Just a personal thing? A qualitative account of health behaviours and values associated with body piercing

Abstract

Objectives:

This study investigates the perceptions of individuals with body piercings in relation to health behaviours and values specifically taking into account piercing location.

Methods:

A qualitative study that employed a series of in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews using thematic analysis to analyse data. Nine individuals with a range of piercings were recruited and semi-structured interviews were carried out in a West Midlands piercing studio.

Results:

The analysis identified themes relating to the presence of body piercings that included a range of health-related outcomes such as physical appearance, health behaviours, addiction and impressions. A possible relationship between oral piercings and ‘crash dieting’ was also identified.

Conclusions:

The results suggest that from the comments made the presence of body piercings is not related to any particular health concern, which is instead comparable to the general population. These results contradict previous studies citing a relationship with high-risk health behaviours. Further large-scale studies examining these findings are warranted.