Piercing Locations: What Are Your Options?

One of the hardest decisions I personally experienced when trying to select what piercings I wanted to get stemmed back to the fact that there are SO many options – There are over a dozen piercings commonly recognized on the ears alone! For those that are considering getting something new, the choices can be overwhelming. Where do you even begin? Check out this list of piercing locations!

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Let’s start by making one clear differentiation – there are some piercings that are purely for appearance, like getting your eyebrow pierced or the basic earlobe piercing. Other piercings, however, are associated with some sort of function. For example, the daith piercing on the ear is believed to provide relief from migraines, whereas a number of different genital piercings, as well as nipple piercings, are believed to enhance the sexual experience.

Regardless of what you get, always remember that piercings can heal. You may have a small mark as a reminder, but the piercing itself will grow in. If you’re unsure about a specific piercing, especially one that’s visible, take it for a test drive! You can pick up fake hoops to try for piercings like the nose or helix or use stick on body jewelry or a simple marker to try out a stud piercing. Sometimes all it takes is to walk around ‘with the piercing’ for a day to decide if you think it’s a good fit or not.

While this isn’t, by any means a complete list, I am going to list the more commonly recognized piercings in each location. If you see something that you find interested, there is a great collection of body piercing pictures on the website Painful Pleasures including even the more ‘sensitive’ piercings (although you will have to register to see those). Just enter the name of the piercing in the search box. There is also a forum if you have questions.

Ear Piercing Locations

• Antitragus Piercings: Piercing of the cartilage directly across from the Tragus (see below)
• Cartilage Piercings/Helix Piercings: Any piercing located along the top outer portion of the ear
• Conch Piercings: Piercing of the lower cartilage just inside the ear, the point where the ear scoops inward
• Daith Piercings: Directly above the Tragus, the point where the ear curves in from where it attaches to the head
• Earlobe Piercings: The most common ear piercing, located along the earlobe, particularly along the bottom-center of the lobe
• Industrial Piercings: Two piercings in the cartilage along the top of the ear, often worn with on single straight barbell
• Orbital Piercings: Two piercings in the cartilage located at the top edge of the ear, worn with a single piece of jewelry, usually a hoop style
• Rook Piercings: A piercing to the cartilage just about the upper half of the conch, near the top of the ear
• Snug Piercings/Anti-Helix Piercings: A piercing through the cartilage on the inner edge of the central outer ear, located directly above where the lobe ends
• Tragus Piercings: Piercing through the lower flap of the cartilage where the ear connects with the face
• Triple Helix Piercings: A set of 3 individual helix piercings in a row, either with 3 studs or a single spiral jewelry

Oral & Facial Piercing Locations

• Anti-Eyebrow Piercings: located below the outer corner of the eye at a slight angle
• Bridge Piercings: A surface piercing located on the bridge of the nose, between the eyes
• Cheek Piercings: There are a number of safe areas along the cheek that will not have a negative impact (although make sure you are trusting a quality piercer to avoid problems). This is often used to create dimples with a piercing
• Eyebrow Piercings: Usually vertically placed along the eyebrow, they can also be pierced horizontally
• Eyelid Piercings: Piercings to the eyelid, usually located off to outside edge of the eye
• Nostril Piercings: Any piercing located along the outside nostril, on either side
• Septum Piercings: Piercings located in the center base of the nose
• Tongue Piercings: Any piercing that is located along the tongue itself. The most popular is a single centered piercing, however, in some cases there are multiples
• Web Piercings: Piercings of the flap of skin between the upper lip and gums, or the flap of skin below the tongue

Lip Piercing Locations

• Angel Bites: Piercings on either side of the groove between the upper lip and the nose
• Canine Bites/Shark Bites: Snake bites + angel bites
• Cyber Bites: A labret piercing + a medusa piercing
• Dahlia Piercings/Joker Bites: Piercings at the corner of the mouth, named after the cuts to the corners of the mouth of the victim in the Black Dahlia Murder as well as the appearance of the Joker from the Batman comics
• Dolphin Bites: A set of 2 piercings side by side, centered on the lower lip
• Horizontal Lip Piercings: Lip piercings that run from side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom
• Labret Piercings: Piercings centered along the lower lip, with the jewelry horizontal to the ground
• Lowbret Piercings: A labret piercing that is placed as low as possible in the lower lip area
• Medusa Piercings: A single piercing centered between the middle of the upper lip and the bottom of the nose
• Monroe Piercings/Madonna Piercings: Single piercings that are placed according to the location of the moles along the upper lip of the stars they are named after
• Snake Bites: Two separate piercings placed on the left and right sides of the lower lip
• Spider Bites/Viper Bites: Two piercings placed close together and slightly angled on one side of the lower lip
• Vertical Labret Piercings: Piercing located at the bottom lip, pierced from top-center to bottom center and inset slightly
• Vertical Lip Piercings: Any lip piercing that is placed through the lip from top-to-bottom rather than side-to-side

