Want more iVillage? Sign up for our
Newsletters
Body Piercing: Safe Jewelry Choices
Appropriate jewelry for body piercing sites:
- Is removable. If you have your mouth pierced and you use oral jewelry, make sure it can be removed. For example, you should be able to unscrew the ball on one end of a barbell-shaped device to make the device easy to insert and take out.
- Allows for full cleaning of the piercing site. Ear studs or other jewelry designed for the ears are not appropriate for other body sites. Other body sites are hard to clean or may easily tear or snag if you use jewelry designed for the ear in them.
- Is smoothly polished, free of nicks, scratches, or jagged surfaces that might damage the skin. The back of an earring can pinch and damage tissue when used in places other than the earlobe. Backs of earrings are not smooth enough to prevent skin and tissue damage.
- Is the right
thickness for the body site being pierced.
- Jewelry that is too thin can act like a "cheese cutter" and tear right through the skin. The thickness of the average ear stud is 16- to 20-gauge, which is too small for most other body piercing sites.
- Jewelry that is too thick for the site can cause an abscess, a cyst, or scar tissue formation.
- Jewelry that is too large can easily catch on clothing.
- Jewelry that is too small can be "sucked" into the body tissues.
- Is made from metals that do not cause allergic reactions. Only use nonallergenic jewelry. Surgical stainless steel, gold, platinum, niobium, and titanium are the only types of jewelry you should use in a new piercing. Do not use nickel or brass-plated jewelry.
- Is sterilized before it is put into the piercing site. Choose jewelry that has not been used or worn or that has been sterilized in an autoclave.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: September 7, 2010 |
| Medical Review: | William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
from
- Facebook is now fueling organ donations
- Military women and suicide: Home safe but not sound
- Still in gear: Injuries don’t stop veterans on 100-day bike trek
- Ask Jenna: I've hit a weight loss plateau. What do I do?
- He poses in a tutu to laugh in face of wife's cancer
- After chemo hair loss, 'henna crowns' help heal
The iVillage Network