A Madison piercing is a vertical or horizontal surface piercing made between the collarbones, where the neck and chest meet. According to bmezine, this piercing gets its name from a porn star called Madison, who was the first person recorded as having this piercing.

This piercing has all the inherent risks of surface piercings: long time to heal, with high rates of migration and rejection. From what I understand, surface bars or flexible jewellery (such as tygon) can reduce this risk, and straight barbells should not be used.

If you can get hold of a book simply entitled 'Body Piercing', with a black leather-look cover 'pierced' on the 'o', there is an absolutely beautiful black and white photograph of a Madison. Actually, if you're at all interested in piercings, the whole book is worth getting; stunning black and white photography interspersed with quotations from the subjects.

The Madison piercing is a surface piercing of the collarbone. It can be pierced with either a surface bar or a ring. It is not very common in the United States, but I have been told that it is much more common in the UK.

Like most surface piercings, the Madison is very painful to get and difficult to heal. It is also prone to rejection and migration. However, those who have successfully healed a Madison piercing say that it was worth it; it is incredibly beautiful, much like a necklace without the chain.

Like many piercings, the Madison was named after the first person known to have it done; in this case, a porn star known as Madison. It is one of the few body piercings that is almost never referred to by its "proper" name (usually the name of the body part or a scientific or Latin variant), and I am not sure it even has one, aside from the "collarbone piercing".

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