Piercings are popular forms of self expression, especially for the younger generations. Part of it could be a right of passage and part of it may be a form of rebellion. People get piercings for different reasons, some aesthetic, some for uniqueness and some must be for shock value. I had some piercings in my younger days, mainly the double ear holes, the cartilage of the upper ear, the belly button and the tragus. That, the tragus, is what led me to write this post. In my studies of holistic health, including some basics of the meridians and acupuncture, I understand that certain places on the body align with other places or organs or systems. If you’ve ever received acupuncture before, you will understand what I’m talking about. For those of you who haven’t experienced it, acupuncture involves placing tiny needles into specific points on the body. For example, for a migraine, sometimes I’d get a needle in the middle of my palm. It doesn’t hurt – the needles are really tiny and they aren’t inserted very far. It’s like a little prick and then the needle just hangs out in that spot for a while. Sometimes the practitioner will gently spin the needle, activating the flow of energy. You can feel it, it’s a strong sensation, all from this tiny needle. Now, apply that concept to piercings. If a tiny needle inserted shallowly has the power to impact the flow of energy in the body, send it to specific areas, make it move faster or slower, etc., what are holes in our bodies doing? I couldn’t really find a direct answer to this, but here is what I do know. This thought never occurred to me until I saw a new chiropractor about a year ago. He looked at my tragus piercing and said nonchalantly, “You know that’s right through your adrenal gland point, right?” Um, no. Tell me more. He went on to do an applied kinesiology test and it appears my body did not like that hole in my head. I have heard that the body can reroute these lines to bypass obstructions, meaning it’s possible that piercings, with time, will not impact the energy flow. The body is really good at trying to find balance, and that may be happening. But what if it doesn’t? What long term effects could piercings cause? Unfortunately, I can’t answer these questions, but I can direct you to the most common piercings and the acupuncture points they are on, leading you to question for yoruself whether that piercing is negatively affecting you. Tragus The points of the tragus regulate thirst, hunger, the inner and outer nose and, the doc was right, adrenals. The adrenals are connected with stress, inflammation and shock and adrenal fatigue is a real concern in our stress-prone society. The adrenals are located on top of the kidneys are secrete very important hormones including adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol and testosterone. It’s imperative that the adrenals pump out the proper amount of these hormones or other problems are imminent. Clearly I want to give my adrenals as much support as possible. I took out my piercing. Ears The ears are complex because there are many points and many different places to pierce, so I won’t try to explain. Just google acupuncture points in the ear and look at the images. There are a ton of them and you can see exactly where your piercings are. Tongue The point in the middle of the tongue is energetically connected to the central nervous system. Piercing could affect the spleen and cause depression or muscle loss. Navel Running down the main center line of the body, a piercing at the navel could affect a few different things, including fertility and other reproductive issues. In some traditions, the navel is a major energy center and piercing here could affect that power. Could piercings be healing? The unexpected part of my research for this post led to the idea that putting a permanent hole into an acupuncture point could activate that point and lead to healing. Since the energy flow reroutes aroun obstructions, I wonder if this benefit would be short lived. Then there is the idea of using piercings for spiritual growth, as some ancient cultures have done. While these questions were brought forward, no real answers exist. Piercings are a highly personal decision. For some, any potential energetic risk is worth it. For others, a simple piercing could be responsible for their issues. We just don’t know what effect they have and people are all going to be affected differently. The point, or goal, is to offer a new concept to think about and a new way to understand your body a little better. source
