What do all of you think of the new piercing trend (bellybutton, random bits of skin, etc.)?
And how widespread is it where you live?
uh…new? Dude, where have you been for the last 10 years or so? Everyone in the know is aware that the newest trend is scarification. Or I heard about this trend out of Seattle who gives you horns. Cuts about an inch above the hairline, inserts little nubs. As the skin streches over the nubs, they take the nubs out and give you bigger nubs. Repeat until you have HORNS. Yea, I know.
I’m getting a belly button as soon as possible. And am considering an eyebrow ring, but will probably wait until I gave a piercing-friendly job for that one.
By new, I mean not old-style ear-piercing, of course!
Scarification is, however, new to me. Sounds quite scar-y.
I know what you mean. But I’m sitting here snorting just the same. 
Several people where I work have multiple piercings: ears, bellybuttons, nipples. Two of the girls also have…umm…hood ornaments, if you know what I mean!
It’s not for me. I’ll stick with my tattoos.
i think certain piercings are sexy…i think too many piercings are somewhat of a turn off…scarification seems scary, but if you like it, more power to you…i personally think that when people pierce their bodies, they need to think about their life-styles and how the piercings will affect you…ie, where do you work? would an eye brow ring be appropriate? do you care? i think that everything you do to your body, permanent or not, should have some serious thought behind it…and if that’s done, then go for it.
I tried piercings, my body rejected them. Two earings kept getting infected, and once the sking was growing over the stud. Gross. I’ll stick to my tattoos as well.
I have a navel ring (if you do it, take very good care of it at first-- they fail often) and husband had nipple rings which he greatly enjoys, except that if he wears a bike-messenger-type bag sometimes the strap catches one (some of these piercings are really a life choice. . .). Had a nose-ring when I was a wee tyke (20-ish) but it didn’t do well-- hard to keep from getting infected and you realize that having something attention getting in the middle of your face isn’t necessarily a good thing, unless you’re a very demonstrative sort. Husband has been considering getting his weinie done for a few years (ampallang, and he already sits to pee, before anyone asks) but hasn’t gotten around to it. In the NW here the trend was fairly widespread and I’m not sure if it’s on a downturn or whether I’m hanging around with older and more conservative people and it’s as prevalent among college-age people as ever (I suspect the latter). A pierced nose was still pretty punk at a private college in 1990; now it’s hardly notable.
Isn’t there an English or American performance artist who has had coral implants to encourage horn growth? The future is here.
Why anyone would want more holes in thier body is beyond me. Navel and ear rings are fine but any facial or tongue piercings are a turn-off. And what is scarification?
Scarification is the poor man’s answer to tattooing. You cut yourself (or have a friend do it) with a design, and pick at the scab until a scar forms. WAY more dangerous than tattooing, and, IMHO, a bit silly.
I like subtle applications of them – belly button, one eyebrow, and tongue. The pierced lip hasn’t caught on for me yet. In SoCal, it’s pretty widespread.
You know, I feel very old and unhip. There was a time when my seven ear pierces would stop traffic (highest is in the cartilage at the top, whoooo), but now it’s not even worth a second glance. The curse of getting older, though I certainly don’t feel old (30’s).
If my belly ever gets flat again after my kids, I think a belly button ring would be fun & kind of sexy. I have a male friend with a nipple ring who loves it, but not for me.
Scarification, wow, sounds scary and edgy. Was branding a quick fad? I seem to see it only on black basketball players, usually their fraternity’s Greek letter. Always thought that branding was in pretty poor taste and not at all well-thought-out, considering how wrong slavery was (people as possessions, like cattle, you know…).
Probably won’t do much piercing in the near future, but the tattoo is still a possibility…
Also, coral implants to grow horns? It is my understanding that coral is incredibly delicate and needs a specific environment to flourish.
Would this work? Why not just do as Swiddles mentioned, and keep inserting bigger “horn-things?”
Re the coral thing-- there is something about attaching coral to bone that spurs the bone to grow more bone (don;t know the details)-- they use it in bone surgury these days. All I know.
Why not just insert horn things? Because the guy is growing his own REAL horns, which is much cooler, right?
I have had my belly button pierced for a few years now - I really like it, and I would like my eyebrow and lip pierced too but,as someone mentioned earlier, they are a bit off putting to some employers.
If you do get your belly button pierced, I would advise you to use a very mild antiseptic when you clean it as it is very easily aggravated. I used antiseptic nipple spray, the stuff breast feeding mothers use for sore nipples! It worked a treat - I never had any trouble with my piercing.
I also agree tattoos are pretty cool too! However piercings are good cos you can easily remove them if you change your mind about them, unlike tattoos!
Piercing is a pretty common sight here in the UK, it has been for a while and tattoos seem to be gaining in popularity too. Chin piercings seem to be most on the rise at the moment - which I would like to get done, if I wasn’t so chicken!!!
I have had almost everything pierced at one time or another. The most I ever had at one time was around 50, granted most of them were earpiercings. My last bought with piercings I had a total of 16 then 9 then 7. At that time I had a scrotal row of 8, a guiche, a frenum, both nipples, one hand in the webbing next to my thumb, my septum, both ears once, and my bellybutton. I took out the naval and the scrotal ladder (all but one) and then took out the last one. I had problems with my belly button not healing. It bled pretty intensely for three days.
I used to pierce semi professionaly and have a portfolio of about a hundred piercings done on other people. I would make sure that everything was sterilized with an autoclave and would not reuse needles or equipment. That is just bad. My best one was giving two nipple piercings to this football player type guy. He cried the whole time and was on the verge of passing out at the sight of the needle. He wanted it done though and told me not to stop. I think I have that one on video somewhere. I also have plenty of stories about people crying over a nipple piercing. Sure they hurt but they become extra sensitive afterwards and make it well worth it. They tend to get rejected if they get played with too often in the early stages. This happened to me the few times I went to a studio to have it done and has happened to a couple friends who played with them too much.
HUGS!
Sqrl
I had my tongue pierced about a year and a half ago and so far, I haven’t had any trouble with it. I study to be a teacher, and when I was doing my practice I was probably the coolest teacher those kids had ever had. Imagine the looks on their faces as they realized their teacher had a pierced tongue. I never got any grief from the other teachers either, of course they couldn’t understand why I’d done it, but they were all cool about it.
Sqrl (and other naval-ring people): I have heard that A.) naval is the most painful and B.) Because it doesn’t contain any mucus membraines unlike most face/genital pierceings, it takes the longest to heal and is the most likely to get infected. Anyone care to tell me I have bad information? And is the “your tongue will swell up to two inches and stay that way for a week” rule really true for everyone, or just people whose bodies tend to reject piercings? All my friends who have had it done downplay the swelling/can’t-eat-solid-foods thing for coolness sake.
And Sqrl: ooooh, I’ve never seen the web of the hand pierced. Tattooed, yes (and it was terribly cool) but never pierced. Stud or hoop? What size?
Please indulge an old fart (with a pierced left earlobe) and explain why you had various body parts pierced.
Hell, SqrlCub, I had to look frenum up in Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, and they didn’t even have a listing for guiche! Not sure I want to know.
Color me curious, rather than judgmental.