If you’re freaked out by eyebrow piercing, the kind of person who can’t look directly at your Starbucks barrista, stop reading now. Even if you are a devotee of “body art,” you may reflexively cross your legs as you read this.
The latest craze is genital piercing. If you can imagine it, you can pierce it. Even if you can’t imagine it, you can pierce it. Aficianados of genital piercing like to claim that they widely used among indigenous peoples, but the reality is much more prosaic. According to WebMD:
…[G]enital piercing is largely a recent and Western phenomenon. This may be disconcerting to a few ill-informed proponents of the practice, who might prefer to imagine that they are rediscovering a venerable and ancient rite of passage, rather than practicing a newfangled invention. But … most of the exotic sounding names for different types of genital piercings were actually made up in the 1970s in the U.S. and Europe…
Genital piercing is believed by some to enhance sexual satisfaction. The existing scientific evidence (yes, someone has actually studied this) is equivocal. According to one paper, First glimpse of the functional benefits of clitoral hood piercing, which studied arousal, desire, lubrication, pain, orgasm, and overall sexual satisfaction:
… We observed significance in only 1 of the domains, desire (0.414, P = .017). Other sexual functioning indexes were negligible. We expected to see a change in the orgasm frequency and/or satisfaction. Yet, contrary to popular belief, we saw no dramatically significant difference in orgasm.
Devotees of genital piercing, both female and male, are nothing if not creative. The About.com guide to female genital piercing lists no fewer than 8 different piercing sites including clitoral hood (two types) and inner and outer labia. The guide to male genital piercing also lists 8 separate types, many known by exotic names such as Ampallang and Apradravya.
Most of the scientific literature on genital piercing deals with complications, and there are quite a few. All body piercing has risks, the most common being infection and transmission of disease:
… [T]he procedure has the potential to pass on any number of diseases, including leprosy, tetanus, tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, and other STDs.
But there are additional risks specific to genital piercing:
… More invasive kinds of piercing, such as a piercing that runs through the head of the penis, should only be done by experienced piercers if by anyone at all…. Such piercings can result in serious bleeding and "the risk of impotence caused by hitting the erectile tissue by mistake is simply too high," … Piercing the clitoris itself, rather than the clitoral hood, is also a potentially risky procedure…
Once you decide that you want a genital piercing, and you decide which piercing you want, the most important step is choosing piercer. The Association of Professional Piercers, the professional organization of the piercing industry, publishes guidelines to choosing a safe piercer. These guidelines range from the obvious, choose a studio that is licensed and clean, to the esoteric, ask to see the autoclave (sterilizer) and the spore count test results.
In addition, they suggest looking at the piercing portfolio:
… Are piercings placed to accent the anatomy or do they look awkward and poorly matched to the individual? If the portfolio features unusual looking placements, are there pictures of healed piercings, showing the actual viability of the placement?
The other key to safe genital piercing is scrupulous aftercare, including cleaning and handling of the piercing, as well as sexual limitations.
Do not allow your piercing to come in contact with any bodily fluids for the first few weeks while it is healing. This includes saliva as well as semen. So, you are not restricted from sexual activity, but a condom or dental guard must be used for any and all sexual contact, or you are putting yourself at risk for infection. This includes masturbation and/or the use of sex toys.
Whether genital piercing is ancient or modern, whether it does or does not enhance sexual satisfaction, one thing is clear: it is critically important to follow all guidelines in order to avoid infection. Contrary to what you might expect, the piercing itself is reported to involve little pain. However, an infection, and its complications can be very painful, as well dangerous and possibly threaten your fertility or your life.
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Comments
Although I only have the standard one-hole earlobe piercing myself and no tattoos, nor any desire to "modify" myself any further, most of my friends have multiple tattoos and piercings and one is married to a professional tattoo artist/body piercer. So, well, to each his/her own...
