piercings

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

A couple of months ago, my son came home with a “spike” through his eyebrow. Last night I went to McDonalds to get dinner for my daughter. The girl that waited on me has an “earring” right in the middle of her forehead just above where your eyebrows come together. I didn’t get to look at the back of her head so I have no idea how she kept it there. I work with a kid that has a spike through his tongue. Belly button rings, et al. Am I so old fashioned that I can’t see the point in this? I once saw a girl that had about 25 earrings all the way up the outer edge of her ear. At least she had them in the right area. I’ve even seen pictures of people that have rings “down there.” And not one, but 8 to 10 of them.

The point of all these piercings excapes me, unless it is just a modern day “statement”.

Am I an old fuddy-duddy? :D:D

#2

I got my ears pierced when I was 5 and haven’t gotten a piercing since. I think belly button rings look good on some people but I wouldn’t get one myself because I don’t think it would look good on me.

I’ve seen people get their tongue pierced and it looks sooooo painful! It’s supposed to enhance oral sex though. I think people are always coming up with ways to be unique and different and this is just one of them. It used to be spiked hair and dyed hair, now it’s piercings and tattoos. I’ll stick with my tattoos… no piercings for me!

#3

If by statement, you mean that the cashier was trying to say something about herself, then I would say “Yes.” She’s telling you, “I have a piercing.”

Body modification has been practiced by humans throughout our history. Whether for simple adornment, religious purposes, social marking, or a handful of reasons, people have been cutting, scarring, tattooing, painting, piercing… Tons of things.

You’re not stuck in the past; rather, you are stuck in the recent past. Sure, it’s odd to you, because it’s not something that you saw a lot for most of your life. But these last few hundred years have been nothing but a body modification hiatus for the western world.

Remember, this shit ain’t just for carnies anymore.

#4

It’s supposed to enhance oral sex though

to (badly) quote comedian Louis CK-

"I don’t get it. Have you ever been that dissatisfied with oral sex? Has anyone been performing oral sex on you and you thought, ‘Hmmm. Something’s missing. I don’t know what it is.’ "I know! A metal ball!’

#5

There’a a type of piercing called a Prince Albert. Queen Victoria’s husband famously had one.
And those Amazonian dudes with the lip plates - and African ladies with 12" necks - everyone’s doing it.

#6

I like my body the way God gave it to me. No piercings, no tattoos. I can’t wait for my good friend to have kids and have to explain his tattoo to his child.

“You see, Junior, daddy got really drunk one night and decided to have Mr. Yuck (the poison control dude) tattooed on his ankle. One day, when you’re old enough to drink Jim Beam, you’ll understand…”

I know I’m going to get flamed for this.

#7

It shudders to make me think who would want a piece of metal going through some of the most sensitive areas of your body like that. I don’t plan on piercing anything below my waist, and I decided to not get my nipples pierced for the same reason: they’re overly sensitive as it is. Navel piercings are so commonplace that I see no point in getting one to “be different” like everyone else. Tongue piercings just add an extra texture and feel if you don’t mind having your tongue swollen for a few days. Right now I’ll just stick to getting a couple of small tattoos.

#8

What & where? And if those answers are good, how about some pictures :slight_smile:

#9

Well, when I do get them, it’ll be the symbol for eternity in another language on my lower back, around the base of my spine, and probably my astrological sign near where the lower part of my hip connects to my leg.

#10

Then I definitely want to see pictures of that artwork! especially if it has tatoos on it!

#11

when I was married, my husband wanted a tatoo. I said something to the effect of “over my dead body”. He bargained - if I would pierce my ears, he’d not get a tatoo. I pierced my ears. We divorced. He got a tatoo.

well, some 14 years have passed. He’s gained and lost the same 30 pounds about 6 times now. you can’t tell what his tattoo once was. He’s now preaching to our son “Don’t ever get a tattoo”.

Son DID however, want an eyebrow pierce. His arguement was:

I really think they look cool.

I can take it out and still look completely straight if the situation calls for it at a later date.

