Locals share in ritual piercing
By Marla Buchanan
Opinion Page Editor
The ageless urge to puncture holes in human flesh is manifesting itself in various ways throughout American culture. Young people are piercing nearly every body part, and IVCC students are no exception.
Among the piercing generating controversy today is tongue piercing.
In February student Courtney Nave, and her boyfriend, Joe Urbanc, got a his-and-her tongue piercing at The Pit Studio in Ottawa.
The procedure Nave went through started with paying for the procedure ($60 for one piercing, which includes the stud) and signing the necessary paperwork. Owner, piercer and tattoo artist Cass Hulbert then asked Nave to rinse out her mouth with a disinfectant mouthwash.
Seated at a piercing station, Nave was asked to stick out her tongue as far as possible. Hulbert used a tong-like implement to steady Nave's tongue while Hulbert pierced it, from underneath with a sterile surgical piercing apparatus.
Hulbert then put a stud, called a "barbell," in place.
There was a little bleeding, and Hulbert asked Nave to spit and then rinse her mouth with more of the mouthwash.
Nave said that it didn’t hurt much.
"It was quick¾ one, two, and it was done," she said. "You don’t really get a chance to feel a lot of pain."
During the healing time, which takes approximately six weeks, Nave was advised to drink cold liquids, without a straw, and apply ice to the area periodically. After smoking and eating, she is to rinse out her mouth with a disinfectant mouthwash.
Hulbert said she disinfects the work area after every patron, sterilizes all equipment, and the staff wears gloves.
"We guarantee all of the work done in our shop," she said.
When asked a bout the variety of piercing that they do, co-owner Pat Hulbert said that they pierce "everything above the waist, but not surface-to-surface."
He also said that the most common sites are the navel and tongue. The strangest piercing that they have done was the "inner fold of someone’s ear," he said.
The prices and procedures: nipples-2/$100, or $60 for one; nose-$60; lip or labret (middle of lip)-$55; and eyebrow or navel-$50. Friends who get pierced during the same visit receive $5 off each of their procedures.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology’s website says that body piercing occurs worldwide and is practiced on men, women, and children.
"Our reasons for piercing our bodies can change over time, and may vary from culture to culture," the site says. "The latest alternative piercing trend in some American cities involves stretching the earlobes in order to accommodate ear-spools and ear plugs."
Lip, eyebrow, and nose, including septum, piercing is commonly seen today.
Genital and nipple piercing are also done, but they are not as common as those done on the ears, tongue, and facial areas, according to the web site.