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COOL LOOK Painless piercing

Body art, like piercing, are now in vogue across the world. The Guinness world record for getting the most number of piercing done in a session goes to English man Charlie Wilson who got a whopping 1015 piercings done in about eight hours. The world’s most ‘pierced’ woman, Elaine Davidson, also from the UK sports 720 rings on her body with 192 of them in her face itself. The city folk aren’t anywhere near these big time piercing fans, but they too are getting adventurous enough to try out multiple body piercing.

The practice of piercing ears and nose and inserting metal jewellery in them has been around for centuries and is still an integral part of many cultures. Indian men and women have adorned themselves with ear and nose rings since ancient times. Rarely do we come across a girl whose ears are not pierced. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the traditional single pair of earrings gave way to the then fashionable ‘second studs’. And now, multiple piercing is back with a bang and the girls in the city are thronging parlours to get piercing done on the face and body. Parlours and jewellery shops now provide facilities to get piercing done painlessly.

Piercing can be done any where from ears and nose to the eyebrows, navel, chin, lips and even the tongue. But the parlours in Kochi restrict themselves to ear and nose piercing only as they consider the piercing of eyebrows, navel etc risky. Says Sheeja, who works in a city parlour, “We don’t do piercing of any part other than ears and nostrils because of the risk of nerve damage”. So you’ll have go to cities like Bangalore and Mumbai if you want to get adventurous with this body art. The jewellery inserted into a piercing can range from rings and studs to small metal rods.

So what do parents think of this trend? Leah Samuel, an 18 year old who has seven earrings already and who plans to get more says, “my parents don’t exactly encourage it, but they put up with it”. But not all parents feel the same way. Anuradha Singh from a city college, who proudly sports a nose ring and multiple earrings says, “My mom was cool about me getting these done. She even came with me when I went to get it.” The coolest part of the body, to get a piercing, according to her? “The navel, where I plan to get the next one done”

While multiple body piercing has become widespread among city girls, there are very few guys who sport rings. Eyebrow piercing is considered to look hot on men.

For those people who don’t want to go through the ordeal of putting holes through their body, there are always fake rings and studs to fall back on. ‘Press on’ earrings and magnetic studs are the next best thing and are available in a wide variety in the market. They can give you ‘the look’ without the pain.

Piercing your body might be ‘ultra cool’, but it poses serious health risks. Unsafe piercing can lead to various types of infections and other health problems. If the equipment used is not sterilised, you can get several diseases.

The risk of infection can be lowered by the use of gloves, and sterile equipment and also by taking good care of the pierced area. Piercing of sensitive areas like the face, when not done carefully, can lead to accidental nerve damage and resultant loss of sensation in the pierced area and other complications.

In some people allergic reaction to metals or materials used in jewellery can lead to infection of the surrounding tissue. This occurs when the body rejects the jewellery inserted into the piercing. Before selecting jewellery for your piercing it’s important to make sure you’re not allergic to it.

In some cases, the pierced tissue develops thick scarring called keloids which will have to be removed through surgery. After knowing all these, if you still want to get that extra ring, there are certain things you can do to minimise the risk. Most importantly, never, ever, pierce yourself at home or let a friend do it for you. Go to a safe place with experienced people.

When you select a place to get pierced, choose the best one you can find. Look around the place and make sure it’s clean. And if you can’t persuade your teenager not to get a new piercing done, help them find a safe place to do it and go with them.

Remember to keep the pierced skin clean and airy till it heals. Healing can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks and a year depending on the part where the piercing is done.

After the piercing is done, be on the look out for signs of infection like swelling, redness, discharges, odour, fever etc and consult a health care professional if any complications occur.

So if you’re still ready to take the plunge and get that ring, remember to play it safe. Happy piercing folks!

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