Tattoo, Piercing වගේ දේවල් අද වන විට අපේ තරුණ පරම්පරාව අතර සෑහෙන ජනප්‍රිය වෙලා. ගැහැණු පිරිමි භේදයක් වගේම අද නම් වයස් භේදයක් නැතිව tattoo, piercing වගේ දේවල් වලට යොමුවන පිරිස් ඕනෑ තරම් දකින්නට පුළුවන්. අද අපේ යුවතියන් වුණත් අලුත් අලුත් piercing අත් හදා බලන්න වගේම ටිකක් heavy tattoo රටාවලින් සිරුර ලස්සන කරගන්න, ආකර්ෂණීය කරගන්න දෙවරක් හිතන්නේ නැහැ. ඉතින් අද අපේ මේ කතා බහ tattoo සහ piercing වලට කැමති ඔයාලා වෙනුවෙන්මයි. Elayne Angel කියන්නේ ලෝකයේම සිටින piercing artist ලා අතර ඉදිරියෙන්ම සිටින කෙනෙක්. ඇගේ ශරීරය පවා සකසා තිබෙන අපූරු ආකාරය නිසාම ජනප්‍රිය වුනු කෙනෙක්. නොයෙක් piercing වර්ග ගණනාවක් මුල්වරට හඳුන්වා දීමේ ගෞරවය ඇයට හිමිවනවා. Body Piercing සම්බන්ධව ලෝකයේ දැනට ලියැවී ඇති ඉහලම අලෙවියක් සහිත “The Piercing Bible” පොතේ කතුවරිය වන්නේද ඇයයි. වෘත්තියෙන් මහාචාර්යවරියක වන දශක ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ පිලිබඳද තමා සතු දැනුම ලෝකයට බෙදා දීමේ යෙදී සිටිනවා. ඇය විසින් 2012දී Zest Girls සඟරාව වෙත ලබා දුන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාව අප නැවත පළකරන්නේ Body Piercing සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔබට ඇති ගැටළු නිරාකරණය කර ගැනීමටයි.
Q 01 : We like to know about your childhood. What were your dreams?
My father was a doctor (now retired) and as a child, I was fascinated with the human body and the medical field. He worked in an Emergency Room of a hospital when I was little, and I used to go with him and help the nurses there with office work. I liked being in that environment and imagined I would grow up to be a doctor.
My favorite dinnertime conversation was to talk with my dad about whatever “interesting cases” he had at work that day. So, I didn’t end up becoming a doctor, but I do work with the human body in a way that is creative and fun for me. I feel very fortunate to have work that I feel so passionate about, even though I’ve been in the piercing industry for so long. I certainly have no regrets about my path in life!
Q 02 : What made you chose this as your career?
I had a successful and fulfilling career as a Sign Language Interpreter for the deaf and hearing impaired. I worked at a university and really enjoyed it. Meanwhile, I’d personally gotten into body piercing and underneath my interpreting smock I wore nipple and genital piercings. I was fortunate to live within driving distance of Gauntlet, the first piercing specialty business in the world, and that was where I’d gotten pierced (starting in 1981).
Unfortunately, I got tendinitis (a very painful condition) in my forearms from interpreting too much. I was unable to work and ended up going back to school. I studied marketing and management. After graduating, I went on a job interview with the man who had pierced me and ended up getting hired as the manager of Gauntlet in the 1980s. So being a “piercer” wasn’t really a career path back then, since body piercing wasn’t actually an industry yet! I kind of lucked into the position and everything aligned to make it happen. After a number of years, I moved to New Orleans and opened my own studio in the French Quarter. I pierced there for over 12 years and after Hurricane Katrina, I closed my studio and moved to the Yucatan in Mexico.
Q 03 : What is your speciality in the field and what were your inventions?
I specialize in genital piercings for both men and women, but most of my clients are women. I’m credited with the popularity of tongue piercings. Mine was one of the first in the US, and I also had the first multiple tongue piercings (I still have 5 of them). I also invented the fourchette (a female genital piercing) and perfected and popularized the triangle piercing (another female genital piercing). I’m also credited with naming the lorum piercing (a male genital piercing). I’ve also made some innovations in techniques such as tissue manipulation and the compression technique, and I have helped to further professionalization of the field through my work with the Association of Professional Piercers. I am the organization’s current President.
Q 04 : What do you think of tomorrows’ body modification trends in.(Specially among the young gen.)?
