The art of piercing has been around for centuries, dating back to the Egyptian age, when the Egyptian people liked to adorn themselves with elaborate jewelry to show their wealth and status. Some types of piercings were even banned by everyone except for the royal family! Body jewelry has always signified wealth and status throughout the years, even in the Old Testament in the Bible, and now it has turned a form of self-expression. In America, piercings were taboo up until around the 21^st century, when it became part of the norm for people to be pierced elsewhere besides their ears.

Piercings are not restricted to just the earlobes, which is the most common type of piercing that there is. They are not just for women, either. There are an increasing number of men getting pierced every day. Piercings can be broken down into the categories of: ears, nasal, abdominal, surface, oral, and genital. These categories can even be broken down even further into specific parts of these body parts. Essentially, anywhere a piercing gun or needle can go, there can be a ring placed there.

Ear

The most common piercing you can get is in your ear, and most people who have several piercings on their body are sure to have their ears pierced. It’s not just about one hole in the lower cartilage of each ear anymore. Nowadays, you can get any part of your ear pierced.

The anti-tragus is the folded part of your ear that is across from the tragus. Both of these parts are very small, so micro jewelry is often used.

The auricle is located on the thinnest part of your outer ear.

The daith is the fold of thick cartilage that is the closest to your ear canal.

The conch is the large bit of cartilage that comprises the back of your ear.

There is also something weaving, where a spiral ring goes from the top of your outer ear to the middle of it.

The tragus is the bump of cartilage that is right in the entryway of the ear canal.

The snug piercing is located on your lower inner cartilage.

The lobe is the most common, which is the lower fleshy part of your ear. Some people choose to put shallow rings called gages in order to make the holes bigger.

The pinna is located at the very top of your outer ear, and the forward pinna is located at the very front of the ear, close to your head.

The industrial is a barbell that brings together 2 or more cartilage piercings.

The orbital is located at the very top cartilage fold in your inner ear.

Ear piercings usually take approximately 8-16 weeks to heal. The healing process is contingent upon how well you take care of your piercing and clean it, in addition to the type of metal is used.

Nasal

You can get your nostril pierced on either the left or right side, and the ring goes anywhere along the curve of the nostril. Some people choose to get it pierced closer to the edge of the nose so that they can put in a ring instead of just a stud.

The septum piercing is piercing the cartilage that separates the nostrils. The cartilage there is fairly thick, so it requires a bit more effort than usual for both the piercer and the pierced.

The nose piercing usually heals in about 12-16 weeks.

Abdominal

Also known as a belly-button ring, the piercing is located on either the top or bottom of the belly-button hole.  It can take anywhere between 6 months and a year to heal completely.

Nipple

The nipples on both men and women can be pierced. They’re usually pierced with either a bar or a ring. They take around 6-16 weeks to heal.

Surface

Surface piercings involve a surface bar being placed underneath the skin, which has two balls on either end that are visible. Because these types of piercings can go virtually anywhere on the body because it’s a skin piercing, you can pierce any bit of skin on your body. The most common are on the back, neck, nape, third eye (in the middle of the forehead between the eyes), eyebrow, and webbing (between the fingers).

These piercings take about 4-8 weeks to heal.

Oral

Oral piercings involve being pierced anywhere around the mouth. This includes the cheek, lower lip, upper lip, lower fraenum (the membrane that connects the lower lip to the lower gum), upper fraenum (the membrane that connects the upper lip to the upper gum) the Madonna (above the upper lip, often where a mole would naturally be), the Medusa (the dip right underneath your nose), tongue, and the labret (below your bottom lip).

Oral piercings take anywhere from 4-12 weeks to heal. These types of piercings benefit from the good bacteria living in the mouth and require you to use an antiseptic and nonalcoholic mouthwash.

Genital

People get genital piercings simply for increased sexual pleasure. Woman can get their clitoris, hood, inner or outer labia, or triangle (the area between the clitoris and urethra) pierced.  Men can get their apadravya, dydoe, fraenulum, kuno, lorum, palang, Prince Albert (through the urethra), pubic, reverse Prince Albert, or hafada pierced. With any of these piercings, it’s important to refrain from any kind of sexual activity for at least a week, but the piercing may not completely heal for up to 12 weeks. These types of piercings are the riskiest because they can cause damage to the nerves of the genitals if the piercing gets infected or is done incorrectly.

Warning

No matter which type of piercing that you get, make sure that you follow the instructions that your piercer gives you about giving your piercing proper care so that it heals correctly. There are risks involved with each type of piercing, including infection or loss of feeling at the piercing site. If you know that you are going to need to take out your piercing for any reason (such as for work), please allow enough time for your piercing to heal fully before you take it out. This decreases the likelihood of the hole closing up. Also, time may be added to your healing time if your body decides to deny the piercing, which is also a common problem that people have.