As on-trend as it may be, the practice of piercing has been fashionable for a millennia.

It may be painful but body piercing occurs worldwide and doesn't discriminate based on age, sex, race or religion. While ear piercing is a common practice that has become mainstream, popularity has grown to include the piercing of just about anything: ears, noses, tongues, eyebrows, nipples, genitals and navels - if it can be pierced, it has been done. However, the reasons for piercing our bodies have changed over time and are transient from culture to culture.

Nose piercing is a prevalent adornment in today's popular culture. Nose jewellery can be worn on either side of the nose or through the septum (middle). Among the Tlingit of southeast Alaska, nose rings were considered a mark of distinction and prestige and were worn by both men and women. Nose piercing was also popular from ancient Mexico and India to today's women in India and Pakistan.

Body piercings have seen a resurgence of interest in the past 10 to 20 years and have claimed a larger slice of mainstream Western culture. Take a look at any fashion or entertainment magazine and you'll find a barrage of well-known celebrities with body piercings. Although piercing is actually an ancient form of expression that most cultures have practiced at some time or other for thousands of years.

In the past century, body piercings in the Western world were mostly limited to the ears, a left-over from both men and women sporting earrings during Elizabethan times. Nose rings found new interest when young hippies travelling in the 1960s began exploring India seeking enlightenment. They noticed the nostril rings on women, a practice that had been undertaken since the 16th century. In India, this was a form of traditional, accepted adornment and was often linked to an earring by a chain. For rebellious teens of the punk movement, this same adornment came to signify a great form of rebellion.

Fact or fiction?

• Sailors were convinced that piercing one ear with a gold ring would improve their long-distance sight. Rumour also has it that if a sailor washed ashore, the finder should keep the gold ring in exchange for providing a proper Christian burial.

• Men became much more fashion-conscious during the Renaissance and Elizabethan eras, and almost any male member of the nobility would have at least one earring, if not more. Women, not wanting to be outshone by the men in all their finery, began to wear plunging necklines.

• During the Victorian age, Prince Albert, future husband of Queen Victoria, is said to have gotten the penis piercing that is named after him in order wear the tight-fitting trousers so popular at the time. The ring could then be attached to a hook on the inside of one pant leg, tucked safely away between the legs for a neat, trim look.

• Egyptian body piercing reflected status and love of beauty. The earliest known mummified remains of a pierced human is over 5,000 years old, indicating that plugs may be one of the oldest forms of body modification.

• Body piercings are mentioned in the Bible. In the Old Testament body jewellery is evidently considered a mark of status, beauty and wealth, especially for Bedouin and nomadic tribes.

• Romans were practical piercers, with centurions piercing their nipples to signify their strength and virility. It was a badge of honour that demonstrated the centurion's dedication to the Roman Empire.

• Aztecs, Mayans and some American Indians practiced tongue piercing as part of their religious rituals. It was thought to bring them closer to their gods and was a type of ritual blood-letting.

• Many warrior tribes practiced septum piercing in order to appear fiercer to their enemies. Nothing looks quite as frightening as an opponent sporting a huge boar tusk thrust through his nose. This practice was also common among Aztec, Mayan, New Guinean and the Solomon Islands tribes using bone, tusks and feathers.

• In Central and South America women with pierced lips were considered more attractive. The holes were often stretched to incredible size as progressively larger wooden plates were inserted to emphasize the lips as much as possible - kind of like collagen today. The Aztecs and Mayans sported lip labrets of gold and jade as they were seen to enhance sexuality.

• Museum's show us that the residents of Cyprus pierced their ears and wore gold earrings 2200 years ago.

• The Tlingit of southeast Alaska use nose piercings to indicate an individual's rank in society. Social position was determined by the wealth of the family into which the individual was born.

• The spools and plugs of today have an amazing resemblance to those worn by the people of ancient Mexico, including the Maya.

ACSM #47