Ear and body piercing
ear; piercing; body; tongue; stud; infection; pain; scar; law; legal; parent; permission; rights; pierce; pierced; nose; lip;
Contents
Thinking
about piercing
Ear piercing and even body piercing have been going on for thousands of years in different parts of the world.
- Ear piercing has been popular in Western style societies for many years now.
- At first it would be done by someone in the family using a hot darning needle and a cork from a bottle at the back of the ear. But nowadays some people do the job professionally using a special ‘gun’ (for earpiercing) that shoots the stud through the ear in one swift hit! For piercings in other places, catheter needles should be used. This is a needle with a thin tube which can be placed under the skin and the stud or bar is inserted through the tube.
- In recent years body piercing has become popular with some young people.
More information
Department of Health (South Australia) Public Health Fact Sheet 'Safe practices for tattooing and body piercing'
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/PDF-files/ph-factsheet-tattoo-piercing.pdf
The law
There are currently, in South Australia, no laws about age of consent, training of piercers and health and safety requirements but many piercers will have their own practice guidelines.
Most body piercers will not pierce a person under the age of 16 or 18 except with signed parental consent.
Although this may seem unfair to younger people who really want a piercing, these rules are in place for a number of reasons. Firstly, your body is still growing and this means that the piercing can grow out or change position. Secondly, a piercing could be seen as child abuse especially if it is in a private part of your body.
Don't get your piercing done by a friend because you don't want to wait. Without proper training and equipment, this can be dangerous. Wait until a reputable piercer will do the piercing correctly.
Where
to go
- You can find trustworthy professional piercers in some beauty shops in the shopping centres near you.
- Ask them what they do to make sure that they do the piercing in a safe way.
- What training have they had to make it safe?
- How do they make sure that the piercing is sterile and won’t give you an infection?
- If the place does not look very clean, and they do not give you satisfying answers about safety, then do not have your piercing there.
Caring
for pierced ears
Ask the piercer how to clean the area that has been pierced.
- Clean morning and night.
- Move the ring or stud round in the ‘hole’ so that it doesn’t get stuck.
- See a doctor if you have problems like swelling, infection, discharge or pain that is still there after a few days.
Problems with piercing
- Depending on which part of the ear is pierced, the wound should be healed after a couple of weeks. Ear lobes heal faster than the top or sides of the ear.
- Piercings on the body or face can take a whole lot longer to heal and there is more chance of someone having a reaction to the metal used if the piercing is in a sensitive area.
- Piercings in the tongue often get infected, take a lot of time to heal and are usually very painful. Think very hard about whether you really want to take the risk of having a tongue piercing done. A tongue piercing can cause serious harm to teeth and gums.
- Some people catch long lasting infections such as hepatitis C when a piercing is done with un-sterile equipment.
- Body and ear piercing may be fashionable now, but what about when you are older?
- Ears can be dragged down and droopy from wearing heavy earrings, leaving a large hole.
- You will be scarred (though most scars are small).
- Lumps can form. Some people get large scars from even small cuts (keloid scars). If you are one of these people, you really should not have a piercing on any part of your body where a scar will cause you distress (such as your face).
- Infections can occur.
- On the other hand, you may want to aim at being the hippest 'old person' in town!
Getting prepared
If you want to have ears or some other bit of you pierced then have a good think about it all first. It’s too late to change your mind once it is done.
- Ask friends what it was like.
- Notice how people cope with piercings.
- Check out what piercings look like on older people.
- Do your research on finding a good piercer.
- Respect your parents' wishes. If they don't want to give permission for you to have a piercing, then wait until you are old enough to be responsible for making that decision yourself. Don't decide to get a friend with a darning needle to do the job instead; you could end up in so-o-o-o much pain when things go wrong.
- Be aware that piercing does hurt when it is done and continues to hurt for some time after, when it's definitely too late to change your mind.
Advice
from another teen
"I had my ear pierced when I was 18. I thought it was cool at the time. It was sore for weeks and every time I cleaned it, it killed! I don't wear an earring now anyway. None of my friends do." Alex
Further reading
See the topic Body piercing on the Young Adult section of this site for more information about the reasons why people have body piercing, the risks and the problems.
South Australian House of Assembly 'Report of the Select Committee on the tattooing and body piercing industries' published 19th October 2005 Click here
Environmental Health Service South Australia 'Safe practices for tattooing and body piercing'
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/PDF-files/ph-factsheet-tattoo-piercing.pdf
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).