The nice thing about the piercing craze is that there's one needle at a time, and easier disinfecting. Also, the hole grows closed or is of minor notice once the jewelry is removed. Not so with the mutilating tattoos--you have to endure surgery and other unhappy treatments and it's not all that effective. There are few blood vessels in earlobes, but you can hurt some nerves by peircing the tongue.
The worst tattoos (other than the ones on faces) are on the hands. Hard to conceal the hands, and hard to repair the damage.