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Cheek piercing is facial body piercing

Body piercing

Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice...

 through the cheek

Cheek

Cheeks constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. They may also be referred to as jowls. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve...

. The most common variation of the cheek piercing penetrates the facial tissue into the oral cavity. The usual placement is symmetrical on either side of the face, either penetrating or imitating dimples. The piercing can cause the wearer slight nerve damage and will result in "man-made dimples". Another way to go is getting Microdermals placed where you want the dimple to be placed. Some people prefer this method because full on cheek piercings have the tendency to leak or secrete lymph fluid, which has a saliva-like texture and can create an unpleasant odor. Though microdermals do have a slightly larger chance to leave a scar than a piercing, they will heal eventually and be almost unnoticeable. The rate of infection is also lower in the long run. Because the piercing does not penetrate the cheek completely, there is little to no chance of tooth or gum damage. Microdermals are like a 'one hole' piercing, where the 'foot' of the jewelry sits below the skin and the decorative jewel or flat disc is above the skin.

Jewelry

Cheek piercings are sometimes pierced with 1.6mm flat backed labret studs, a type of barbell

Barbell (piercing)

Barbell style piercing jewelry is composed of a straight bar and with a bead on each end, one or both beads unscrewable for removal and/or changing of the beads. Often one of the beads is fixed, either via epoxy or welding, so that only one bead is used to install or remove the jewelry...

 jewelry. The flat back provides comfort and lessens the chance of the jewelry damaging the teeth and gums of the wearer. However it proves problematic during the healing process because The cheek will likely heal over the flat back if the bar's length is too short. In this case, the piercer will have to cut the barbell out from the inside of the mouth. The cheek is pierced with a 16 - 18 mm labret during the procedure. This will accommodate for swelling. After the piercing is healed, shortened jewelry further reduces the chance of damage to the teeth from unintentional biting.

History and culture

Permanent cheek piercing appears to be of primarily contemporary origin.

Ritual cheek piercings were and are common throughout the world in both primitive and modern cultures. Perhaps the most well known of these rituals is the annual vegetarian festivals in Phuket

Phuket City

Phuket is a city located in the southeast of Phuket Island, Thailand. It is the capital of the Phuket Province, covering all of the island. As of 2007 the city has a population of 75,573 people...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

where "mediums" (both lay people and monks) pierce their cheeks with an array of objects in varying sizes, while in an altered state.