The history of nipple, navel piercing and genital piercing has been particularly misrepresented as many of the myths promulgated by Malloy in the pamphlet Body & Genital Piercing in Brief continue to be reprinted. For instance, according to Malloy's colleague Jim Ward, Malloy claimed navel piercing was popular among ancient Egyptian aristocrats and was depicted in Egyptian statuary, a claim that is widely repeated. Other sources say there are no records to support an historical practice for navel piercing.

However, records do exist that refer to practices of nipple and genital piercing in various cultures prior to the 20th century. Kama Sutra, dated to the Gupta Empire of Ancient India, describes genital piercing to permit sexual enhancement by inserting pins and other objects into the foreskin of the penis. The Dayak tribesmen of Borneo passed a shard of bone through their glans for the opposite reason, to diminish their sexual activity. In the Jewish Shabbat, there may be mention of a genital piercing in the probition against the kumaz in passage 24 (a), which medieval French Talmudic commenter Rashi interpreted as a chastity body jewelry piercing for women. Other interpreters have, however, suggested that the kumaz was rather a pendant shaped like a vulva or a girdle.

Nipple piercing may have been a sign of masculinity for the soldiers of Rome. Nipple piercing has also been connected to rites of passage for both British and American sailors who had traveled beyond a significant latitude and longitude. Western women of the 14th century sometimes sported pierced as well as rouged nipples left visible by the low-cut dresses fashionable in the day. It is widely reported that in the 1890s, nipple rings called "bosom rings" resurfaced as a fashion statement among women of the West, who would wear body jewelry on one or both sides, but if such a trend existed, it was short-lived.