Surface & Dermal/Micro Dermal Piercing Locations

• Chest Piercings: Piercings involving a bar with 2 ends that are seen at the surface of the skin, located in the area of the chest
• Corset Piercings: Surface piercings using rings placed in 2 rows to allow for a ribbon to be run through them creating a corset appearance, typically temporary
• Dermal/Micro Dermal Piercings: A type of piercing in which a base is planted below the skin anywhere on the body and the top of the piercing shows flush to the skin
• Neck & Nape Piercings: Piercings that are either dermal or done using a surface bar as described in the chest piercing, located in the area of the neck/nape of the body

Navel Piercing Locations

• Navel Piercing: A single belly button piercing to the top of the belly button
• True Navel Piercing: For those with an ‘outie,’ this is a piercing to the portion of the belly button that sticks out
• Inverse Navel Piercing: A single belly button piercing to the lower portion of the belly button
• Double Navel Piercing: A navel piercing + an inverse navel piercing
• Deep Navel Piercing: A piercing similar to a standard navel, however passing through a significantly larger portion of skin
• Horizontal Navel Piercing: A surface piercing located along the ridge above the belly button
• Double Horizontal Navel Piercing: Two separate surface piercings located on either side of the belly button with a single barbell that travels through the belly button area
• Multi-Navel Piercing: Any combination of navel piercings involving 3 or more different piercings

Female Genital Piercing Locations & Nipple Piercing Locations

• Anal Piercings: Any piercing to the anal rim
• Christina Piercings/Venus Piercings: a surface piercing located on the pelvic area directly above the clitoral hood, running vertically to the hood
• Clitoral Piercings: A rare piercing to the actual clitoris (many people who claim to want a clitoral piercing are actually interested in a VCH or HCH piercing – see below). This is the riskiest of the genital piercings in terms of the risk of loss of sensation
• Female Nipple Piercings: Piercings through the nipple area running, typically placed horizontally but may also be placed either vertically or at an angle
• Fourchette Piercings: A piercing located at the back of the vulva
• Horizontal Clitoral Hood (HCH) Piercing: A piercing of the hood of skin that sits over the clitoris, horizontal to the clitoris
• Inner Labia Piercings: Any piercing located along the edge of the inner labia area on either side or both sides
• Outer Labia Piercings: Any piercing located along the edge of the outer labia area on either side or both sides
• Triangle Piercings: A single piercing that passes horizontally underneath the clitoral staff at the base of the hood
• Vertical Clitoral Hood (VCH) Piercing: A piercing of the hood of skin that sits over the clitoris, sitting vertically from the top-to-bottom with the jewelry resting on the clitoris

Male Genital Piercings & Nipple Piercing Locations

• Ampallang Piercing: Piercing to the head of the penis from side-to-side
• Anal Piercings: Any piercing to the anal rim
• Apadravya Piercing: Piercing through the top-center of the head of the penis which then extends out the bottom side
• Dorsal Frenum Piercing: Surface piercing located along the top of the penile shaft, usually pierced side-to-side
• Dydoe Piercing: A horizontal piercing that extends through the top edge of the head of the penis
• Frenum Piercing: Surface piercing located along the bottom side of the penile shaft, usually pierced side-to-side
• Guiche Piercing: Piercing of the area between the testicles and the anus, also known as the male perineum
• Jacob’s Ladder: A row of frenum or dorsal frenum piercings along the penile shaft
• Kuno Piercing: Piercing of the foreskin on an uncircumcised male
• Lorum Piercing: A low frenum piercing located towards the top or bottom side of the base of the penile shaft
• Nipple Piercings: Piercings through the nipple area running, typically placed horizontally but may also be placed either vertically or at an angle
• Prince Albert (PA) Piercing: A piercing through the underside of the penile shaft directly into the urethra and out through the head of the penis
• Pubic Piercing: A surface piercing located where the top of the penis joins the body, usually placed horizontally
• Reverse Prince Albert Piercing: A piercing that goes through the head of the penis instead of the underside of the penile shaft
• Scrotal Ladder Piercings: A row of piercings along the scrotum
• Scrotum/Hafada Piercing: Any piercing located along the scrotum

Do you have any piercings? If so, how many? Are you currently considering any piercings?