The dangers of body piercing and jewelery - as well as some information about care and upkeep of your cool new piercing.
Body piercing has been a fashion trend for as long as I can remember. Many kinds of people have had body piercing done. You can have rings put in your eyebrow or nose, navel or tongue, or virtually any other part of your body for less than a hundred bucks in most cases.
However, there are a few things that ought to be considered before taking the plunge and whipping out the credit card:
LONG-TERM ENJOYMENT: Cartilege piercings (the upper ear especially) tend to stretch in about five years. This is because the area surrounding the hole usually deteriorates - do you really want to deal with this possibility half a decade from now?
INFECTION: For example, if you pierce your navel, you run the risk of infecting major organs located near the stomach. Sometimes even an infection in just the navel can cost more to treat than the piercing itself. Antibiotics plus the doctor's visit can really add up fast!
That brings me to the topic of LONG-TERM CARE. Are you going to take care of the site immediately following the piercing? Will you keep the area clean two months from now?
Also, allow me to bring up the topic of ALLERGIC REACTIONS. For example, if you're allergic to certain metals, then you can't put those rings in your body. Some people can only sport surgical or stainless steel rings (note: stainless or surgical steel contains nickel and is bad to pierce with. stainless steel is only intended for surgical instruments and not as a long term body implant. The only metal safe to pierce with is titanium) - picking out those earrings only can cost a lot of time and money versus being able to wear any kind of ring without problems.
In short, take care of your piercing should you decide to get it, and please, by all means, HAVE IT DONE PROFESSIONALLY. These people have been putting holes in bodies for quite some time, and are worth the extra expense.
