Hindu devotees, their cheeks pierced with metal rods, wait to participate in a religious procession during Thaipusam festival in Chennai, India, Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Thaipusam, celebrated in honor of Hindu god Lord Murugan, is an annual procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)

“The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which is observed primarily in Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and also the Riau Islands. In Thailand, this festival is called Tesagan Gin Je, the Vegetarian Festival. It is celebrated throughout the entire country, but the festivities are at their height in Phuket, where about 35% of the population is Chinese. It attracts crowds of spectators because of many of the unusual religious rituals that are performed”. – Wikipedia. Photo: A devotee gest pierced at the Bang Neow shrine in Phuket. (Photo by Paula Bronstein)

Getting her tongue pierced was “exciting and scary” says a teen who succumbed to pressure from her best friend in Austin, Texas, February 22, 2008. This image is featured in National Geographic's exhibition “Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment”, on view at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Jan. 22 - Mar. 22, 2015. (Photo by Kitra Cahana/National Geographic)

This photo provided by Steamboat Ski Resort shows hot air balloons that visitors can tour in above the town and mountains in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Wild West Adventures offer continental breakfast, champagne ceremony with flight certificates and courtesy pick-up are included. (Photo by Larry Pierce/AP Photo/Steamboat Ski Resort)

A Hindu devotee is helped by other people as she walks on burning coals during a religious procession Vel Festival of the Hindu goddess Maha Mariamman (Sheetla Mata), in New Delhi, India, 06 April 2017. People get their bodies pierced with different kinds of metal needles and rods and participate in a religious procession as thanks giving gesture to the goddess in return of their fulfilled wishes during the annual procession. (Photo by Rajat Gupta/EPA)

In this 2017 photo provided by Simon Pierce, Jonathan Green checks on a fin-mounted satellite tag on a whale shark in the Galapagos Islands area of Ecuador. Despite typically being bigger than a double-decker bus, the elusive whale shark has only tiny, almost useless teeth. It's also one of the least understood animals in the ocean. (Photo by Simonjpierce.com via AP Photo)

Mary Jose Cristerna, a Mexican known as The Vampire Woman, poses for the public to take portraits of her during the annual Venezuela Tattoo International Expo in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, January 29, 2015. Tattoo artists from around the world are gathering for the four-day event that also includes under the skin implants and body piercing. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

A woman with a Japanese style full back body tattoo at the 12th London International Tattoo Convention, which opened today in Tobacco Dock, east London on September 23, 2016. The show features over 400 of the world's finest, most prestigious and elite tattoo artists as well as a showcasing alternative culture in the form of piercing, burlesque and the Miss Pin Up UK competition. Around 20,000 people will attend over the weekend. (Photo by Michael Preston/Alamy Live News)