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Piercing is a process where we put a hole in our the skin so we wear an item such as jewelry. Piercing is an ancient art with roots in religious, aesthetic and spiritual rites of passage. It’s also one of the most common forms of self-expression, with millions of people around the world living with piercings today. Piercing also has reconstructive reasons, as well as for rites of passage and control over body modification. Among many fun facts about piercings, you can actually do it at home using a sewing needle, fish hook or safety pin with no basic medical training or supervision.
Whether you are going to have your first piercings or may be a person who find it simply addictive, the following fun facts about piercings will definitely surprise you. In this article, we will reveal some hidden facts about piercing to add more knowledge and insight to the process. From unique facts about piercings to interesting world records about piercings, we have compiled them all just for you.
1. The Most Pierced Person in the Word
With more than 462 piercings overall, including 192 on her face, Elaine Davidson has held the world record for having the most piercings since 2006. She strives for a staggering total of thousands of piercings and claims that her enormous collection is still expanding. The Brazilian woman who has the most body piercings in the world has an astounding 11,003 holes in her skin.
In barely three years after getting her first piercing, Elaine Davidson broke the world record for the most body piercings on a woman. Elaine has several tattoos and body piercings that almost completely cover her body and face. Her motivation was the desire to maintain her world in addition to her love for piercings.
2. Over 80% of Americans Have Their Earlobes Pierced
According to a 2018 survey, 83% of Americans have pierced ears. In addition, people frequently get their eyebrows, genitalia, lips, navel, nipples, nose, and tongue pierced. Moreover, only between 10% and 20% of US women do not have piercings, according to a 2005 Chicago Tribune story on the subject.
The popularity of ear piercings started in the 80s. Around the 1980s, ear piercing parlors started to become more common. By the 1990s, fewer people had concerns about getting ear piercings in the US. In the 1990s, US females frequently had at-home ear piercing parties where they would numb each other’s ears with ice cubes before piercing them with sewing needles, occasionally using potatoes as a needle recipient.
3. Metal Jewelry for Piercings Can Cause Allergy
Everything from bone to silver can be used to create jewelry. White gold, cobalt, or nickel-containing jewelry, however, might cause allergic reactions in some people. The most popular of the three is nickel. Following the piercing, some people may feel hot or queasy, but this reaction usually passes quickly when the piercing is out.
People are more likely to acquire sensitivity when they get more piercings, which makes it a fun fact about piercings that we need to know. To prevent an adverse reaction, the majority of piercings today are typically consist of surgical-grade titanium or stainless steel. Additionally, pure gold seems to be immune to allergic reactions, while being much more expensive. So, it’s better to know the type of material of jewelry before getting a piercing.
4. Some Areas Heal Faster than Others
As a general rule, a region of the body heals more quickly and with fewer difficulties when the circulation is healthier. Due to their vascularity, piercing sites like your earlobes, tongue, and lips will recover the quickest, typically in a month. Eating exposes the mouth to numerous microorganisms, making a speedy recovery part of the body’s defense.
Other popular piercings, such as those in the nose or the helix of your ear, can take longer to heal. It will need more cleaning to prevent infection due to the reduced blood flow. Due to its location on your body, a navel piercing has one of the longest healing times as well, lasting up to 12 months. From 6 to 8 weeks, the jewelry can typically be changed to a slightly shorter sterile item.
5. A Piercing is Addictive Trauma
This one is probably a fun fact about piercings that sounds similar to tattoos. In the sense that many people will keep obtaining piercings to test their boundaries, once they start, piercings can be psychologically “addictive.” Your brain releases endorphins when your body encounters anything physiologically intense, like stress and pain in piercings. Then, endorphins work with your body’s sense of pain in a manner akin to how opioids do. Physical dependence is not produced when the opiate receptors in our bodies are naturally activated, though.
You don’t need to do much to assist the body heal any wounds, including those from piercings. All you need to do is keep your jewelry clean. Sometimes, the body will perceive a new piece of jewelry as a foreign object, similar to having a thorn in your thumb. In essence, if it resists the piercing, it is attempting to “spit out” the thorn, which results in allergy.
6. Up to 30% Ear Piercings Cause Infections
Even with the correct maintenance, roughly 30% of cartilage piercings and 20% of earlobe piercings become infected. Bacteria entering the wound is the most frequent cause of an infected ear piercing and can do so in a number of different ways. The ear cartilage is exposed during “high” ear piercing, which is linked to more severe infections and deformity. Due to their antipseudomonal activity, fluoroquinolone antibiotics are suggested for the treatment of auricular perichondritis.
Poor cosmesis, systemic and local infections, and foreign body rejection are all risks that might occur from body piercing. After earlobe piercing, it is possible for minor infections, allergic contact dermatitis, keloid formation, and traumatic tearing to happen.
7. Overcleaning May Cause Complications
It’s crucial that you don’t clean the piercing excessively. Stop cleaning the piercing if it has been more than four months. You can clean up any debris at the conclusion of the shower even if there is still crusting or healing indications. Prolonged and excessive cleaning and moisture can cause complications.
Unattractive lumps, redness, swelling, or infection may result from this. Many people tend to ignore this, but actually it’s one of those fun facts about piercings that we need to pay attention to. Never mess with the piercing or knock it to prevent red lumps. If you do get a lump, the best course of action is to leave it alone entirely rather than repeatedly cleaning it, which will just make it worse.
