Play piercing
Play piercing, Needle Play, or Recreational Acupuncture is body piercing done for the purpose of enjoying the experience rather than producing a permanent body decoration. Needles or other tools used in play piercing are usually removed from the body when the episode is complete, allowing holes to heal over. Those who engage in play piercing may do so for self-expression, as a part of a ritual imitating those of tribal cultures, for the purpose of spiritual self-discovery, for sexual pleasure, for simple entertainment, or some combination thereof.Play piercing can produce an intense natural endorphin high which can last for hours or days and can induce orgasm in many of the people who try it. The experience of multiple piercings in an eroticly or spiritually charged context is qualitatively very different from the experience most people have had with phlebotomists in medical settings. Play piercing is normally done using new sterile hypodermic needles or acupuncture needles on skin which has been cleaned with a antiseptic such as alcohol and/or povidone iodine (potential allergen) by people who have been properly trained. Improper technique can result in the transmission of bloodborne diseases (due to needlestick injuries, for example) or puncture wounds but if done properly there is far less danger of injury or infection than from being scratched by a cat. Off-duty medical personel (doctors, nurses, or EMTs) are often present and safety supplies are usually present in abundance. Many people have an extreme irrational needle phobia and go batshit loonball at the mere thought of needle play.
Needles may be arranged in aesthetically pleasing configurations, may be laced together like a corset, or may be used sew on temporary decorations such as bells using sterile thread.
A more extreme form of play piercing is flesh hook suspension where a persons is suspended vertically or horizontally by 2 or more hooks through their flesh. This practice is done in some cultures as a right of passage. There are also dance rituals in which flesh hooks attached to multiple people are attached together.
See Also