I remember from getting my ears pierced when I was 19 that I had to keep my hair off them, put peroxide on them, rotate the posts, and generally keep the holes clean and dry for a couple of weeks afterwards and not let them snag on my clothes. I followed the instructions to the letter and STILL got the right one infected somehow, which was nasty and painful and involved much swelling and green pus discharge.
Now, my earlobes are in a location that's generally pretty easy to keep clean and dry and free of bacteria. How on earth could you keep a genital piercing from getting infected?
Rodger, Oh hell yeah! Too bad we can't rate comments!
Don't know if its true, just throwing it out there.
Amy, I gotta give it you on this one, great post. I'm still scared chicken shit to get a tattoo . . . .there is no way in hell I'd ever get my "bits" pierced. The risk of infection is real . . .hey there was an episode of ER several years back that had this sort of thing in the mix. Weird.
I love your comment; I learned alot.
"How on earth could you keep a genital piercing from getting infected?"
It's got to be much more difficult since the area is "crawling" with bacteria, and is warm and moist, favoring the growth of bacteria.
I've never seen an infected genital piercing, but I have seen genital abscesses of all kinds, and they are excruciatingly painful.
I truly believe in "to each his own," but the risk of infection and tearing is so high with such a thing I can't fathom the thought process behind it. The reasoning of making sex better points to other problems I think - emotional, psychological, or intimacy issues perhaps. And the reasoning that it's an ancient practice may stem from tribal genital mutilation of women, which is actually an abhorrent practice meant to dull sexual pleasure in the subservient.
I just don't get it lol
There is not enough brain bleach in the known universe to undo the damage that video did.
I just can't imagine what people think is attractive about genital piercing. But there is an element of desire and the need to be desired that must be at the heart of the decisions to do this procedure in order to "wear" jewelry in such a way. Better they get it done right, that's for sure.
(with nudity!)
Thanks for the daily update. I have a hard time keeping up with all those bad people. Glad you are on the case.
Would you be so kind as to
A) Explain exactly how a piercing that "hits the erectile tissue by mistake" would cause impotence;
and
B) Cite your source for that fact, including the rate of incidence?
I have to say that anyone who looks for confirmation of this fact will find a number of articles remarkably similar to yours. In fact, they are so similar that most include identical quotes and/or links.
Incidentally, this is the 9-10th time I've come across an article on WebMD that directly plagarized it from another (uncited or improperly cited source. For those who use it, I'd consider double-checking all info with a more reputable source.
I believe you may have been trying to refer to the Association of Professional Piercers, not the Association of American Piercers, as such an organization does not appear to exist.
Agree with Z, the idea and/or practice of genital piercings have been around for at least decades in this country, and much longer elsewhere. The Kama Sutra recommends genital piercing as a cure for impotence. The Prince Albert piercing is reputed to be named after Prince Albert, who supposedly wanted this penile piercing so that he could fasten his penis to a ring on his leg in order to avoid a bulging crotch when wearing tight pants (I can't think of many guys who would consider large crotch bulge a bad thing today). Photographic evidence exists that nipple piercing was practiced in Europe as in the 19th century. Genital piercings--or at the very least, the idea of them--have been around for a long, long time.
Had you researched the topic of genital piercing, you would have discovered that jewelry for body piercings tend to have smooth, curved edges, designed in part to help avoid snags. Body jewelry generally does not have prongs--used to hold gemstones--that earrings do; it is highly inadvisable to use jewelry in a piercing unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose.
Agree with Allie. Leprosy? For the record, none of those diseases can be spread if a properly sterilized needle and equipment are used (personally, I'd insist on a new needle). And this is not unique to genital piercing. Plenty of horrific contagious diseases have been spread in the past by the well-meaning in poverty-stricken areas who re-used needles without sterilizing them.
How do you keep a genital piercing from becoming infected? I don't know, how does one keep an episiotomy from becoming infected? Plenty of women do. After the piercing is healed, it's like any other piercing. Chances are better if you stick to surgical stainless steel or titanium jewelry (other metals have a higher rate of allergic reactions, and imperfections in softer metals hide bacteria) and strictly follow the aftercare instructions. Sex is not a great idea, as just touching the piercing can irritate it and increase healing time (anyone who's had a bellybutton piercing irritated by the waistband of jeans can attest to this).
