Piercing Anatomy & Information

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This is just an overview of some of the piercings and their names.  There are many other piercings, if they have not been listed here, it does not mean that they are not available.

There are two main parts to the ear:  the lobe and the cartilage.  

The lobe is the fleshy bottom part of the ear and the cartilage is the harder part of the ear (at the top). Almost any part of the ear can be pierced but, the lobe is generally the easiest to heal.  

Healing in the cartilage can take some time, generally 6 months until piercings in this area are relatively happy.  It is never recommended that silver be used in a cartilage piercing unless the piercing is very well healed.  If the piercing is still healing and moist on the inside, silver jewelry can leave undesirable black/grey mark around the piercing.

Cartilage piercings, depending on the location, can be difficult to sleep on at first and care must be taken not to bump the piercing while it is healing.  Once healed these are amazing looking piercings that enhance anyone's ears.

Still one of the most popular body piercings, navel rings have become almost as common as earrings.  

There are many styles of navel rings available to the public making it easy to find the one that best suits you.  

Healing a navel generally takes about 6 months, although they can be changed after 2 months.  It is recommended that ”light" weight pieces of jewelry are worn in the piercing until completely healed.   Navels pierced with barbells heal better than those pierced with rings.  

Barbells also decreases the risk of the piercing shifting position while healing, hence making the jewelry sit crooked. Barbells also prove to be more comfortable for sleeping, sitting and make waist bands that cross the navel not as troublesome.  

Typical piercing size for navels is 14g, almost all after healing jewelry is this size. Navels can be pierced once or multiple times in different locations.  The most common location for this piercing is on the top in the center.  However, bottoms and sides can be pierced as well.  In general it is the top-center piercing that tends to heal the best and has the lowest risk of growing out. Even if you have had your navel pierced before and no longer have it is easy to have it re-pierced, the experience of a re-piercing is generally the same as the first time, (assuming of course it was done right the first time).

They don't hurt as much as you might think they would.   

These are pierced at 14 gauge standard.  Your piercing jewelry can be changed after 2 months, however the piercings take an average of 8 months to heal and no; this does not mean that during this time they are going to be hurting you.   

Women who get nipple piercings can still breastfeed, there has been no evidence that states otherwise and I have not met anyone who is unable to breastfeed due to their nipple piercing(s), excluding men. Nipples can be pierced horizontal or vertical or any degree in between.   Barbells are highly recommended to heal this piercing.  

For women, barbells feel a lot better after when wearing a bra and have a much better chance of not growing out.

These piercings generally heal quickly and after the 1st week your life is almost back to normal and after 2 weeks the caring for your tongue piercing is over.

After 3 week you should change your tongue ring for a shorter one with plastic/acrylic balls on it to avoid potential tooth abrasion/dental issues from the longer post with the metal balls. There have been a lot of news related stories and articles about tongue piercings.  

I would like to point out that of the thousands of tongue piercing that I have seen and preformed none of them have been life threatening.   If you are reading articles about tongue piercing please look for and keep in mind all the word that precedes these warnings, “may, can, could".   Hey, you can buy a lotto ticket and if you could pick the right numbers you may win millions, so are you calling work tomorrow to quit your job? There are very few cases of "tongue piercings gone bad" and the ones that do exist have been exploited to the point of "fame".  Mean while the conditions that the piercings were done in and the aftercare that the people followed or did not follow are never mentioned.  A little food for thought.

These are "two sided" piercings, one side is a oral piercing the other is facial.   

Both sides of these piercings must be kept clean.  The cleaning requirements for each are different.  

The oral part of these piercings usually heals in about 3 weeks, while the facial part takes close to 4 months.  

The jewelry in theses piercings can be changed after 2 months and it is generally recommended to do so.  These piercings tend to be done with larger or longer pieces of jewelry in order to accommodate for swelling in the area, once healed the longer or larger jewelry can cause wear to gums. 

These are fun and unique piercings.  As well the success rate of these piercings varies based on the location of the piercing and the individual having it done.   Before having a surface or dermal piercing done make sure to find out the pros and cons with relation to the location you desire.  

These piercings generally heal quickly with next to no complications.   They can also be decorative and/or pleasurable.  For these piercings you must be at least 18 years of age and have I.D.