Back Dimple Piercing: Pain, Healing Time, Cost & Jewelry

Back dimple piercings sit in the two small indentations at the base of the spine, just above the buttocks. Those dimples are sometimes called the dimples of Venus, so you will also see these called Venus piercings.

Today they are usually done as a pair of dermal anchors, one in each dimple, each showing a single gem or disc that appears to sit directly on the skin.

They look striking, and they sit in one of the most pressured patches of skin on the body. Both facts shape everything below.

Dermals, not a surface bar

The older way to pierce this area was a surface bar in each dimple: a shaped bar running under the skin with a bead showing at each end. Surface bars in this spot migrate and reject readily, because the lower back bends and stretches every time you sit or lean forward. The surface piercing guide explains why a bar under moving skin struggles.

A dermal anchor avoids most of that. Each one is a small plate sitting in a pocket under the skin with a single post coming through the surface, so there is no bar spanning skin that bends. Two anchors placed symmetrically give the look people want with a meaningfully better chance of lasting.

They are still not permanent. Every dermal is eventually pushed toward the surface by the body, and anywhere with friction speeds that up. Go in expecting a piercing you will enjoy for a while and one day have professionally removed.

Placement

The dimples are a landmark rather than a requirement. You do not need visible dimples for this piercing; you need flat, stable skin with enough depth to hold an anchor, placed symmetrically either side of the spine.

What actually decides placement is how the area behaves through your day:

• Waistbands. Where do your usual jeans, leggings and underwear sit? An anchor right on a waistband edge is rubbed constantly.
• Belts and bag straps that cross the lower back.
• Sitting. Chair backs and car seats press on this area. Placement a little higher or lower can make a real difference to how much they touch it.
• Bending forward, which stretches the skin across the lower back.

A good piercer will look at you standing, sitting and bending, ask what you usually wear, and measure both marks from the spine before letting you check them in a mirror. Symmetry is the whole look, and it is hard to judge on your own back.

Pain

About 4 out of 10 per anchor. The skin is pierced with a needle or a dermal punch to create a small pocket, and the anchor is then seated in it. It is brief, and more pressure than sting.

You cannot see any of it happen, which some people find easier and some find harder.

Healing

One to three months to settle, the same as any dermal, with the caveat that this spot is pressed and rubbed more than most.

• Weeks 1-2: swelling, tenderness and clear discharge around each post.
• Weeks 3-8: crusting, with tissue growing through the base of each anchor.
• Months 2-3: stable, if placement and care were good.

There is nothing to downsize on a dermal. The top that goes in first stays until the anchor has settled, and your piercer should do the first change.

Living with them

This piercing asks more of your daily routine than most:

• Waistbands off the anchors while they settle. Soft, loose clothing, and nothing whose edge sits right on them.
• Sleep on your front or side, not on your back.
• Long drives and office chairs press on them. Worth noticing, and worth a cushion that leaves the lower back clear if you sit for hours.
• Towels: pat dry, never rub. A towel dragged across a dermal can catch the top.
• Check them monthly with a phone camera or a second mirror, since you cannot see them otherwise.

Aftercare

Sterile saline twice a day around the base of each post, patted dry. Do not twist the tops, pick at crust or lever the jewelry to look underneath. The aftercare guide has the routine.

The two rules that matter most on any dermal apply double here: do not knock them, and do not change the tops yourself while they are settling, since unscrewing a top can rotate or unseat the anchor beneath it.

Jewelry

Two anchors in titanium, ideally ASTM F136 implant grade, with 14 gauge posts. Tops should be flat and low profile: a small disc or a bezel-set stone. Anything tall, pronged or spiky catches on clothing and gets knocked, and every knock shortens the life of the piercing.

Buy quality anchors. A cheap anchor whose thread strips cannot have its top removed, which turns a simple top change into a removal. See the materials guide.

Rejection

Expect it eventually rather than treating it as a surprise. The signs are the same as on any dermal:

• A top that sits higher than it used to, or tilts.
• The edge of the base visible through the skin.
• Thin, shiny or red skin around the post.
• Renewed tenderness after it had settled.
• The anchor moving when you press next to it.

Get it looked at when you notice, not when it falls out. An anchor removed early leaves a small mark; one left to push its own way out over months leaves a bigger one. Piercing rejection covers what happens next.

Problems

Redness and irritation at the base is usually friction from clothing or a top that is too tall. See piercing bumps.

Infection in the pocket under the skin needs prompt medical attention. Spreading redness, heat, thick coloured discharge, increasing pain or fever means a doctor the same day.

Cost

$70 to $100 per anchor in a US studio, so $120 to $200 for the pair, since some studios price two together. Decorative tops cost extra. Removal typically costs $20 to $50 per anchor, and it is worth budgeting for from the start. The piercing prices page compares every placement.

This article is for education only and is not medical advice. If a piercing is hot, swollen, spreading redness, oozing yellow or green discharge, or you have a fever, see a doctor today.