Coco Crisp of the Oakland Athletics continues the Kitchen Sink trend of giving us something about random fashionable piercings that are controversial. Okay, maybe it’s not quite as permanent as Aaron Eccleston‘s, but it’s still a piercing.

The piercing in question is on the side of CC’s neck, and is the type called a “surface piercing”. These types of piercings are the hardest to heal due to many factors – they don’t actually transverse through an entire body tissue piece (ie: an ear). Some better known surface piercings are things like navel rings, which technically are and aren’t surface piercings, but they in fact can grow out just the same.

Basically in a surface piercing, the body has a fine balancing act. It doesn’t recognize the piercing as foreign, so it doesn’t try to grow it out. If, say, the piercing gets bumped or something, and that balance is gone, it grows out/is rejected.

So, CC has one of these. Now, apparently neither MLB nor the A’s have any rules against piercings, so he’s within the rules to have one. I’m not surprised; some of the crazy jewelry that players wear on the diamond would be a lot more dangerous than an attached to the skin piercing on an area that isn’t going to come in contact with someone much. (Now, spikes on the hands or something might be a bit different.)

I guess my thought is: well, if there’s no rules against it, then he’s fine. However, should there be rules (like there are in soccer/football)? What say you, Kitchen Sink?

(most research taken from bmezine.com’s wiki)