I can’t think of another tatoo or piercing that would allow me to do this.
Sounded good to me. He has the pierce.

#12

I’ve always thought that belly button rings are beautiful. We’ve all seen movies of the beautiful and sexy Harem girls with jewels in their navels. Belly button rings, to me, are just as sexually attractive and produce the same effect. I love looking at girls who have them.

Tongue rings are dangerous and destroy hundreds of taste buds. I don’t think they’re unattractive, however. As a matter of fact, I think they’re kind of wicked looking, in a good way. But I like food too much, I guess.

In Edinburgh, I saw a guy with three sharp spikes through his bottom lip, plus numerous other piercings all over his face. To me, this shows a small tendancy toward masochism.

I love body art.

Me? Well I have three piercings in my right ear, and two in my left. That’s it. I have a tattoo of a fairy on my right shoulder and I plan to have another one done on my right ankle, maybe of the crescent moon and star.

Peace,
Tracy

#13

First off, you only have nerves along the surface of your tongue. Secondly, the tongue itself is a series of sinewy muscles running perpenducular from the back of your mouth (parallel with your molars). So when it is pierced, the needle in the hands of a qualified piercer passes between them, and the only pain you feel is as the needle pricks the surface. It hurts WAY less than biting your tongue, when you mash a load of the stringy muscles. Or so I’ve heard. It also heals completely in roughly 2 weeks, with proper care, as it is a mucus membrane, and they heal the fastest. I’ve done my homework on this one. And not for sexual reasons, because it is the only piercing (besides belly,) that has a peek-a-boo effect with everyone. Same reason wring’s son got his eyebrow done, I can hide it when nessisary (don’t stick your tongue out, and don’t speak rapidly) and show it off all the rest of the time. The only reason one isn’t in my mouth at the moment is that they also have a tendancy to chip teeth and damage dental work. If there is one thing I won’t stand for, it’s a waste of money. My parents put a couple thousand dollars worth of orthodontic work into my teeth, I don’t feel like chipping them now.

So I got my belly button done, and love it. It was about 2 weeks ago, and it is entirely externally healed. The piercing itself didn’t hurt at all, she pinched the flap with forceps, and that’s all I felt. It was clean, sterile, and professional. I’m going to get this funky cartilidge piercing I designed (kind of a cork screw) as soon as I have the money to sink into it.

My father, a motorcycling riding, rock-n-roll type of fella, who was always voted the “coolest” dad among my friends, is horrified. He literally shakes his head and keeps repeating “I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.” I calmly remind him his father didn’t get Bob Dylan or pot, either, but he still shakes his head whenever it comes into conversation. You’re not a fuddy-duddy, but there are cultural revolutions in any generation.

If you want to be REALLY horrified, learn about the newest weirdness, HORNS. Small nubs (I’ve heard coral is used, too) are surgically implanted from behind the hairline onto the forehead, and as the skin grows around them, the size of the nubs are increased until you have HORNS. That, right there, is REALLY beyond me. What do you do when you get tired of them, take out the nubs and keep your bus fare in there? ::shudder::

#14

** I can’t wait for my good friend to have kids and have to explain his tattoo to his child. “You see, Junior, daddy got really drunk one night and decided to have Mr. Yuck (the poison control dude) tattooed on his ankle. One day, when you’re old enough to drink Jim Beam, you’ll understand…”**

I won’t flame you. You are absolutely right that getting drunk and getting a spur-of-the-moment tattoo is a stupid thing to do.

I have 4 wild roses on my left ankle, one for each of my children. They love to point out which is “theirs.”

There is a well known quote, which goes something like, “The difference between people with tattoos and people without is that people who have tattoos don’t care whether or not you do.”

While we’re on the subject, tongue piercings do carry extra risks. Besides the obvious increased risk of infection, it is very easy to accidentally bite down on the jewelry and crack a tooth. If you’re going to pierce your tongue, make sure your dental insurance is up to date.

