spread into India in the 16th century, where it was quickly adopted into the noble castes.
The kind of jewellery worn could distinguish the wearer by caste and social standing, much like a title, or even an identity card!
The piercing was introduced into the west by the ‘Hippy’ culture that traveled to India in the 60’s and 70’s. It was shortly adopted by the ‘Punks’ and other youth culture of the 80’s and 90’s, until it’s popular use in the new millennium.

Tongue

In the ancient temples of the Aztecs and Mayans, Shamans and High Priests pierced their tongues as part of a ritual to communicate with their gods. Thousands of years later, and it is still a popular piercing, although for different reasons.
Both men and women can find it sexually arousing, as well as empowering.

Lip and Labret

The mouth and lips are a sensuous part of the body and power is an aphrodisiac, so it is only natural that only the higher castes of Aztecs and Mayans should adorn their lips with labrets of pure gold. In Africa, the women of the Makololo tribe of Malawi wear plates called ‘Pelele’ in their upper lip, to arouse the men in their tribes.

Tribes in central and South America pierced their lower lips and stretched the hole to fit in wooden plates.
Now, lip piercing is more common among the general populace, more often on the lower lip, however recently upper lip piercing has become popular, like the famous ‘Madonna’ or ‘Cindy Crawford’ beauty mark.

Nipple

Nipple piercings were once considered a sign of strength, virility and endurance.
The natives of Central America once pierced their nipples as a mark of the transition to manhood. The honor guard of the Roman Caesars would also pierce their nipples to show their strength and duty to protect their emperor. It was said that it was their nipple jewellery that held their cloaks in place!

In the 1890’s it was all the rage for Victorian women to pierce their nipple with jewellery sold by the famous jewellers of Paris. Some even had both nipples pierced and hung silver chains from one to the other.
Now in the new millennium, it is becoming far more common.

Navel Piercing

The first records of navel piercing stretch as far back as the ancient civilizations of Egypt. Then it was only the Pharos and their Royal families who were permitted to pierce their navels. Peasants who broke this rule were executed! However, if a peasant girl was born with ‘The perfect belly button’ she was sometimes permitted to have it pierced, and therefore to elevate her social standing.
The navel is now one of the most popular piercings.

Prince Albert

Names after Queen Victoria’s husband and consort, Prince Albert was reported to have his genitals pierced in the late 1820’s as part of a craze among men, who wore lightweight trousers. With a genital piercing, a gentleman could hook his penis to either side, so as not to create an unsightly bulge!

 

 

How Piercing is performed
One of the biggest misconceptions about body piercing is how it is actually performed, a lot of people seem to think that it is done with a gun similar to the one used for ear piercing, piercing is usually performed with a special piercing needle.

Most piercings are performed in a similar way, this text intends to describe, how they are performed. All piercings are not the same, and every piercer does tend to do things in their own way, so this is not a definitive guide to piercing procedure.

The first thing that is usually done is the choosing of the jewellery, and ensuring that the client isn't suitably relaxed. After this the area that is going to be pierced is cleaned, with either a disposable wipe or a spray and a wipe. The cleaning might involve the shaving of the area. For example some piercers will shave part of the eyebrow off before it is pierced, whilst others will not.

After the area is cleaned the next thing that will happen is the area to be pierced will be marked, so that the jewellery can be placed in an aesthetically pleasing way. For example, most people will not want to have their lip pierced slightly off center when they asked for it to be done in the middle!

After the area is marked, (usually in two places, entrance and exit), then a small clamp can be applied to the area. The clamp serves several purposes; if the area is to be frozen, or numbed, the clamp will isolate that area, and help the anesthetic work faster. Alternatively if the area is not being numbed at all then the slight pressure of the clamp will reduce the blood flow through the area to be pierced, and produce a mild numbing action. The clamp also holds the skin in place, so that the piercing can easily be made through the markings applied earlier.

When the clamp has been applied then the piercing can be performed. The piercing needle is usually an intravenous canulae, a needle with a plastic sheath surrounding it. The needle is passed through the site, and then withdrawn, leaving the hollow plastic sheath in place.

With the plastic tubing in place the clamp can be removed, and the jewellery can be inserted through the tubing, which is then withdrawn. When the jewellery has been fastened the whole thing is over!

Most piercings are performed in less than a minute from the clamp being applied, the whole process is very quick, and painless - Even if the area is not frozen.