I don't think the German adaptation is that far off, Holger. While ears technically are
piercings, we tend to say "pierced ears" but "having or getting a piercing" for other body parts.In the U.S. pierced ears started to become popular in the late 60s, though they were still considered a tad exotic then, and "piercings" more recently - not sure exactly, 70s for certain subcultures, maybe as late as 90s for more common use?
But piercings (of various body parts) have been popular forms of self beautification in tribal cultures around the world for a very long time. I wow my students with pictures of various styles of dress and self-adornment to give them an idea of the widely varying concepts of beauty around the world. Piercings, especially of more "exotic" body parts may not be ones cup of tea, but "ignorance and self neglect" is a tad judgmental.
But all that aside, it's a great topic for how we as PWD's take care of us, right along with tattoos (another matter of taste), and more mundane topics like footcare and footwear.