A Madison piercing is a
body piercing
Body piercing, which is 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, or where an implant could be inserted. The word ''piercing'' can refer to ...
going through the skin at the front of the neck. They are
surface piercing
Surface piercings are piercings that are found on flat parts of the body, giving a double-pierced look that sits flat against the skin. A surface bar follows the plane of skin, while a standard piercing is pierced through the plane. Standard pierc ...
s, and have a high rate of
migration and rejection. They have a long healing period, if they heal at all. The Madison piercing is named after the first person publicly associated with it, the
porn star Madison Stone.
Health issues
The vast majority of Madison piercings will reject or migrate. In a three-year, informal study
ThePoint_issue33.indd
by the Association of Professional Piercers, out of twelve participants with Madison Piercings, nine were removed due to migration during the first year and the remaining three had not healed. At the end of the three-year study, only one piercing had healed and was still worn. Poorly healed, migrating or rejected piercings can cause scarring. Initial jewelry for a Madison Piercing is usually a surface bar
Barbell style piercing jewelry is composed of a straight bar 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 ...
, although flexible barbell style jewelry may also be used. It is not unheard for these piercings to be performed with captive bead rings, although this will almost always lead to migration and rejection.
References
The Point: Issue 33, FAll 2005. ''A statistical look at surface bars''
External links
Body Modification E-zine encyclopedia entry on madison piercings
{{Body Piercing
Surface piercings