English

Why do people in so many disparate cultures permanently ink their skin with the symbols and unique designs? People mutilate and adorn their bodies with various types of body alterations for several different reasons including, but not limited to, today’s society, cultural traditions and self expression.

If you go back in History and find out the meanings of tattoos and body piercing you would come to find they come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the delicate to the outrageous! Tattoos and Body Piercing date back in history more than 5,000 years. Most tattoos are perceived as a sign of beauty. Slaves have been branded over the course of history to establish ownership. In the modern times, tattoos and piercing are often seen as a way to express individuality or rebellion. Vanity plays a part also; a tattoo strip around a man biceps can make them appear larger. A tattoo or piercing can catch someone attention to various parts of a females body especially on the lower part of the back and around the belly button. People use tattoos to disguise scars and white spots on skin. In prison or gang cultures art is used to show defiance, and independence, or belonging to a particular group. The Hippies also transformed the history of tattoos. British royalty in the 19th Century became the first celebrities to indulge in the adorning their bodies with permanent markings. Celebrity tattoos and piercing have been instrumental in making art more acceptable as well.

Complications of Body piercing include local and systemic infections, poor cosmetic and foreign body rejections. Piercing of various body parts with jewelry is no longer limited to teenagers, as evidence by the growing number of adults with multiple ear piercing. There are many complications for each type of body piercing for example if you get a piercing in your mouth you can get, gingival trauma, loss of taste, tooth fracture and injury to the salivary gland just to name a few. There are also some...