#15

If it wasn’t obvious how she kept it there, such as a hoop or a “barbell” would be obvious, it may have been a bindi. Bindi are just little decorative bits that are glued on. Traditionally, they are worn just between the brows, or “third eye”. Some are metal or gems and can be very ornate, others are very inexpensive.

http://store.yahoo.com/studioindia/bindi1.html

#16

I got a gag gift from my sister that was magnetic beads you could place on your nose, with a magnet inside.

Looks real alright, but I could hardly breath!

And I wouldn’t want one really anyway. I’ve got a tattoo, and I regretted that the first year (now I’m used to it, but I can’t forget I did regret it.)

#17

careful, Fonz. Those magnetic backings slip a bit, you take a deep breath and voila! You have a tiny piece of metal lodged in your sinus.

Tongue rings don’t always “damage hundreds of taste buds.” If improperly placed, or if they get infected, I suppose they could damage the nerves that translate information from the taste buds to the brain, but they don’t leave a huge area nerve dead generally. The taste buds in the center of the tongue are not taste-specific, anyhow. (sweet is on the tip, salt on the side, bitter in the back, etc.) I’ve never heard ANYONE complain that they lost any taste sensation from a tongue piercing. (and, once again, I’ve talked to a helluva lot of people deciding if I wanted one.)

#18

OMG! Piercings are sooooo 5 minutes ago. Now, to be cool, you have to plant metal plates in your head that are supposed to look like horns! Yep, that’s what you gotta do. That or you can split your tongue. Yep, split the tip right down the middle so you have two tips instead of just one. Or you can burn yourself! Doesn’t that sound like fun? Carving is another favorite amongst the youngsters.

#19

I live across the street from a huge urban high school, so I see the young folks all the time , and the sheer number with piercings and tattoos would kind of take away the thrill of being “different,” it seems. But to each his/her own, and all that. None of them particularly bothers me to see around, though – I work for a music paper, and most of the people there sport tattoos and/or dangling bits of metal on one or another body part. We have a young man with a silver arrow-shaped spike through his lower lip – cute, I guess, but it does interfere with his speech. I have no idea how he eats. No horns yet.

I do wonder what the future holds for all these girls who have had their boyfriend’s name tattooed on the back of the neck, which seems to be one of the most usual things in this neighborhood. Branding oneself with the name of some high school stud doesn’t seem like much of a brave statement of freedom and self-expression. Doesn’t tattoo removal still leave scars?

#20

I have two holes in each ear and I plan to get at least one more; actually I’d like to end up with five holes in each ear. I almost got an eyebrow ring, because you can take it out eventually and my tastes run towards that sort of thing, but no matter what my tastes happen to be I always end up looking way too strait-laced for an eyebrow ring to work on me; I don’t know how that happens. I’d go for it anyway, if only it was removable and replaceable like earrings, but I don’t know anyone who has one to ask them.

I have been considering getting a tattoo for a long time but will probably never get one. I’ll stick with my multiple ear piercings and dying odd-colored streaks in my hair.

Tongue piercings disturb me. They just seem like way more trouble than they are worth, and nowadays they’re not even “different” per se. Just a sign that you’re conforming to noncomformity. What’s the point of taking the health risk? But if you wanna do it, that’s your call, not mine.

Belly button piercings are ok, but I wouldn’t get one because with my luck I’d get it caught on the zipper pull to my jeans and rip it off or something.

HORNS? Ick. That’s just wrong, in my opinion. You want horns, do what I did once and what some of the guys at school have done: get really strong gel or Elmer’s glue and make horns out of hair.

A friend of mine pierced her own nose. How stupid of her! Luckily she hasn’t had any problems with it besides the fact that it’s not the kind of ring you’re supposed to use for your nose, but she could have gotten all kinds of infections. Another nose-ring story: a guy I saw at a flea market a while ago, a big biker-looking gay man, had his nose pierced in the middle, and through it he had a big silver steer horn. It looked like a handlebar mustache… It was absurd.

Another friend of mine is dating a guy with a metal stud under his lower lip, where one would grow a soul spot. It looks cool, but not really any cooler than just growing a soul spot would.