North West’s finger piercing: An extravagance experts strongly advise against

It all started last August. Kim Kardashian was photographed in Rome with her eldest daughter, 12‑year‑old North West. As is often the case in the life of the media‑savvy businesswoman, the appearance generated dozens of headlines — but this time, she wasn’t the protagonist; her daughter was. North West, part of the so‑called Generation Alpha, had a dermal piercing on the middle finger of her right hand, a detail that did not go unnoticed by the tabloids, which quickly turned it into news.

The conversation intensified on social media, where many criticized Kim for allowing her daughter to get the piercing (mentions of Kanye West, her father, were notably absent — though that’s another debate). In mid‑January, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s eldest daughter showed off another finger piercing, and once again controversy erupted, with several opinion pieces published on the matter.

“West is figuring out her style as any tween would and should — and in front of the entire world, no less. That includes experimenting with beauty and fashion looks and, yes, piercings (with her parents’ permission, of course). I’m sure getting cyberbullied by the entire world is doing far more damage than a little ring on her finger, so please, have some compassion,” wrote journalist Elizabeth Gulino in the magazine Allure.

Unaware of the controversy — or perhaps fully aware of it, but confident in her choices — the preteen shared an image on her Instagram account a few days ago (where she has more than two million followers) in which she covered her face with her hands, adorned with small piercings. Only the dermal piercings on her fingers were real; the ones on her knuckles and wrist were stuck onto her skin. Once again, she received hundreds of comments.

This time, however, the image wasn’t a paparazzi snapshot but a deliberately produced photograph with a specific purpose. If there is a family that knows how to capitalize on every controversy, it’s the Kardashians — and it seems North West has learned from the best, because she didn’t let the uproar go to waste. The photo she posted on Instagram was actually part of the rollout for her song Piercing on My Hand. And in the track, where she is credited as both songwriter and producer, she makes her intentions clear: “I want more piercings and tats,” she sings,

So far, the song has over 870,000 streams on Spotify, and North West has debuted new piercings, as she recently showed on TikTok. In a video just a few seconds long, she appears with what seem to be several (presumably fake) piercings decorating her face, partially hidden beneath her now‑signature blue hair.

Once the controversy around the finger piercings had been redirected toward her new song, North West shared an Instagram story on February 17 showing the marks left on her fingers after removing the piercings. One of the recurring comments when the young girl was first seen with these dermals (the type of jewelry in which part of the piercing is implanted under the skin) was how difficult they are to maintain over time. In fact, experts generally advise against them because of the complications they can cause.

Popular trend or extravagance?

In the United States, North West’s home country, these piercings are gaining popularity. Looking at Google searches in the U.S. over the past year, there was a major spike in August — precisely when West was photographed with her finger piercing. And since then, interest appears to have grown in recent months (with several search peaks) compared to early 2025.

In Spain, however, there are currently very few searches of this kind. Experts confirm that it’s not a piercing that is commonly requested. Pedro Santalla, who works at Chica Pantera Tattoo Piercing in Barcelona, says it is “not a popular piercing” for several reasons: “Nowadays, after so many years and so much research, along with what we already know about the human body and the advances that have been made, it’s clear that some piercings simply don’t work. They don’t work because of their angle, their placement, and because the physics of the body itself means they won’t heal,” he explains.

Piercer and tattoo artist María Bellver agrees, noting that the finger piercing is placed “in an area of the body that is very exposed and therefore suffers a lot of friction and pressure.” “Because the bone of the finger is so close, the body ends up rejecting it; it migrates easily [the piece shifts from where it was originally placed], it has a higher risk of infection, healing is very complicated, and it interferes with daily life,” she says.

They also agree that, thanks to North West wearing them, they may now receive a few requests from their younger clients: “As an anecdote, a colleague and I were told about this, we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh boy, what’s coming our way!’” Santalla comments.

“It’s not a piercing people ask for, although it’s true that now we’ll probably get a wave of girls wanting it because they’ve seen Kim Kardashian’s daughter wearing one,” Bellver adds.

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