M.K. Permejo

Although piercings are a way to express one’s identity, some people go over and beyond for various reasons.

May it be for the sake of uniqueness, passion for play and all things extreme, or both, there are body modifications that are just not worth the health risk. Here are 10 piercings you should never get and why:

1. Eyelid piercing

Starting off strong with eyelid piercings. As self-explanatory as it is, an eyelid piercing is done by piercing through the eyelid, avoiding the eyeball. The end result is a hanging piece of jewelry that likely scratches and tears the cornea of the eye through each blink. This may result in eye problems including but not limited to blindness.

2. Snake eyes piercing

A snake eyes piercing looks exactly as its name suggests, the eyes of a snake. This is done by horizontally piercing at the tip of the tongue with a single straight barbell whose balls lock on both ends, making it look like a snake’s eyes. This is one of the most—if not the most—dangerous piercings to get in the long run, yet it remains to be popular among the majority of piercing enthusiasts. Just by the sound and the look of it, it’s top-of-the-food-chain cool! However, this piercing poses a plethora of problems considered to be a no-no in the piercing industry worldwide. Aside from gum corrosion which may lead to teeth loss, it is unnatural for the tongue to be forcibly constricted like that.

Our tongue has two muscles; picture your hands with fingers, let’s say the tongue is your index and middle fingers. If you put a piercing through your index and middle fingers, what would happen? You won’t be able to use your hands like normal. Your mobility will be limited, and you are training your brain to act as if you have four fingers instead of five. It’s practically the same with the tongue. This may very well lead to speech impediments. This piercing won’t be as cool then when you start losing control of your tongue muscles.

3. An “orbital” piercing

Traditionally speaking, an orbital piercing is two or more piercings connected by one piece of jewelry, making an… you guessed it… orbit.

There are some orbital piercings that are okay, just never when it’s done fresh. What you can do is get two separate piercings intended for an orbital, then replace the jewelry once it’s already healed. As long as it doesn’t go against the natural rest state of your ear, orbital piercings don’t pose any serious risks.

Now, let’s talk about “orbital” piercings.

For some reason, some piercers call a conch piercing an “orbital” piercing when a ring is installed instead of a straight barbell. This is where the public draws some confusion.

When you get an “orbital” piercing or a conch piercing with a ring as initial jewelry, it makes the healing much more difficult. Upon fresh installment, a normal-sized ring may look fine but it wouldn’t account for the swelling that will occur in the next days or weeks. This may permanently cause the ear to get deformed especially if the wearer doesn’t have a clue on how to take the ring out. If you install a larger diameter ring, it will be too intrusive in an average person’s day-to-day tasks. It may get snagged, tangled in hair, or accidentally pulled which will cause more problems. What you can do is just get a normal conch piercing and replace the jewelry with a ring once it’s good to go.

So if you really want to get these piercings, let’s make it simple. Whichever terminology of orbital you choose to lean towards, note that both piercings are okay as long as you get them healed first.

4. Horizontal lip piercing

Even when celebrities just turn their human mode on and do what they feel like doing, we can’t deny their influence. When Cardi B started sporting her horizontal lip piercing, a lot of people hopped in on the trend. From TikTok famous persons to so-called ‘certified’ piercers, this piercing will pop on your feed like a remarketed sponsored ad. The appeal is understandable; one piercing that looks like it’s two? Sounds like you’d save yourself some pain, but that’s not quite true. Lips are a high-movement body part. We eat, we drink, we talk. A horizontal lip piercing is practically a surface piercing because you’re not going through to points of flesh, it’s just both on the surface. Every movement will irritate the piercing which will lead to its inevitable migration. To make it much worse, most people will use a curved barbell instead of a surface bar. Look at how Cardi B’s bar is showing on the left (picture above)—that’s a sign of a foreign object being rejected by the body. From migration to rejection. Piercing rejections have permanent scarring. If you don’t take out a rejecting piercing before the body pushes it to the surface, you’re gonna have a field day. So no matter how cool this piercing looks at the onset, don’t get it. You’ll just be part of the statistics that followed the trend who either had to take this piercing out or incurred permanent damage on their lips.

Remember that you have to walk with that face, don’t ruin it.

5. Surface tongue piercing

Another cool-looking piercing that just shouldn’t exist is the surface tongue piercing. It’s the same idea as the horizontal lip piercing and has comparable constricting issues of a snake eyes piercing. To achieve an identical look, you can get a venom piercing instead.

A venom piercing is just a pair of regular tongue piercings. Instead of placing it midline, you pierce it through two separate tongue muscles.

6. Any cartilage piercing on children

There’s a lot of debate on what age children can consent to piercings. Much like religion and politics, there’s no objectively right side as people base their sense of correctness on their own morality and personal worldviews. Moreover, since piercings were more of a religious and spiritual practice before they got reduced to just ‘being cool’ and its general pop punk-ness, we can’t object to parents and families who choose to get their kids a pair of standard ear piercings. However, cartilage piercings are a different topic entirely.

Cartilage piercings are already tricky for grown adults to get to heal. So just imagine a cartilage piercing on a child? They like to constantly touch things and may absent-mindedly play with their piercings while it’s still healing. Aside from children’s bodies haven’t finished growing yet and the cartilage piercing they get early on may disrupt their natural growth, cartilage piercings on children have a higher risk of infection.

Always prioritize kids’ safety over aesthetics. Wait until they’re older.

7. Any surface piercing with a curved barbell

Curved barbells aren’t intended for surface piercings. Your body will eventually just reject this. This includes but is not limited to vertical bridge, horizontal eyebrow, anti-eyebrow, surface tragus, and sternum piercings. This can still happen even if you use the correct jewelry as surface piercings in general have a high rejection rate.

8. Unsuitable ear anatomy for industrial piercing

Industrial piercings are cool but it’s not for everybody. One of the three main reasons why your industrial piercing is rejecting is perhaps because you may not have the anatomy for it after all. This is why it’s important to discuss your vision with a reputable artist so they can properly assess if your desired piercing is even feasible. Getting an industrial piercing on a non-compatible ear is just a waste of money, pain, and effort. The other two reasons are skill issues and accidents.

What’s great about the human’s constant craving for innovation is the inclusivity that comes with it. Now, there are alternatives to industrial piercings that can still work for you. Try getting a customized bar that will be more suited for your ear anatomy.

9. Anywhere that has high movement

You know those piercings that the media just love to feature? Finger piercings to make it look like a fixed ring and other high-movement body parts like wrists or ankles? Yeah, no. Perhaps it’s okay to get these if the expectation to get them to heal is out of the table. A lot of play-piercers still pierce whatever part they please for the love of it. But a regular consumer should not be duped into thinking that these types of piercings last because they most certainly don’t.

10. Hip piercings

The hips could also be classified as a high-movement body part. We bend, we sit, we stand. On top of it all, hip piercings are also surface piercings. It’s a double whammy for piercing rejections. You’ll probably never hear of a person who was able to get their hip piercings to heal, so if you don’t want some potential scarring, just don’t do it.

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There you have it, folks! These are the 10 piercings you should never get. Hopefully, knowing the reasons behind it leads you to make more sound decisions especially when it comes to modifying your body.

Feel free to leave a comment if there are other piercings that you think should be on this list or share the article to help educate a friend.