Body piercing is a personal style decision; it's a way to put jewelry on to set yourself out from the crowd (or to belong to a social set). Most body piercings are done on the earlobe, lips, tongue, cheek, nose, or navel. Some piercings are put in more private areas of the body as well.

Getting body piercing done means going to a piercing parlor. When you're looking at a piercing parlor, look for signs of a well run establishment – they sterilize the needles, the place should be as clean as a hospital, and the people working there should be willing to talk to you about what you're getting into.

When you get a piecing done, the usual practice is to have the practitioner sterilize the area, with an anti-biotic cream or soap. The needle is sterilized, and the piece of jewelry to be put into the hole is sterilized. If you're noticing a lot of repetition of the word "sterilized" here, you're on to something – keeping the place clean, and keeping all the items being used sterilized are important for your health, and the health of their business.

The needle should be disposed of in a "sharps" container, so that it won't get handled by someone else – this is a good way to spread blood borne diseases.

Now, before you get a piercing done, you should check on a few things – first, make sure your immunizations are up to date, particularly for tetanus and hepatitis. Make sure you're aware of local regulations. Some states and cities won't let piercing parlors do piercings on people under the age of 18, some will, but only if the parent is present. Check with your family to see if anyone in your family has sensitivities to nickel, which is a common backing material in piercings, and can trigger all kinds of strange symptoms, from headaches, to nausea to bleeding gums. If you're getting a mouth piercing, be on the lookout for infections.

After the piercing is done, the practitioner should fit your desired piece of jewelry in (or a post to let your body adapt) and adjust the fit to make sure everything's comfortable.

After the piercing, don't pick at it or fiddle with it. Do wash the piercing regularly with soap and water, and check for signs of infection, like redness, swelling, pus and discharges, or sensitivity around the jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, the safest jewelry to start out with, in terms of minimum reaction, are titanium, surgical steel and 14k gold. Silver and nickel can cause the allergic reactions described above, because some people's body chemistry will absorb them from the piercing, and then accumulate them – tracking down a metal sensitivity can be a very frustrating experience.

Depending on factors like diet, stress and how much "play" the area gets, healing times can range from two weeks to over a year, with the longer timeframes happening for cheek and lip piercings.