"What about the bad people who lop off the foreskins of babies at birth?"
They're protecting their children against HIV and other STD, not to mention less common urinary tract problems.
You are an idiot. You KNOW that mutilating infants has nothing to do with HIV or herpes. You are a baby raper and a paedophile, and are looking for an excuse for raping your own children. So, a 12 year old can't have birth control, but protecting an infant from HIV by cutting his penis is fine? I am going to post this EVERYWHERE, you are exposed for the quack and the hypocrite you are. Haha!
Sorry, but it's scientific fact. Of course, the foreskin fetishists are wrong about that as they are about almost every other claim.
WOW, that was uncalled for! Way to be taken seriously.
"They're protecting their children against HIV and other STD, not to mention less common urinary tract problems."
Aren't the rates of protection rather small? I can't remember for sure. It seems to me that using a condom would be a much more effective (not to mention no surgery involved!, lol) way to prevent STD's?
As far as protection against HIV and other STDs go...uh, didn't HIV first get its foothold in America among the young gay male population in the 1980s? Given that infant circumcision rates in the U.S. in the 40s, 50s, and 60s were something like 90%, it seems likely that the majority of those infected had been circumcised as babies.
Also, Western Europe, where circumcision is not common except among Jews and Muslims, doesn't have a higher prevalence of HIV or other STDs.
I highly doubt that the majority of American parents who have their sons circumcised do so to protect their boys against AIDS later on down the line. Most likely, they are doing so out of religious observance, cultural reasons, pressure from doctors or relatives, aesthetics (they want him to "look like Daddy" or not get teased in the locker room later on), or worry about childhood urinary tract infections.
There are good reasons to circumcise your son, and good reasons not to. But HIV prevention really should have nothing to do with it, as CONDOMS are a vastly better protection than lopping off a bit of skin.
That being said, I'd never get one myself. But there are sources that show how important genital piercing was to certain cultures centuries ago.
Tens of thousands of years of evolutionary biology must be wrong. At least according to "modern" medicine. Mother Nature (or God, if you prefer) got pretty much everything right except for that nasty penis mistake. If one does not believe the empirical evidence then obviously all we have to do is look at the colossal epidemic of HIV and urinary tract infections plaguing Europe because of their universal foreskin fetish.
If snipping off baby boys' offending foreskins is so healthy, why not do the same with girl babies. Clip off that clitoral hood for the safety of us all! What's good for the gander...
Doctor's by and large these days (with the exception of some incredibly talented specialists) do little more than prescribe drugs, much to the enrichment of the pharmaceutical companies. Of course this is only anecdotal, but in recent years I've witnessed friends and relatives die from inept disc surgery, poisoned to death by chemotherapy, have their colon ruptured during colonoscopy, acquire hepatitis-B through blood transfusion, suffer massive infection from MRSA during surgery...and many, many other horrible consequences directly linked to medical procedures.
I think I'll keep my foreskin (fetish or not), but try to stay away from hospitals and misguided medical professionals as much as possible.
"At least according to "modern" medicine. Mother Nature (or God, if you prefer) got pretty much everything right except for that nasty penis mistake."
Your forgot the appendix.
Evolution doesn't do things "right." It works with what is available. The fact that the foreskin is still present does not mean that it is either necessary or beneficial.
"The foreskin has three known functions: protective, sensory, and sexual.
During infancy, the foreskin is attached to the glans and protects it from urine, feces, and abrasions from diapers. Throughout life, the foreskin keeps the glans soft and moist and protects it from trauma and injury. Without this protection, the glans becomes dry, calloused, and desensitized from exposure and chafing.
Specialized nerve endings in the foreskin enhance sexual pleasure.
