In 2014, it was estimated that 83% of Americans had earlobe piercings and 14% had piercings elsewhere. Fast forward a few years, and we’ll bet the number’s still the same, if not higher!
Piercings can be a great way to express your personality and to adorn yourself with some beautiful jewelry. So you might be considering getting some new body modifications.
Whether it’s your first or your 10th, it’s always good to brush up on your options. Here are the types of body piercings you can get!
Ear Piercings
Table of Contents
Let’s start with ear piercings. You’re probably familiar with the lobe piercing, seeing as the majority of Americans have at least one. You can always stack more lobe piercings too; some people have up to 5.
But where else can you get your ears pierced? Below are some popular ear piercings you should consider. They’ll take 8 to 16 weeks to heal since they’re all cartilage piercings.
Helix
The helix piercing goes on the outer rim of your ear on the cartilage. If they go on the bottom half, then they’re known as auricle piercings and if they’re on the top half, they’re called pinna piercings.
You can wear a variety of jewelry in this piercing, such as barbells, circular barbells, body spirals, and ball closure rings. You can also get multiple helix piercings on one ear.
Rook
The rook piercing goes on the folded part of your ear cartilage up top. You can wear barbells, circular barbells, and ball closure rings here. But if your rook is particularly small, you can also wear micro jewelry.
Tragus
Tragus piercings are done on the folded cartilage that sits in front of your ear canal. You can wear small barbells, circular barbells, labret studs, and bead captive rings (BCRs) in this piercing.
Industrial
This is where you get 2 cartilage spots pierced and run a straight barbell through. It can create an edgier look since you have a bar running from one end of your ear to the next.
Facial Piercings
Want a bolder look? Then you might want to get a facial piercing or two.
A commonly acceptable facial piercing for most workplaces is the nose piercing, which goes in the side of your nostril. You can wear nose studs, labret studs, and BCRs with these. Expect this piercing to heal in 12 to 16 weeks.
Here are some other options.
Eyebrow
This is a vertical piercing that goes on the outer edge of your eyebrow. While most people wear barbells with this piercing, you can also wear a circular barbell, body spiral, or BCR.
This is a fast-healing piercing; expect it to heal up in 4 to 8 weeks.
Anti-Eyebrow
This piercing goes on your upper cheek and it’s slightly slanted. Because it’s a surface piercing, you must use a surface bar for it. Some people opt for a curved bar but surface bars are a better choice.
This piercing takes 6 to 12 weeks to heal.
Cheek
This piercing goes where dimples naturally sit. Typically, you’ll use a long labret stud.
It’ll take 4 to 12 weeks to heal.
Bridge or Earl
The bridge (or earl) piercing is a horizontal one that is placed on the bridge of your nose. Because of this, you’ll need to use a straight or curved barbell. A few opt for BCRs, but barbells are the better choice.
The bridge piercing takes 4 to 8 weeks to heal.
Septum
The septum piercing goes in the flesh that separates your nostrils. You can wear circular barbells, BCRs, and septum retainers (to hide the piercing).
This piercing takes 12 to 16 weeks to heal.
Lips
The beauty of lip piercings is there are several placements to choose from. Here are some common ones:
- Labret: below your bottom lip (center)
- Madonna: above your top lip (side)
- Medusa: above your top lip (center)
- Snake bites: bottom lip (outer sides)
For most of these piercings, labret studs are optimal. They’ll also take around 4 to 12 weeks to heal.
Oral
You can get your tongue pierced in several ways, including both on top and on bottom (web piercing). You can also get your lips’ frenulums pierced; the top one is called a smiley and the bottom one is called a frowny.
Healing times range from 3 to 12 weeks.
Body Piercings
Looking for the best body piercings? We’ve got you covered here.
Surface
One surface piercing we discussed earlier is the anti-eyebrow. You can also get a belly button, inverse navel, nape, nipple, etc. Basically, anywhere you want pierced on the surface, it can probably be done!
It’ll take 6 to 16 weeks to heal, depending on where you get pierced.
Genital
Both men and women can get genital piercings. While they might initially hurt, some can add pleasure to sexual activities. Not to mention, the piercing and jewelry can be a nice surprise for your partner.
Some of the genital piercings women can get include clitoral hood, clitoris, inner labia, and outer labia. For men, the piercings include frenulum, pubic, and Prince Albert (PA), which goes through the glans and urethra.
Healing can take 2 to 12 weeks.
No matter which piercing(s) you get, make sure you get quality jewelry to avoid irritation and infection. For example, bodypiercejewelry.com has hypoallergenic pieces that’ll make your healing process easier and smoother.
Which Types of Body Piercings Will You Get?
Now you know all about the types of body piercings you can get. Whether you stick to your ears or you get a bunch on your body, there are plenty of ways to get body modifications that you like.
Just make sure you go to a reputable and experienced piercer, and not a mall one. These professionals will take good care of you and help decrease the chances of your new piercings getting infected.
For more interesting reads, make sure you check out the rest of our blog!
