Understanding the pain of body piercing
Many people are concerned about pain when considering body piercing, but the following information should ease your worries and let you know what to expect.
Body piercing has been carried out around the world since people had the tools to carry it out, its roots often being found in ritual and primitive religion. However, it has also been seen as a process of beautification, and even today piercing is carried out in modern society both as personal adornment and as a form of ritual. Although it has always been commonplace, particularly with regard to ear piercing in civilized society, body piercing has become even more popular in modern civilizations. One of the issues with body piercings is the level of pain to be expected and how it varies between different types of piercings.
The pain you feel during the piercing itself is related to the type of tissue involved. A fleshy earlobe is easy to penetrate and is generally less painful than a poke from your doctor or nurse. The pain level is mild, in fact, the same as a rose thorn. However, if you want a piercing of the tragus or any other cartilage tissue, such as the top of the ear, it will be more painful because the tissue is not as easily penetrated. Let’s be real though: if the pain was significant and excruciating, such body piercings wouldn’t be as popular as they are. The same applies to the tongue, nipple and genitals.
Although the pain is brief, you could suffer from the continuous rubbing of the piercing against your clothing or other areas of the skin. This is particularly true in areas like the genitals and belly button – if any jewelry gets caught on clothing and the button or ring comes off, you could have to abandon the piercing (plus excruciating pain!). Therefore, you should be careful about the decorations you wear: studs, for example, will be less likely to snag on clothing than rings.
Infection is another problem you may face that could lead to pain. A tongue piercing, for example, is not as easy to keep germ-free as an ear piercing; This may seem hard to believe, but it is a fact. Your mouth is usually full of germs. It is important that the job is done by a professional and not by a hobbyist or ‘friend of a relative’. Professionals know the dangers of infection and can advise you on how to avoid such an infection. It is very important to follow the cleaning advice given to you to the letter, since many piercings are carried out in areas of the body prone to bacterial activity.
No body piercing is completely pain free. The pain involved ranges from the mild sting of an earlobe or eyebrow piercing to the more significant pain caused by piercing hard tissue of cartilage and muscles, such as the tongue. However, none of this pain is bad enough to discourage people from doing it. The pain you feel can be easily predicted based on the sensation of the tissue: if it feels soft, like your earlobe, then the pain will be mild, but if it feels hard, like the cartilage in the hard parts of your ears, then it will probably hurt more. It also follows that the more sensitive areas of your body, such as lip or tongue piercings, will be more painful due to the higher concentration of nerves in these particular parts of your body.
Your pain tolerance may be higher or lower, but you can make that decision yourself and avoid piercing the most sensitive parts of your body. Generally, however, the actual pain experienced during the procedure itself is short-lived and most believe it is worth it. It’s the after that you need to take care of and make sure you avoid post-piercing infection. Do that and your piercing will be successful with the minimum of pain and personal stress.