8. It’s Possible to Pierce Your Eyes
Did you know that you could get piercings in your eyes as well? Since the development of the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery in the early 2000s, eyeball piercings have become more popular than other body piercings. In contrast to conventional body piercings, which use needles or piercing guns, eyeball piercings are not carried out in the same manner. Extraocular implants, often known as eyeball piercings, entail the surgical implantation of jewelry just beneath the transparent layer of your eye’s white.
A tiny shape, such as a heart, star, or diamond, are some of the most popular piercings to put into the white of your eye. The jewelry consists of a platinum alloy and is quite small, measuring only a few millimeters in width. Eye surgeons who have experience working with eyeball jewelry and the necessary equipment to implant it carry out the surgery.
9. Gold Nose Ring for Ancient Wedding Proposals
Genesis 24:22 in the Bible records that when Abraham chooses Rebekah as the wife for his son Isaac, he seals the deal by giving her a gold nose ring. The custom of the husband giving his bride a gold nose ring when they get married eventually spread to many other Berber and Bedouin tribes. The size of the ring revealed the family’s riches. In the event of a divorce, the abandoned wife may utilize the gold ring as payment.
During the 16th century, Mughal Emperors of India improved this practice. It was thought that a ring or stud inserted into the left nostril had anything to do with a woman’s ability to reproduce. Therefore, a cosmetic piercing would make labor and menstruation less painful.
10. Septum Piercings as Tribal Men’s Pride
Another addition to the fun facts about Piercings is that the septum piercings are the second most frequent piercing in prehistoric people, following ear piercings. The advantage of getting a septum piercing over a nose piercing is the capacity to stretch the septum’s skin. It is enough to allow for the insertion of larger objects, such as bones, animal tusks, and pieces of wood. A report says that the Asmat tribe in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, have expanded their piercings to be larger than 25 mm in diameter to allow the insertion of enemy or pig bones.
The septum piercing served as a symbol of their achievement and new status as men. The septum ring was regarded as a rite of passage by various North American cultures, according to Avanti Body Jewelry. They would go on soul-searching forays into the woods and come back to the group as men.
11. Many Believe that Bulak Can Prevent Piercings Infections
A type of nose ring worn at the nasal septum is called a “bulak.” It is typically comes in the form of 10–12 grams of pure gold and worn by married women. The talented goldsmiths who engrave elaborate motif designs on it gave it a distinct fashion. A bullock’s length can range from 4-5 cm on average, and it has a hook-like end to make it easy to wear. A bulak’s bottom features elaborate carving and pearls with shapes like cones, giving it an attractive appearance.
Tribes in Nepal and Tibet thought bulak had mystical qualities and could heal them of illnesses. Since size was of the essence, the embellished amulets on the septum ring were so large that they obscured the mouth.
12. The Religious Yet Rebellious Tongue Piercings
Both the ancient Aztecs and the Mayans of Central America often pierced their tongues with blood for rituals and festivities. They would draw a string back and forth through the hole to improve the blood flow. The purpose of getting a tongue ring was to respect the Gods and to demonstrate one’s honor by hurting others. More than an artistic or ornamental technique, tongue piercing was first used as a religious ritual.
Meanwhile, the common tongue piercing is quite provocative in today’s culture. Most people use it to enhance oral sex and other sexual behaviors in addition to making a fashion statement. The little metal ball or tongue ring on the tip of the ring, when used for oral sex, will apply pressure, tease, and create a unique feeling for your partner.
13. You Cannot Kiss Easily After Getting Smiley Piercings
Smiley piercing got its name because it’s only visible by others when you smile. For individuals who prefer an oral piercing that is less obvious than other lip and mouth piercing types, the subtle surprise makes this piercing a delightful option. However, you can’t kiss with a smiley piercing while it’s still healing. Every kind of kissing has the ability to interfere with the healing of your smiley piercing. The piercing must stay in tact while it is healing because the pressure from the lips could knock it.
Due to the position, getting a smiley piercing carries much more risk than getting a regular piercing. In addition to the risk of infection, wearing jewelry could cause friction against your gums or teeth. Furthermore, it could lead to damage to the enamel and gums.
14. Navel Piercing is Fairly Painless
A belly button piercing, commonly referred to as a navel piercing, involves inserting jewelry through the skin just above the belly button. This enables the jewelry to sort of emphasize itself by hanging just above the belly button. For good reason, belly button piercings have been common for a very long time. They’re a terrific option that has stood the test of time because the piercing is quite painless owing to a fleshy placement. Plus, it’s also simple to maintain since you don’t have to look in a mirror to see it.
In fact, a belly button piercing was initially intended to express sexual interest or to make a lady more attractive to men. Most girls enjoy them these days simply because they are pretty. However, women first began to pierce their belly buttons as a symbol of their sexuality.
15. The Oldest Earlobe Piercings was Found in Mummy
Let’s move on to the last fun fact about piercings on our list. Given how simple it is to pierce the ear lobe, it seems likely that this was man’s first attempt at body piercing. An Iraqi stone sculpture depicting a guy with pierced ears is the earliest example of body piercing that has been discovered. It is around the ninth century BC. The oldest mummified body in the world actually had an ear piercing with a diameter of 7 to 11 mm. This body was determined to be older than 5,000 years.
Body piercings have occurred frequently throughout history for a variety of reasons. Many societies have historically used body piercings to signify membership in a particular tribe or clan, status or social standing. Back then, piercings can increase attractiveness, to look aggressive to adversaries, or even to reflect a symbolic rite of passage. Primitive societies developed the first ear piercings for mystical purposes.
