What Is the 'Rhino' Piercing + Why Is It Trending?

What is the "rhino" piercing and why is it trending?

To coincide with the nu-metal revival that's taken place over the last few years, it appears that facial piercings are experiencing an increase in popularity as well.

The rhino piercing is the latest that's gone viral — according to Wethrift, Google has seen a 71 percent increase in searches for the term over the last 90 days, and the hashtag for it has more than 140 million views on the video platform TikTok.

What Is a Rhino Piercing?

What is the rhino piercing? It's a vertical barbell that goes through the tip of the nose so that you can see both ends sticking out. The name may be inspired by the species of animal of the same name — the rhinoceros — which has a horn on its nose.

However, "rhino" also means nose in Greek, hence a cosmetic nose procedure is referred to as a rhinoplasty.

Why Is It Popular Now?

It's not entirely clear what made the piercing start trending, but as Wethrift founder Nick Drewe said, "Although only gaining prominence in recent years among Western cultures, the rhino piercing can be traced back to indigenous cultures, who would consider it a symbol of strength and maturity."

The piercing reportedly takes around six to nine months to completely heal, given the nose has more cartilage in it than earlobes.

Do Rhino Piercings Hurt?

"I love this piercing, it was super easy to get and heal in terms of all my other piercings. This was the least painful, I'm not lying," an individual on TikTok who got the piercing said. "It never really gets in the way of anything except, maybe kissing, I've gotten it yanked out."