“Body piercing is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. Body piercing is a form of body modification. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice. The history of body piercing is obscured by a lack of scholarly reference and popular misinformation, but ample evidence exists to document that it has been practiced in various forms since ancient times throughout the world. In Western culture, body piercing has experienced an increase of popularity since World War II, with sites other than the ears gaining subcultural popularity in the 70s and spreading to mainstream in the 1990s.”

Read More @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_piercing