Nape piercing
Encyclopedia
A nape piercing is a piercing
through the surface of the nape
(back part) of the neck. Nape piercings are a type of surface piercing
. They carry a high rate of rejection and migration, unless they are properly measured and placed. They may reject if they are not pierced properly, as they are in a part of the body that moves constantly and are easy to irritate, catching on clothing or other objects.
Being surface piercings, nape piercings require special jewelry to minimize the risk of piercing migration
and rejection. Both surface bars and barbell
s with bars made from flexible material, such as tygon or teflon, are commonly used as both initial and long term jewelry in nape piercings. More appropriate is titanium
, which due to lack of nickel is less prone to irritation of surrounding skin. A quality piercing is done in two steps with different bars, one with long rises (used at time of piercing) to allow for initial swelling, and the second bar (shorter rises with balls a few mm from skin) to be inserted months later once most (if not all) healing has taken place. Other similar jewelry include specially made and bent barbells, which are made either by the piercer or ordered from a dealer.
s and popular culture
myths associate nape piercings with a potential for spinal or nerve damage, due to their location. Nape piercings do not interact with nerve tissue more or less than any other surface piercing, and there is no risk of nerve damage associated with nape piercings.
Body piercing
Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. 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...
through the surface of the nape
Nape
The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is referred to by the word nucha, which also gives the adjective corresponding to "nape" in English, "nuchal"....
(back part) of the neck. Nape piercings are a type of surface piercing
Surface piercing
Surface piercings are any body piercings that take place on the surface sewn into the body through areas which are not particularly concave or convex, where the piercing canal transverses a surface flap of skin, rather than running completely through a piece of body tissue from one side to another...
. They carry a high rate of rejection and migration, unless they are properly measured and placed. They may reject if they are not pierced properly, as they are in a part of the body that moves constantly and are easy to irritate, catching on clothing or other objects.
Being surface piercings, nape piercings require special jewelry to minimize the risk of piercing migration
Piercing migration
Piercing migration is the process that occurs when a body piercing moves from its initial location. This process can be painful or go unnoticed, until it has progressed. Given enough time, a ring may migrate entirely outside of the skin, although it may only migrate a small amount and come to...
and rejection. Both surface bars and barbell
Barbell (piercing)
Barbell style piercing jewelry is composed of a straight bar and with a bead on each end, one or both beads unscrewable for removal and/or changing of the beads. Often one of the beads is fixed, either via epoxy or welding, so that only one bead is used to install or remove the jewelry...
s with bars made from flexible material, such as tygon or teflon, are commonly used as both initial and long term jewelry in nape piercings. More appropriate is titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
, which due to lack of nickel is less prone to irritation of surrounding skin. A quality piercing is done in two steps with different bars, one with long rises (used at time of piercing) to allow for initial swelling, and the second bar (shorter rises with balls a few mm from skin) to be inserted months later once most (if not all) healing has taken place. Other similar jewelry include specially made and bent barbells, which are made either by the piercer or ordered from a dealer.
History and culture
Nape piercings, like most surface piercings, are of completely contemporary origin. Numerous urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
s and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
myths associate nape piercings with a potential for spinal or nerve damage, due to their location. Nape piercings do not interact with nerve tissue more or less than any other surface piercing, and there is no risk of nerve damage associated with nape piercings.