Lip Piercing - History and Culture

History and Culture

Precolumbian cultures of South America historically used lip piercing called Tembetá. Lip piercing continues to be practiced by many people, the most well-known of which are certain African tribes, who wear large decorative lip plates or discs, usually in the lower lip.

In contemporary society, lip piercings are relatively uncommon. In a study among Israeli young-adults, 4.3% had present or past body piercing (not included earlobe, lip or intra-oral piercing), and 5.7%, 6.2% and 15.7% had present or past lip piercing, body tattooing and intra-oral piercing, respectively.

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