wAYS IN WHICH PIERCING WILL BE LESS PAINFUL

Body piercing is way of creating a puncture in your body wherein you can insert jewelry as per your wish. Creating a hole surely, is painful, however there are certain body parts, which when pierced, pains relatively less than others. Also numbing your skin before piercing, can help in reducing the pain.

Since childhood, every person is scared of taking injections. We know that the needle is going to penetrate our skin and that it will hurt for sure. But people don't get tired of saying the most ubiquitous thing, that it will feel like an ant bite. And if people can stick to this statement for centuries, I don't think that body piercing should be exempted. Only that, we have to assume that, this needle is bigger than a normal one. Indeed there are body parts that you can pierce and not feel the pain. Let's have a look at them:

• Earlobes 
• Nostril
• Tongue
• Navel
• Eyebrow

But before diving into it, let's see how you can take precautions by numbing the body parts. Just like doctors use a spirit, before giving injection, there are certain ways in which, you yourself can numb your body part before piercing. Numbing your skin is a safe technique before piercing, for a painless procedure. Some of the most easiest ways to numb your skin are:

    «   ICE

Though not used in a professional atmosphere, applying ice to your skin for some time, makes it feel numb and most likely red in colour. This technique can get messy, so it is preferred to tie the ice cubes in a cloth, for applying in smaller areas, while putting ice cubes in a zip lock bag for applying in bigger areas. Rubbing the ice cubes in circular motion for 15-20 minutes will be enough to make the skin cool and numb. Though this technique does numb the skin, it is not very long lasting and hence the further procedure should be carried out quickly.

    «  RUBBING ALCOHOL

Rubbing alcohol is the basic method to numb your skin, just before piercing. This solution is available in most of local medical stores and should be applied by pouring the solution on a cotton ball and then covering the required area. The best thing about this method is that, along with numbing the skin, it also sanitises the area, thus helping with cleaning the skin and needle before piercing.

A better version of this technique is using alcohol strips and alcohol toilettes that can be acquired at excellent supply stores. The effect of this method may not be as effective as ice, but it does reduce the pain and work for people to get through the piercing easily.  

    «  TOPICAL NUMBING CREAM

This is the most professional and progressive way of numbing your skin used by professionals, experts and specialists. It can be used on all the bigger and delicate areas except for within the mouth. These numbing creams should be applied before the piercing, keeping in mind that it is effective enough to help make the procedure easier by numbing the area.

    «  ORAL MEDICINES

Oral painkillers can be acquired at regular pharmaceuticals. It acts just like a numbing cream and can also help in receding the pain after piercing. Taking a normal dose of a pill, one hour prior to the piercing can work for most people. However taking two pills for reducing much pain, can be harmful for your health. After the piercing, it is safe to take one pill to help numb the wound.

So after taking a look at the precaution, let's discover which are these body piercings that hurt less:

• EARLOBES

Piercing in the fleshy, bottom part of the ear is called earlobe piercing, which is one of the least painful piercing to get.

These piercing scales way low on the pain parameter. Infact in some cultures, children as young as 18 months are also pierced. You feel a slight pain as the needle passes, but doesn't feel more than a pinch. 

Also, there are two ways of getting a earlobe pierced. One is by using a needle and other one is using a piercing gun. Though piercing gun is especially designed to pierce the earlobes, needles are much safer and less painful than a gun piercing. While majority of ear piercing is done by a gun in the U.S., this is arguably not the best method to use.

These piercings take about 6-8 weeks to heal. And after this period, the jewelry can be changed, however it is important to clean the area twice, everyday.

• NOSTRIL 

 Just like any piercing, this too has mild pain and discomfort. However with professional help in nostril piercing, the pain becomes minimal. This piercing takes about 2-4 months to heal completely. But in the first three weeks, you may have swelling, some blood, tenderness and bruising.

Quick Tip :

Many people use their earrings as nose rings, which is not appropriate. Standard earrings are 22 g and can cause a piercing to migrate and heal improperly. Also, the length of the jewelry being long, can damage the cartilage and nose tissue. 

Which side is preferred?

According to Ayurveda, the left side of the nose is preferred for women for piercing, as it is connected to the reproductive organs and can help in reducing the pain during childbirth. It may also show some positive effects on the conditions like endometriosis. However for a guy, the right side of the nose is preferred.

• TONGUE

 A tongue piercing is usually done in the middle of the tongue and is don by women, mostly of the age group 18-25. Though it may look sensitive, this piercing reports low piercing pain. It may take up to 6-8 weeks to heal the part completely. But while piercing with professionals, it feels like a pinch at the beginning. During the healing period, the tongue is bound to get swollen and may lead to more healing pain.

 The healing time, however can vary according to the movement of the tongue and how you take care of it. You may also face difficulty in speaking for the first few days, but it will improve as the swelling decreases.

• NAVEL

Just like the earlobe, navel also is quite fleshy and hence hurts less after piercing. It is a piercing located through, in, or around the belly button. It heals quickly with not much irritation however it may create a puncture hole, so some pain will be involved. But since the process is quick, the initial piercing pain doesn't last long.

Removing the jewelry before the healing period, may lead the piercing to close before another jewelry is inserted. The good news is that, a fully healed piercing doesn't hurt at all even after changing jewellery and the colour of your skin that is pierced and the rest of the area remains intact.

• EYEBROW 

Surface piercings hurt the least as there is only a small amount of tissue that is pierced and they aren't too deep either. Eyebrow piercing, in this category falls on the less painful scale and includes just a little pinch of pain and some swelling. However, unlike others, this piercing makes the area swell immediately after piercing. But it also depends upon everyone's capacity to threshold the pain as well as the skill of the one piercing. All and all, this piercing doesn't give pain that is unbearable for anyone and still looks cool. 

And, as, in today's generation, since everyone likes to look cool by putting minimal effort. I think the best way to do it is by piercing your body. So why not indulge in one, when we know which piercings hurt less.