Debate

Due to the holiday there will be no classes during the 1st week in May for the DLNU students.

The next debate will be 8th May 2007.
TOPIC --- Bodypiercing: a STUD or a DUD ?
Here's some info to help with your preparation

The Earlobe Droop: Aging of Pierced Ears and What You Can Do
I remember begging my mother on my tenth birthday to pierce my ears - a wish I wasn`t allowed to have fulfilled until I was twelve. After piercing became a little more mainstream - with people piercing even their baby`s ears - I later decided to have two more sets done. We`re always hearing about what we`ll look like later on with things like piercing, and these warnings, most times are true. Later on in life, some as early as their forties, many women will experience significantly droopy earlobes, and along with every thing else we`re trying desperately to keep from drooping, this is the last thing we need. We`ll tell you how you can enjoy sporting ear jewelry without looking like a Basset Hound later.

An Ounce Of Prevention...
You know the rest... Is better than an ounce of cure. There actually is a cure for droopy ears caused from piercing, but we`ll talk about prevention first for those of us who still have time to heed the warning. The only completely preventative measure to avoid drooping earlobes is to not pierce. Although they aren`t as common as they used to be, clip-on earrings are still made. Most women don`t like them because it`s embarrassing when they fall off, they are generally uncomfortable, and they have to be changed daily, they are an option to consider. The only other preventative measure is to not wear heavy ear jewelry.

Piercing of the ears became all the rage in the 1980`s, about the same time that big hair and big jewelry did. Unfortunately, women that followed the fad of wearing loud statements in their ears are paying for it later in the life of their ears with droopiness and the inability to wear earrings at all because the earlobes are so worn. If your somewhere in the middle-life or your ear piercing, it`s not too late. If you`ve recently pierced, we`ll give the same advice - stick to studs. No, we don`t mean burly, macho men - they won`t do a bit of good for your ears - by studs we mean one-piece earrings, no more than a quarter-inch in width.

When the Damage Is Done
If your particularly sensitive about your droopy earlobes or would really like to be able to wear ear jewelry again, but can`t - there`s always surgical correction. This type of surgery will completely close the earlobe and will require that it be pierced again upon healing. This can be pricey since it is considered cosmetic and most often times will not be covered by health insurance companies, so make sure ear jewelry is really something you miss.

If ear surgery just doesn`t appeal you, there are some new versions of ear jewelry with special posts for older earlobes. These posts supply a wider surface to flatten the back of the ear against the post and prevent pulling from the front of the ear. Although this method of correction has it`s downfalls - posts are rather large and can often be seen from the side view - it`s cheaper than surgery while allowing you to still enjoy wearing ear jewelry.

Related Articles:

Oral Piercings , Piercings - How to Have Them done Safe and How to Remove Them


How piercing lost its cool factor

No, I was fine. In disbelief, he reached for the X-rays and pointed at fuzzy white-and-black spots. The doctor pulled out a model of a mouth, and peeled away its rubber gums to reveal teeth roots and bones. My gum loss, he said, was the least of my problems. An infection was spreading across my jaw line, eating away at my bone and teeth.
I was going to need surgery and fast. He would remove my gums, clean out the infection and give me several injections of fetal pig teeth protein. Hopefully, he said while pointing to the bone loss on the X-ray, he could rid my mouth from disease and encourage new growth.
Hopefully?! He wasn't certain he could get rid of the infection? He hoped this pig stuff would make my bones grow?! He wanted $1,400 and he wasn't positive this would work. Visions of developing a snout and curly tail danced in my head.
I would need at least seven days to recover. I protested. I couldn't take that type of time off school. I booked my appointment for late April. It was only two months away, I reassured myself. How bad could it get?
It was just before St. Patrick's Day when the severe pain took over. My mouth was in anguish. Sharp, fiery pangs shot up my jaw line. I was in constant pain.
I developed a routine. Tylenol 3's at night and Advil Extra-Strength all day let me get through my classes for just over a week. But it was getting worse.
My doctor saw the mess that was quickly taking over my mouth. The infection was spreading, eating at my jaw; I needed surgery now.
The procedure was fuzzy. I was drugged and frozen, but I'm certain I felt every scrape against my jaw bone. I left with a mouth full of thick black stitches, throbbing gums and a bag of drugs.
The next week was an OxyContin-induced haze. Frozen bags of spinach defrosted on my cheeks. Mountains of pills were ingested each day, applesauce became an entrée and sleeping for 16 hours of 24 was the norm.
I won't know if the pig protein worked for some time. But the infection that was tearing away at my bones is gone.
I'm no longer in pain and the stitches are gone, although I still can't use my front teeth, or enjoy a sandwich.
My situation wasn't unique. Dr. Wayne Karp, a Toronto-area periodontist, says that tongue rings can result in gum and tooth damage. Most often, "it's gum recession, but it depends on where the stud is, how your tongue hits your gums and how big the piercing is," he says.
Gum grafts, where a periodontist removes part of a mouth's roof and transplants the gum to the affected area, are much more common. My situation, "doesn't happen frequently, but as you know, it does happen," Karp says.
It turns out that being trendy, can be destructive.
More than 500 bacteria call your mouth home and with more openings for these germs to explore, serious bacterial infections can destroy the supporting bones that hold your teeth in place.
"Contact with the jewellery can cause teeth to crack or chip and your gums to recede," says Ontario Dental Association spokesperson Dr. Janet Tamo. "Once you start peeling away at your gums, it (the piercing) starts hitting at the bones and teeth. Losing a tooth is a lot easier than you think."
I look at women on the subway with fried hair from all the perms, crimping and teasing that was popular in the 1980s, and wonder if there are always negative consequences to trends.
Then I eye my meaningless heart/daisy tattoo. Anyone know a good removal specialist?