I know that surface anchors have become very popular and I anticipate that popularity will continue. There is a certain apparent competitiveness that concerns me. Body art and body modification shouldn’t be viewed as a contest! It shouldn’t be focused on who gets the most extreme modifications, but rather it should be about coming up with your own personal vision for yourself and attaining it. I hope young people are able to grasp this, especially before they do anything radical that is difficult or impossible to reverse.
Q 05 : At present, what are the most popular piercings among the girls?
Nostril piercings are very popular right now, and navel piercings are still very widespread too. Also piercings around the lips-upper lip and lower, in the center or on one side, or both! And surface anchors around the eyes, neck, and chest areas.
Q 06 : Some women have a like but with little fear about genital and nipple piercings. How does those piercings affect women’s day to day work? I mean breastfeeding, sex life etc…
Most people get genital piercings for sexual enhancement, and many people get nipple piercings for the same reason. Once they’re in place and healed, you don’t notice them all the time, but when you pay attention to those areas, they can definitely increase sensation and stimulation.
These brief excerpts from my book, The Piercing Bible-The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercings answers several commonly asked questions:
Overstimulation, Sensation, and Desensitization
There is often a period of localized hypersensitivity during the first few days or so following piercing. The overstimulated nerve endings calm as healing begins and the body grows accustomed to the constant stimulus of the jewelry, usually within the first week. For better or worse, genital piercings are not permanently stimulating. Regardless of piercing placement, there is no concern-nor hope-of becoming a continuous human orgasm machine. That said, increased pleasurable sensations are a common consequence when nipple or genital piercings are touched or fondled, whether new or healed. Some piercees experience spectacular enhancements, and a number of piercees also report having an improved libido, at least for a while.
When piercings are properly placed and handled according to accepted practice, there is no physiological basis for permanent damage to sensation from any of the common piercing placements. Piercings (including those of the nipples and genitals) are often rumored to result in eventual desensitization of the area. I’ve even been asked by an anxious, uninformed piercee, “Two years after my piercing is done, will I lose all feeling in my nipple like my friend told me I would?” Urban myths abound, but there is no empirical evidence that the continued presence of jewelry will diminish any of the sensation with which a person is naturally blessed.
Breastfeeding
Many pierced women express concerns about breastfeeding, but there does not appear to be any evidence that nipple piercings negatively affect the ability to breastfeed. A normal female nipple has a multiplicity of up to twenty porelike milk ducts, rather than a single spout. Therefore, a nipple piercing of ordinary size and uneventful healing won’t block them all. The ability to nurse could be impaired if a troubled nipple piercing causes excess scarring. When jewelry is removed from a well-healed nipple piercing, some colostrum or milk might seep or flow from the empty channel.
Q 07 : Please give some important tips regarding body piercing aftercare and body jewelry.
I have very complete care information on my website here:
http://piercingbible.com/piercing-care and my book contains even more details.
Main points include keeping dirty fingers away from the pierced area and avoiding trauma; you must be gentle with a healing piercing. A piercing should be washed once daily with a mild liquid soap and water. There are other options to assist with healing such as saline soaks and/or emu oil. Also it is important to avoid other potential irritants and contaminants such as personal care products and others’ bodily fluids.
Q 08 : What is “The Piercing Bible”?
My book, The Piercing Bible is primarily a factual consumers’ guide to safe body piercing. It contains loads of information about evaluating piercers and studios, piercing placements, appropriate body jewelry sizes, styles, and materials, aftercare, troubleshooting, and much, much more. It also contains information for people who deal with piercees: medical professionals, educators, parents, and others. And there are plenty of tips and techniques for piercers, too. It is comprehensive with over 300 pages with plenty of illustrations and photos. There is no other in-depth reference book exclusively about body piercing in the English language!
Q 09 : How can we buy this? I mean people outside USA.
You can order directly from my website: www.piercingbible.com, locate the book cover in the right-hand column then select your shipping method from the drop-down menu (“Canada/Mexico” and “International” are two of the shipping options). Click the “Buy Now” button and complete your order.
Or, you can email: info@safepiercing.org. Orders are being filled by the Association of Professional Piercers. A portion of the proceeds (25%) from the book goes to the organization, and you will receive a signed copy of my book.
Also, if you’d like to see me performing piercings, and demonstrating exactly where they should be placed and how quickly and easily an expert can perform them, I’ve got videos available here: http://www.clips4sale.com/store/10557 (You’ll see that a piercing can be performed in an instant!)
Website : www.piercingbible.com
Official FB fanpage : click here
Wikipedia page : click here
