Body piercing has become the latest fad in Egypt. Dena Rashed looks into the craze At one of the cosmetic surgery clinics in Mohandessin, Nana Magdi lies anxiously on the clinic's bed. "Will it hurt doctor?" she asks as soon as the doctor walks in. "No no," she assures her. "It will be over before you know." The process begins. "Syringe", the doctor asks his assistant, indicating the anesthetic syringe. Tension mounts as the syringe is inserted into Nana's abdomen. The doctor then pulls out a medically treated plastic thin straw-like object and with a needle pushes it through Nana's belly. The navel ring is inserted through the straw, and when the straw is pulled out, the navel ring is left. "Isn't it cool?" she exclaims, jumping up. The doctor and her assistant nod. They are used to this. "It's beautiful," they say. Nana is 25. Her belly ring is part of an urge "to try something new". "I was depressed," she shares. "And I needed to do something new," she explains. "My best friend pierced her belly. She inspired me, so I thought why not. I've wanted to do this for a few months," she says. "But I did not know how safe it was, and where to find a reliable place to do it." The final choice was a cosmetic surgery clinic, rather than the amateurish beauty clinics that offer the decorative pierce "on the side". At this centre, the Dr Heba Hussein Centre for Cosmetic Surgery in Mohandessin, piercing is deemed a medical procedure. "We decided to introduce body piercing because we found out that many girls do it in centres with no medical precautions. We even have to repair damages incurred through piercings performed by amateurs, who don't seem to know that piercing, especially belly piercing, can be extremely painful and at the same time cause serious injuries." explained one of the clinics doctors. Most of the teenagers and young women putting holes into their skin are unaware of the possible side effects as they troup off to their local jewellery store to become a part of the trend that has swept a certain circle of Egypt's youth up in awe. "Most of our customers are from the high-income class, or are those who have a westernised background," explains Maya Abdel-Moneim, who works at a beauty centre that offers body piercing. The centre, owned by a Lebanese gentleman who is known just by "Nizam" -- also the name of his beauty salon -- is situated in one of the "in" areas of the Mohandessin district. While the centre has been around for 11 years, the past few have seen the culture of beauty evolve -- from classic hair and nails requests, to more alternative requests, such as the pierced navel or nose. "Sometimes we get actors," says Abdel-Moneim, "or young women from the American University, or other private universities, but not a single woman so far from a national university." For a certain strata of the country's teenagers and young women who want to get their bodies pierced, the cost is not that great. At the clinic in Mohandessin, any kind of piercing stands at LE150, while at the beauty centre it starts from LE150 for any facial, LE400 for a navel ring, and up to LE650 for a tongue piercing. The bananas, hoops, and rings -- as the various piercings are called -- are found at numerous accessory shops in Mohandessin, Maadi and Zamalek. Prices range from LE40 to LE250, depending on the quality (surgical steel, silver or otherwise), and the country of import. And what began as hard to find one shop with a limited selection of piercings, has over the past two years transformed into a standard offering in most hip accessory shops across town. "Every one I know understands how I love to change my look," explains 24-year-old Yasmina Kamal of her own piercing thing. "I want to have a different look every five minutes." That desire served as Kamal's inspiration to go for one of the less popular piercings -- the eyebrow. "I decided to pierce my eyebrow, and as soon as I did it I felt I have done a great change in my face, it made me feel very good about my appearance," she says laughing. The satisfaction was short-lived however. "I was taking off my scarf and it got caught and pulled off my eye brow ring. I had to remove it because it started bleeding," Kamal says. "However I am thinking of doing a piercing under my lip very soon." Kamal is perhaps of the exceptions to the piercing frenzy. While the most popular piercing is that of the navel, eyebrow and lips come trailing in second, with the tongue piercing even further behind that -- being described as "repulsive" by many. Do and don't do: For body piercing, especially belly, tongue and face, it is highly recommended you go to a clinic. It is safer, more hygienic, and if any complications happen, a doctor will be on hand. For belly piercing, some doctors advise cleaning the wound with disinfectant and saline water twice a day as well as apply an antibiotic gel. It is advised to follow this process for two months, although many people get bored and stop the cleaning after a month. Whatever you do don't try changing the belly ring by yourself in the first weeks, it might start bleeding. It is better to try to move the ring every now and then within the hole and it is always safer to change the ring after two months. As for tongue piercing, ouch, definitely avoid spicy food after doing it. For any other piercing in the face avoid heated discussions and watch out for violent moves, and you will live to enjoy your new look.
