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Last August, North West appeared in Rome alongside her mom, Kim Kardashian, in a black corset, a miniskirt, and five-inch platform Vetements boots, but it wasn\u2019t her clothing that drew the Internet\u2019s ire (although that\u2019s happened plenty of times before). It was the debut of a new pair of dermal piercings on her right middle finger. Digital onlookers immediately declared that her choice of body jewelry was \u201cdisturbing,\u201d and went so far as to compare her piercing to warts all over Reddit. West\u2014a 12-year-old, mind you\u2014has slyly defended her choice multiple times on TikTok and seems to remain completely unbothered by the backlash. In fact, it appears she\u2019s done it again.<\/p>\n
This week, West debuted another dermal piercing on her right hand in an Instagram Story with a photo of herself holding up her fist to the camera. She also released a snippet from a new song titled, \u201cPiercing on my hand hardstyle outro,\u201d and posted a close-up video of her hand on TikTok. But before I hear any flack from the online piercing police, I\u2019d like to ask something: Can we just leave her alone?<\/p>\n
For one, dermal piercings aren\u2019t as inherently dangerous as West\u2019s critics would like to believe. For those unfamiliar, dermals work very differently from your standard earring or belly button ring: Piercers use a punching tool to remove a small section of skin before inserting a metal anchor that holds the jewelry in place. They can, in theory, go almost anywhere\u2014most often fingers, cheeks, collarbones, and lower backs\u2014and the technique is designed to create the illusion of a stud that\u2019s embedded into the skin. “Micro-dermal anchors are safe, and the body will hold them for years as long as they\u2019re in ideal places and if implant-grade titanium is used,\u201d piercer Billy DeBerry previously told Allure<\/em>.<\/p>\n Unlike traditional piercings, dermals don\u2019t have a separate entry and exit point\u2014they sit on the surface of the skin. Board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, says that because of this, they carry a slightly higher risk of irritation, infection, scarring, or rejection, especially when they\u2019re placed in high-movement areas like the fingers. Even so, I\u2019m sure West has access to the very best piercers and doctors in the world (or at least in Los Angeles). With that in mind, a minor infection and potential small scars are likely her biggest worst-case scenarios.<\/p>\n But more importantly, West is figuring out her style as any tween would and should\u2014and in front of the entire world, no less. That includes experimenting with beauty and fashion looks and, yes, piercings (with her parents\u2019 permission, of course). I\u2019m sure getting cyberbullied by the entire world is doing far more damage than a little ring on her finger, so please, have some compassion. (Should a 12-year-old be sharing her life on a public social media account? That\u2019s another conversation, but most mental health professionals would say: No.)<\/p>\n At the end of the day, a small, manageable piercing may be a better way for parents to help their kids explore beauty rather than, say, letting them run rampant in a Sephora. Dr. Gohara agrees: \u201cIn context, this tends to be a much smaller dermatologic issue than the free-for-all that can happen in big-box beauty stores, where kids often experiment unsupervised with strong acids, retinoids, and trend-driven products,\u201d she says. \u201cAs long as the risks are understood\u2014including the possibility that a piercing may leave a scar or not be entirely temporary\u2014this is ultimately about supervision, education, and self-expression. Skin heals, styles evolve, and not every aesthetic choice needs to be treated like a crisis.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n