The Numbing Sensation – Is Anesthesia Really Necessary for Piercings?

We all love body piercings and decorating them with innovative and trendy jewelry, but what stops most of us from actually going ahead and getting our tongue, navel, eyebrow or nose pierced is the fear of pain. Frowning parents and troubles at work can be handled but the pain factor seems to scare most of us. There is a solution anesthesia. While most piercers don’t use it and advise customers to get a piercing without any numbing, most piercees would be much more comfortable if there was anesthesia around.

So how important is anesthesia? Do we really need to numb an area before piercing? Most of the piercers, especially those who are very strict about their profession (and should probably be the ones to go to) will refuse to work with you when you are under the influence of anesthesia. So, this poses a problem for all of us who bank on numbing sprays/shots to reduce/eliminate the pain but sadly, this is the deal.

But the question is; Is anesthesia really necessary? Here is a scale of 1-10, where 1 is minimum and 10 maximum, to give you the appropriate idea of how much pain you will to endure for different body parts.

• Ears – 4/10
• Navel – 6/10
• Eyebrow – 6/10
• Labret – 8/10
• Nostril – 7/10
• Genital – 10/10
• Tongue – 6/10
• Nipples – 9/10

Please remember that this scale is not to scare you but you give the general idea of how much pain to expect. It is obvious that anyone going for a nipple, or genital piercing would jump at numbing sprays or ointments, but for that you will have to carry out a complete research and find a piercing studio that uses anesthesia. While there very few piercers who would actually inject the anesthesia, a numbing cream or spray is just fine.

There is a downside though, piercings done with anesthesia tend to hurt more later. This is probably because the piercee doesn’t feel a thing to begin with and when the sensation wears off, there is a whole lot of swelling and fresh pain.

Our take on it? Go without the anesthesia. No piercing takes more than 2 minutes and it will last for a lifetime. The pain is uncomfortable, but in no way unbearable. So if you have been contemplating getting a lovely new piercing, go right ahead and do it! Don’t rely on anesthesias or numbing sprays as the pain will last only a few seconds. As for the jewelry, The Chain Gang will undertake that responsibility. We have a wide range of beautiful body piercing jewelry which will keep both healed and fresh piercings healthy!

Happy piercing!!