The foreskin may have functions not yet recognized or understood. "
I'm done with this subject. Enjoyed the interaction.
It's all so new and shocking! shocking! to her that she had to share. Adorning her own body (ears are ok apparently...) is good (and risk free?) but getting your junk adorned... ewwwww.
I'm sure she's heard this a million times but it cracks me up... take the TU out of her name and it's AmyteurMD. Sorry doc.
"Not only is genital piercing NOT the latest craze, it has a place in the history of many cultures."
As I said in my post, that's what piercing aficionados like to tell themselves, but it's not true.
That's hilarious...and from what I've seen, fairly appropriate.
"Not only is genital piercing NOT the latest craze, it has a place in the history of many cultures."
"As I said in my post, that's what piercing aficionados like to tell themselves, but it's not true."
Amy, the quality of your posts would be greatly improved if you tried and applied the following: accept that no one can know everything, research your topics and the subject of comments prior to telling people that they are wrong, and learn to admit when you are wrong.
Is the basis for this statement the information you found on WebMD? I'll again say that I have found several instances of incorrect information, plagurized articles and improper or absent source citations on WebMD. Apparently, either the doctors who are supposed to "review" the articles aren't doing their jobs well, or "review" means nothing more than simply re-publishing an article without any type of fact-checking first.
My research indicates that JLee is correct. The apadravya piercing--involving the piercing of the glans of the penis is mentioned in the Kama Sutra, which was around in 700AD. The ancient Greek Olympians competed in the nude in 776BC. They practiced a method of restraining their genitals which is thought to have evolved into a more permanent practice of genital piercing by the Romans in 200AD. The saddhu fakirs of South India pierced their penises to insert rings that held weights used to stretch the penis. Similar penis rings were later used by the Victorians to fasten the penis to the leg. This "dressing ring" was later dubbed the "Prince Albert" after the member of royalty had one installed. The hafada piercing was an Arabian tradition used to mark passage into manhood, and was adopted by soldiers of the French Foreign Legion, who introduced the piercing to Europe. I can't list everything here, but those who are interested will be able to locate the info easily.
I wonder if Amy has pondered the reasons behind the names of some of these piercings? Hafada, dydoe, palang, apadravya, ampallang. If these are modern piercings having no history outside the West, where did the names come from? And considering the body mutilation for purposes of decoration (lower lip plates, metal rings to elongate the neck, etc.) occuring in some African tribes that we read about in National Geographic, is it such a stretch to believe that they practiced genital piercing as well?
"My research indicates that JLee is correct."
Your "research"? Really? Please share you scientific and historical citations? Let me guess. You don't have any.
Dr. Amy: Dragging her profession into the slime with her and being too dim to realize it. Bummer.
This is the first time I have been to your website, and I really enjoyed your blog about Republicans that I read. I was hoping you would extend your seemingly open-minded/liberal attitude to this topic as well, but I was greatly disappointed.
Your post seems to indicate that you don't have any qualms with genital piercings, and yet your replies to the comments are laced with ignorance and disrespect.
I feel sorry for any patients that you may see with genital piercings. Patients are suppose to feel comfortable with their care giver, and not worry what said care giver will think if they look a little different or live an alternative lifestyle. I fail to see how you can bring this level of comfort to any of your patients, especially after finding a blog like this. I'll be damned if I ever have a GYN like you.
Various cultures have been piercing ears, noses, lips for thousands of years. Various cultures have been practicing tattooing. Various cultures have been circumsizing males, females, or both. Why is it so hard to believe that genital piercing isn't exactly a new thing? There's certainly a precedent for it.
That said, ow ow ow ow ow and no thank you.
Have zero metal in myself, nor do I consider metal a prerequisite for anything.
But if I notice your pierced tongue I can tell you my neurotransmitter team delights in spurting pleasurable chemicals all over my damn brain.
This reaction is entirely organic and you'll never know what just occurred- unless you can track the instantaneous evolution of an eye twinkle.