Body piercing revival is 'rite of passage' as well as fashion

The practice has been described as self mutilation, a violation of socially defined standards of beauty and a "fashion-caused infringement of physical immaculacy". Now a new theory has been advanced to explain the growing popularity of body piercing – it is a rite of passage and a way of marking significant life events, especially traumatic ones.

The proliferation of body piercings in the past decade has worried doctors and puzzled psychologists. From the traditional site of the female earlobe, jewellery has spread across the body and is now proudly displayed in the eyebrow, nose, lip, tongue, nipple, belly button and genitals – to name but a few of the possible sites – and by both sexes.

Its popularity is growing around the world and is expanding across social and age groups, says Aglaja Stirn, a psychiatrist at JW Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, who has made a study of the practice.

There are few reliable statistics for the number of people who have had piercings but one US study of college students found 42 per cent of the men and 60 per cent of the women had them. An Australian study of 10,000 people aged over 13, found 8 per cent had some form of piercing. Writing in The Lancet, Dr Stirn says body piercing has been a common practice in almost every society around the world but the reasons for its sudden growth in the West remain disputed.

Because of the risks associated with the practice – infections, excessive bleeding and other complications – doctors often have to treat body piercers and tend to be prejudiced against them. In a 1999 study of GPs in Bury and Rochdale, 95 per cent of GPs said they had treated medical complications from body piercing. The commonest site to give problems was the navel, reflecting the popularity of piercings in that area.

Dr Stirn says it is important to combat prejudice by recognising the "often intense motivations" behind the activity. One view is that piercing is undertaken to increase self esteem. "The need for even young adolescents to improve their appearance and self-esteem with extreme and even risky measures can be viewed as evidence of a regressive trend in Western culture," she writes.

Others believe fashion drives piercing. One study found that piercers wanted to "create something different, individual and lasting on themselves".

But from her own study of 104 people who had piercings, Dr Stirn concluded that the motive ran deeper and often marked triumph over adversity. "These individuals got their piercings at special moments in their lives, to commemorate positive experiences or to mark the end and overcoming of negative ones. There is a strong relation between tattoos and piercings and personal events, especially if traumatic."

Body piercing can also be seen as therapeutic because the procedure is followed by weeks or months of self care, involving bathing and cleaning the pierced site. This "forces the individual to be concerned with their body and themselves during the healing process". Dr Stirn says better regulation and understanding of the reasons behind body piercing are the best way to protect those choosing this method of "conveying ... a sense of identity and a coherent self".

The pleasures and risks of adornment

Addie Chinn, at 23, has four piercings – three in his ears and a tongue stud – and a tattoo. He works in a bar in east London and is planning his next. "Lip, nose, nipple – I'm not sure. I'm thinking about it," he said.

As a 16-year-old with long hair and an instinct to provoke, he got his ear pierced for the first time mainly because it was forbidden by his school. "It was more of a rebellious impulse. I would do anything to assert my independence," he said.

His next came two years later during A-levels. "It wasn't planned but I was finishing school and I wanted to mark the event in some way. It seemed the right thing to do." At 21, he had his tongue pierced. "It was overcoming another barrier that attracted me. It hurts."

'Like banging a nail in wood'

The dangers of body piercing were highlighted by the case of Katrina Healey who lost part of her ear after a piercing gun instead of a specialist needle was used to insert a gold stud.

The gun shattered the cartilage and she lost the top of her ear after it shrivelled and died – the gun should only be used on the lobe. Katrina had three operations and needs plastic surgery to rebuild her ear. She was awarded almost £14,000 in damages. Her mother, Karen Hudson, had refused permission so Katrina, then 12, had had the piercing behind her back. When the piercing developed an abscess she was in agony.

The Body Piercing Association said: "Using a gun is a mistake. It's like banging a nail through a piece of wood."