The Ins and Outs of Body Piercing

Head and Face Piercings

Ears and beyond.... waaaay beyond.

• Bridge - horizontal piercing through the bridge of the nose, sometimes also called an "earl" after one of the first people to have this piercing.
• Cheek - can imply surface piercings in the cheek, but more often refer to piercings which run from inside the mouth to the surface of the face.
• Chin - can be a labret piercing in that area, or a piercing in the surface of the face below the mouth.
• Conch - piercing of the main shell of the ear.
• Daith - inner ear cartilage piercing done just above the opening to the ear canal.
• Ear - almost any part of the ear can be piercing now, but most often, it's the lower lobes where the tissue is soft.
• Eyebrow - piercing anywhere along the ridge of the eyebrow. An anti-eyebrow is a surface piercing through the upper cheek, placing it below the eye area, opposite from the eyebrow.
• Helix - outer cartilage ridge piercing of the ear.
• Industrial - multiple ear piercings worn with one piece of jewelry (barbell).
• Jungle - Piercing straight out the front of the nose.
• Labret - lip piercing, most often referring to lower lip piercing. A madonna is a labret placed to look like a beauty mark. A medusa is the name sometimes given to a labret the is in the middle of the top lip.
• Nostril - piercings anywhere along the rim of the nostril opening.
• Scrumper - a piercing in the thin webbing between your upper teeth and lip.
• Septum - this piercing goes through the cartilege that separates the chambers of the nose. It's sometimes called a "bull ring" piercing by people trying to explain what it is.
• Tongue - this muscle can be pierced right through the middle, along the rim, or through the webbing underneath.
• Tragus - The tragus is the small tab of tissue which projects over the opening of the ear canal. It is usually placed in the natural fold where the tragus attaches to the side of the face.

Torso Piercings

• Hand web - piercing in the finger webbing. These have a very high rate of failure as they often don't heal or are rejecte
• Knuckle - surface piercing between the knuckles on the top of the hand.
• Madison - surface piercing at the front base of the neck
• Nape - this surface piercing is placed on the back of the neck.
• Navel - piercing can be done all around the rim of the navel, but most often are done between the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock position
• Nipple - these piercings are enjoyed by both men and women.
• Pocketing - A new form of surface piercing where all you see is the bar, with the ends of the barbell being embedded in the skin.
• Surface piercing - piercings through flat surfaces. These are hard to heal, but people continue to experiment all over their bodies.

Piercing Below The Belt

• Ampallang - male genital piercing placed horizontally through the head of the penis.
• Apadravya - male genital piercing placed vertically through the head of the penis.
• Christina - female clitoral hood piercing, sometimes called a "Queen Christina." Can be horizontal or vertical.
• Clitoris - piercing of the large, knobbed nerve bundle that is related to sexual stimulation. Due to potential for damage to sexual function, it is actually rare for a woman to really have her clitoris pierced.
• Dydoe - male genital piercing through the ridges next to the head of the penis.
• Fourchette - piercing at rear of vagina opening, sometimes called the female guiche.
• Frenum - penis skin piercing perpendicular to the shaft.
• Guiche - male genital piercing through the perineum.
• Hafada - surface piercing of the testicle sack.
• Labia - female genital piercing, with majora and minora variations available.
• Prince Albert - male genital piercing that goes through the shaft, just under the head, going through and exiting via the urethra. When done so that the ring goes over the top of the penis, it's called a reverse pa or a cleopatra.