Chapter 3
Risks, Myths & Warnings

In our culture, body piercing is a lifestyle choice; however, many young tribe members around the world must comply with the body modification traditions of their societies. Under primitive conditions, without access to modern medical knowledge, proper sterilization, or antibiotics, these young people literally risk their lives to conform. (Imagine caring for your piercing, as some of these people do, with daily applications of animal dung!) Obviously, situations are different elsewhere, but certain risks of body piercing are universal.
A great deal of hype and hysteria about body piercing is circulated by the media and by conservative religious, medical, and educational communities. They describe piercing as a highly dangerous behavior related to everything from juvenile delinquency to cancer and death.

Is Piercing Risky?
The only piercings that commonly receive attention are the problematic ones, which skew the statistics and magnify the perils. Literally thousands upon thousands of piercings heal without incident every year. But nobody hears about them because they are not newsworthy.

Educate yourself before getting pierced so you will be ready to deal with any consequences that do occur. An introduction to the most common piercing risks is presented here. In-depth information on identifying and troubleshooting these and other complications is discussed in chapter 16.

Piercing: Not a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Hobby
At the beginning of the modern piercing movement, there were few competent practitioners available. Lacking pros to help, people who felt the urge lanced their own bodies with heated sewing needles or common earrings. Even today, amateur or unethical hack piercers can be found who will pierce anything on anyone, badly. Young teenagers who cannot obtain parental permission for a piercing or those who cannot easily afford professional services in a studio often take this route.

Many online shops sell piercing kits, and you may think they will come with “complete instructions” and be “easy to use,” as advertised. Wrong! These are no safer than a home root-canal kit and must be avoided. A DIY piercing has a greatly increased risk of infection and other problems, and is often poorly placed. Piercing studios are common now, so there is no longer any need or excuse for shoddy piercings.

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