Body Piercings - Brief History and Ear Piercings

Today, most of us in industrialized, modern societies view piercings as a way to accessorize the body and a form of self-expression. The truth is, piercings started out as identification of higher social statuses and is part of some cultural traditions. These rituals have started as early as centuries ago, proven by the piercings preserved in mummified bodies and depictions in tribal wall paintings.

Earring found at a grave dating as early as the 6th Century. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_piercing)

This week is mainly about ear piercings! There are so many ways to have piercings around or in the ear, but I will be talking about the fairly to most common ones. I am going to start from top to bottom, beginning with the scaffold or industrial piercing: it is the bar that goes from one side of the cartilage to the other, and it crosses that little curved in "C" space of the top portion of the ear. Going down a little to the side, and possibly the next most common ear piercing after the regular lobe piercing is the rim piercing on the side of the ear; a lot of times, people usually have little rings there or a simple small stud of some shape or stone. Going inside of the ear near the typical side cartilage piercing is the conch piercing where the piercing lays in the curve of the ear.  The piercing located on the little jutting piece of cartilage closest to your face is called the tragus. Then last, but not least, the most common piercing is the one on the lobe.

So far, I have only discussed the different ear piercings, but until next time, there will be more about piercings on other parts of the body!



- Le To