When it comes to fashion and beauty, new trends are constantly emerging, including rad body mods. But, before you jump on board the bandwagon and follow the latest trends, you might want to learn more about the one place you should never get a piercing. Because your health and well-being always come first.
Of course, there are always horror stories when it comes to body modifications. It seems there's a constant surge of urban myths making the rounds, such as the story of how your sister's boyfriend's second-cousin didn't clean her piercing and had to have her ear amputated, or how your BFF's colleague's uncle had an allergic reaction to tattoo ink and ended up in hospital. Although some of this whispered hearsay may actually be true, chances are, the majority of it isn't and the stories that are true are usually very rare events.
Thus, my intention is not to scare anyone or put people off getting piercings, because the world would be a super boring place if we all looked the same. However, I wanted to share what I learned from a professional piercer and the expert advice they had to offer. I spoke with T.J. Cantwell, a piercer from Studio 28, about the one place you should never get a piercing, so as to help you decipher between fact and fiction.
"Here at Studio 28 Tattoos we have one piercing that we refuse to do. It is typically called a snake bite piercing," Cantwell tells me over email. "It is a curved barbell put through the tip of the tongue. It is incredibly unsafe to have this piercing." You might have seen this type of piercing; from a distance, it looks like two separate piercings on the tip of the tongue, but it's actually one piece of jewelry that spans across two "holes," with the ends of the barbell being the only visible parts.
Cantwell explains why snake bite tongue piercings are particularly unsafe: "It binds together the 2 muscles that make up the tongue so they cannot move independently." In addition to this, Cantwell says, "The jewelry itself sits on the back of the teeth. It is almost guaranteed that the client will see gum erosion, cracking/chipping of the teeth, and migration/rejection of the piercing leaving a nasty looking scar." Yikes! Although it may seem like an aesthetically pleasing piercing, it's certainly no good for your mouth.
Cantwell says that snake bite piercings aren't the only ones that could cause your bod some damage. He tells me, "Dermal anchors or micro dermals on the hands or lower forearms we also shy away from. They are becoming more popular but have an incredibly high rate of getting caught on clothing and being ripped out of the skin." It's safe to say that ripped skin is never chic (unless it's Halloween), so you might want to reconsider dermal piercings on your hands and forearms.
I'm certainly no expert on piercings, but Cantwell is. So, it's probably a good idea to heed his advice before you go and get yourself a trendy piercing that may give you grief later down the line.
Images: Allef Vinicius (1); Atikh Bana (1); Larisa Birta (1); Eli DeFaria (1)/Unsplash
