My Findings on Body Art and Modification

Has anyone seen anything like this. It is called a gum piercing, it is a piercing of the tissue between the gums and the inner lips. I wasn’t able to find much on it. If anyone knows more let me know.

It seems as if people have found a way to pierce just about everything on the human body. We can be pierced on a flat surface of the body, have one hole for the entry and exit of the jewelry, and even have an inverted piercing where the bar of the jewelry is above the skin and the jewelry ends are under the skin.

One less common piercing that I am shocked to find good deal of information on was the piercing of the frenulum. Also, known as the web like piece that connects your tongue to your mouth. It may also be referred to as the Marley piercing and came about in the 1990’s.

This particular piercing is said to be simple and heals quickly for an oral piercing, anywhere from two to eight weeks. However, they are likely to reject. Barbells or Captive Bead Rings of low gauges are used as not to cause damage to teeth and the rest on one’s mouth.

After care during healing, while for a short period, is very important and not like all other piercings. During healing, people should refrain from oral sex, smoking, and products containing alcohol (such as certain mouthwashes). Saline solutions should be used. Your piercer will give you full after care instructions.

I strongly recommend interested people seek professionals for this piercing. It is not rare to have a frenulum that will not support this piercing. A professional piercer, who is experienced in the frenulum, will be able to tell if it is right for your mouth.

Be careful not to accidently cut your frenulum at risk of sublingual damage occurring.

Have you ever though your lip just wasn’t big enough? Thought to yourself, “my lip just needs to be much bigger,” if so you can follow the cool example set by pro body mod tribes and stretch your lip using clay or wooden plates.

I know what some of you may be thinking, this sounds completely erroneous, and why would someone do that? The tribes that practice this procedure find stretched lips to be very attractive. In some Amazonian tribes, young men get them done to signify adulthood. In other tribes women get them to signify that they are old enough to be a wife. But, they usually remove the plates after they are married.

The procedure usually starts with a hole pierced in the labret and a small wooden peg inserted to act as a stud or starter jewelry piece. When the hole heals after a few weeks a disc usually about 4 centimeters in diameter is put in place. The discs are usually made by the person wearing them from clay or wood. Eventually a disc anywhere 8 to 16 centimeters in diameter is inserted and is usually the final disc.

Most Common Groups to Stretch their Lips

• African tribes
• South American tribes
• Surma and Mursi tribes in Ethiopia