piercing-titanium-jewelry

Body piercings have taken off in the 21st century, although they were popular among certain groups long before the turn of the century.  Further back, they were an ancient tribal rite in some cultures and an upper-class form of jewelry in other cultures.  In America, they are no longer just for ‘punks’.  As piercings become more and more frequent, we should have a look at piercing titanium jewelry.  Why?  For piercing, titanium jewelry is the safest way to go.  Most other metals have a much higher risk of infection, and some, such as sterling silver, will simply discolor the skin surrounding the piercing.

Body piercing is considered to be slightly outlying on the list of forms of ‘acceptable’ personal decoration and modes of accessorizing.  Ears are frequently pierced, both female and male, but the nose ring, the eyebrow ring, the lip ring, not to mention others, are still considered to be just outside the mainstream.  This is despite efforts of young people across the nation.  Most companies still require employees to remove facial piercings and tongue piercings before coming to work, in an effort to maintain professionalism.  Despite this work-related stigma and granny’s stares, young people seem determined to express themselves by punching holes in their body and hanging some sort of ornamentation from the hole.

One concern regarding body piercings is safety.  Insofar as safety is concerned, for piercing, titanium jewelry is by far and large the best way to go.  Other metals react more to the skin that they are in contact with.  Regardless of the type of metal used in the piercing, body piercings take a LONG time to heal; during this healing period, the piercing is at an even higher risk of becoming infected.  One way to lower the risk is in choosing the right metal.  Piercing titanium jewelry is the best way to go.

Titanium is non-reactive to human skin; it is also the toughest jewelry on the market.  While sterling silver is a popular jewelry choice (seemingly becoming more and more popular recently), sterling jewelry that is to be inserted (posts of earrings, for example) are coated with white gold or stainless steel in order to avoid silver’s contact with the skin.  Actually, it’s the nickel in sterling silver that causes the problem, but regardless of its source, sterling silver is problematic when it comes to insertion points.

18K gold is better for insertion than 14K gold.  For piercing, titanium jewelry is better than all of the aforementioned options.  It will not discolor your skin as sterling silver will do, and it has a lower rate of infection than the other standard options for piercing. There are a few other jewelry metals available for piercing; titanium jewelry remains at the top of the list.

Titanium is not only for piercing.  Titanium jewelry is quickly growing in popularity, especially for wedding bands and engagement rings.  Introduced for its quality of being virtually impossible to scratch, it became popular with active men and women who believed their rings might suffer more than the average amount of horseplay.  Titanium rings may not be the best bet if you use dangerous machinery; it is impossible to cut them off in the event of an emergency. 

While titanium rings have their advantages and disadvantages, for piercing, titanium jewelry seems to be, unquestionably, the best choice.