Cristina Howorun is a Ryerson
journalism student.


CareFair.com - Oral Piercings
Jim Borowski | by www.carefair.com. All rights reserved.
15.03 | 22:18
If you`re thinking of piercing something around your mouth, you may want to read up a bit. A professional piercer may give you enough instruction for your piercing`s immediate aftercare, but a dentist or physician can tell you the less appealing information. Oral piercing is usually done around the lips, cheeks and tongue.
Generally, people take them out after only a couple of years. While it`s in place, however, the chances of health problems increase greatly. Because the mouth is a passageway for materials to come in and out of the body, it becomes a hotspot for contamination.
With the tongue in particular, if infectious material from the inside of your mouth gets into the fresh hole, it can travel through the bloodstream and cause heart inflammation, blood poisoning or toxic shock syndrome. The tongue is a muscle, unlike the cheeks and lips, and a piercer also has to be very careful not to puncture any important nerves or veins. These conditions make the tongue one of the most dangerous areas for jewelry, and tongue piercing is regulated or banned in some areas.
Common problems following piercing around the mouth include drooling, speech problems, and movement loss. Jewelry can be mistakenly bitten, fracturing or chipping tooth enamel; and frequent rubbing against gum tissue can cause the gums to wear away from the teeth, sometimes exposing roots or bone. Unfortunately, mishaps with oral jewelry are often permanent and require surgery.
And the longer you wear your piercing, the greater your chances will be of having oral damage. If you want an oral piercing, have it done by a reputable, qualified professional. If s/he refuses to pierce a certain area, seriously consider the reasons why before you try to find somebody else to do it.
If your piercer is passing up an opportunity to make money, they probably have a good reason to be concerned. Ask your dentist for an opinion too. The piercing should be reasonably placed, as determined by a professional, and jewelry should be a comfortable size and shape.
Make sure you get a set of instructions for aftercare, and follow them. This means no kissing and no alcohol until it`s healed, among other things. Although the procedure should be done with surgical grade stainless steel, watch for severe inflammation; you might be allergic to the metal in your jewelry.
For the tongue, a shorter length of barbell is preferable to a longer length. The first barbell will be extra long to give room for your tongue to swell a little, so you will need to buy a shorter one after about a week and a half. Avoid playing with your jewelry to minimize contact with tissues and te even tapping it against your enamel can create tiny fractures.
Just like anything else inside the mouth, jewelry will collect plaque and debris. It is necessary to clean it regularly and replace it if your saliva wears out the material. You should periodically take your jewelry out and clean it by hand.
Lastly, if your piercing starts to give you big problems, don`t hesitate to take it out. Keeping a piece of jewelry in is never worth the health of your mouth. A hole can be re-pierced with less pain than a tooth can be replaced.
Although if it doesn`t seem worth the maintenance, you may be better off without the stud in the first place.

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