Facial piercing. Part I.
Although facial piercing has a long and varied cultural history – in the past, facial piercing has been used for everything from showing a woman’s marital status to being used as an identifying characteristic for certain tribes – these days, it is favored most for its aesthetics. Facial piercing has, in fact, almost become something of a fashion accessory. There is a wide variety of facial piercing available, with more styles being introduced every day. Some of these are safer than others and, as such, it is important to understand everything about the many types of facial piercing available today.
To begin with, there are a number of facial piercing styles which are focused on or around the mouth. First, there is the labret piercing, which is located just below the bottom lip. Usually, people choose to have it placed in the center of the face, but some prefer it to be located off-center. Another facet of the labret piercing is the vertical labret, which involves the piercing being placed vertically, through the center of the lower lip. Lastly, there are lip piercings, which is located directly below the lip. Again, it can be either dead center or off-center. On average, it takes a labret piercing – whether it is the standard labret piercing or the vertical labret – and a lip piercing about six to eight weeks to heal.
Most mouth piercings are also considered to be facial piercings. The most common of these is the tongue piercing, which involves a piercing directly through the center of the tongue. The farther back (to an extent), the better. There are also “frowny” piercings, which are located in the tongue web, and “smiley” piercings, which involve the upper web. The healing time for mouth piercings vary, but are generally fairly quick, because of a bacterial agent in human saliva, which can heal wounds quickly.
Next up is a more recent trend in piercing, which is called the Monroe. Usually located near the upper lip, diagonal to the nose, it is designed to look like a birthmark. Marilyn Monroe was, of course, quite famous for her birthmark, hence the piercings’ name. However, even more recently, only piercings of this type located on the left side of the face are called a Monroe. Those which are located on the right side of the face may also be called a Madonna or a Crawford, after Cindy Crawford. Another recently popular face piercing is called Medusa piercing, which is located in the dip above the upper lip. There are also piercings known as “snake bites,” wherein there are two piercings, one on either side of the bottom lip and just below it. These types of piercings generally take six to eight weeks to heal as well.
Another new trend in piercing is having the cheeks pierced – the facial cheeks, that is! Typically, someone interested in this type of piercing has two piercings, one on either side of the face, so that together, the two resemble dimples. Once again, six to eight weeks is the average period for healing time.
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