If Body Piercing Is So Hazardous, Why Is It Popular?

Issue: Jet, April 19, 1999

Not so long ago body tattooing was the big trend. Now body piercing is the latest fad. Its popularity has grown so much that medical experts have felt the need to inform would-be piercers of its hazards.

An article in Clinical Infectious Diseases warned that if body piercing isn't done under sanitary and sterilized conditions, it could cause skin rashes, swelling, deformed scar tissue and infection rates ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent. It also was reported that body piercing raises the risk of contracting the blood-borne diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV--unless sterile practices are followed.

Considering the hazards that have been reported about body piercing, why it is popular?

"Well, for one, you get this great sensation," Janet Jackson told Oprah about her nipple piercing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "At any given moment of the day ... a lot of it (body piercing) can be very sexual." Jackson, who once said she had her tongue, nose and genital area pierced, revealed to EBONY that she chose a nose piercing for "a spiritual reason which I don't talk about." The piercing wasn't painful, she maintained. "They said it was like trying to pierce through a leather belt."

Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Dennis Rodman is known for being as bad as he wants to be. That's why he pierced his ears, nostrils, navel, scrotum and has a labret (a stud between the lower lip and chin). And while he likes piercing his body just because that's what he enjoys doing, Rodman knows first hand of its hazards. Three years ago the eccentric hooper told Playboy that he had his scrotum pierced, but he had to have the piercing removed. "I had to have it taken out. It got infected," he told the magazine.

Nokio of the hit group Dru Hill agrees with Janet that nipple and chest piercing gives an awesome sensation, which might explain its popularity.

"It's real sensitive," he said about his chest piercing. "When I first had it done, if you touched it or the wind would blow or anything touched against it, it felt like I was going to pass out because the blood would rush to my head. It was too exciting. It's a crazy feeling. Pain is cool sometimes."

Pain is so cool for the young singer that he also got his tongue pierced. He did so "for the ladies. It's something about it. It's sexual." Continued Nokio, "It took about three months to heal. It didn't affect my singing voice, but I did talk funny for a couple of days after it was pierced."

Hot new gospel artist Tonex had his labret pierced a year ago because he "wanted to experience the pain for the cause of Christ." It was indeed painful, he explained, but, "it couldn't compare to what Christ experienced."

Image is everything in the high profile world of show business. Sisqo, the blonde-haired lead singer of Dru Hill, noted that he had his eyebrow pierced to boost his standout image even further. "I want to keep reinventing myself. The piercing was part of making my image a little more edgy and to stay interesting for fans."

Though Sisqo admits the eyebrow piercing hurt, it didn't stop him from having it done for a second time. "I had to take the hoop earring out from the first piercing for the video These Are The Times. It closed really fast. The first time I had it done, it hurt. The second time, with the stud earring, it was a whole other type of pain. It gave me a headache." Sisqo said he had his navel pierced "simultaneously with Nokio." It was something he did because, "I called myself trying to be sexy," Sisqo chuckled.

Navel and nose piercings are most popular. Celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz, Da Brat, Jermaine Dupri, Mary J. Blige, Mya and Rick James sport nose piercings. Singer Shanice and actress Suzzanne Douglas are among those with navel piercings.

New singer Cherokee has her nose and navel pierced. "It's a symbol of beauty and expression to some people. For me it's beauty," she said about why body piercing is popular.

Some people body pierce because it looks sexy. Pam of the hot group Total had her navel pierced two years ago for this reason. "A girlfriend of mine had her navel pierced and I thought it was kind of sexy." She loves her sexy new look but cautions would-be piercers about navel piercings. "Don't be fooled. It is painful. But don't let that stop you if it's something you want to have done and there's a meaning behind it." 

COPYRIGHT 1999 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group