It’s crazy to think that in 50 years’ time we might be passing down an heirloom to our grandchildren and reminiscing about our wedding day as they hold a crusty old piercing in their hands. Dermal piercings are becoming more and more popular and even more so in a romantic sense. These piercings make it appear as though the diamond is sitting on top of your skin. However, the secret is that the base anchor is pierced through the skin first, remaining under the surface of the skin and the decorative stud is then placed on top. Dermal piercings are becoming somewhat of a symbol for commitment, maybe its because pain is love or that dermal piercings leaves scars when removed, who knows?
As always, there are two ways of looking at this emerging trend. Traditional engagement rings can come with a hefty price tag – in fact, the average engagement ring in the UK can cost more than £1,000, while these piercings could save a huge amount of money for couples (depending on the size of the diamond stud of course) as they cost about £70-£100. Not to mention the added of bonus of never having to go through the whole ring sizing process.
Be that as it may, the dermal engagement piercing comes with its own set of faults. According to the British Association of Dermatologists “If the piercing is not deep enough there is a risk of it moving, known as migration. If it is too deep the skin begins to grow over the piercing, known as embedding. Other risks include inflammation, scarring and infection – particularly if it is on the hands, as is the case with these particular piercings.” So not only can this piercing be ripped out of your finger, but it could also become embedded in your skin.
They also mentioned that “another problem with having a dermal piercing on your hand is the increased likelihood of it catching on something.” To create a visual for you, imagine you’re running late and you can’t find your keys. You eventually remember that you put them in your jeans pocket not so long ago, and naturally you plunge your hand into your pocket to retrieve them. Alas, as your hand slides in, your piercing gets caught on the edge of your pocket but before you realise, your hand has already reached the bottom of your pocket and is grasping your missing keys. The piercing will have been caught and dragged a few centimetres before being ripped out of your finger. Enticing, right? In light of these cons, many piercing studios don’t even consider doing dermal piercings on peoples’ fingers. If that doesn’t scream unsafe, I don’t know what would.
So while they might look cool to some of you, due to their safety hazards and the reluctance of certain piercings studios to ‘pierce’ fingers, we don’t really know if these will take over traditions and replace wedding rings just yet!
By Tarryn McGuire
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