Jewelry

The jewelry sits in a healing piercing for months, so three things matter before anything decorative: what it is made of, how it is assembled, and whether it fits. The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) sets minimum standards for all three.

The three questions

1. What is the material? Ask for the standard, not the adjective. “ASTM F136 titanium” is a specification. “Surgical steel” on its own does not say which standard it meets, and the APP names ASTM F-138 or ISO 5832-1 for steel. See materials.

2. How does it assemble? The APP says internally threaded jewelry keeps the part through your skin smooth, threadless has no screw threads at all and is an acceptable alternative, and externally threaded jewelry has a rough screw pattern that may be passed through the tissue. See threading.

3. Does it fit? The APP says jewelry must be of appropriate length or diameter for your anatomy and the placement, and of appropriate gauge, because the body may treat jewelry that is too thin like a splinter. It also says many piercings need a downsize before they are healed, done by a piercer. See gauge and sizes and downsizing.

What to avoid in a healing piercing

• Gold-plated, gold-filled and gold overlay or vermeil jewelry. The APP says these are not acceptable for fresh piercings.
• Jewelry with a porous or uneven surface. The APP says new cells grow into the irregularities, and that metal jewelry should be polished to a smooth, mirror finish.
• Steel or “mystery metals” with no standard. Ask which standard, per the APP list.
• Externally threaded posts, for the reason above.
• Hoops in some new piercings. The APP says rings suit some areas and bars others, and Healthline says to skip hoops for a new conch. See each piercing’s jewelry guide.
• Anything that does not fit. See the third question.

Two points we have not found in the APP’s pages, so treat them as our caution rather than its rule: heavy or dangling jewelry on a healing piercing, and acrylic or plastic. The APP says its minimum standard for new piercings includes being able to withstand autoclave sterilization, and its healed-piercing page says plastic, including silicone, can be worn in a healed piercing but is fragile and may not be safe for sports or sleep.

After healing

The APP says a piercing is healed when it is not tender, the minimum initial healing time has passed and it is no longer secreting and getting crusty. After that you can use a wider range of jewelry, and the APP says to quickly replace any that causes irritation, itching, swelling or redness. Healthline says titanium and niobium contain no nickel, which makes them the best options with a nickel allergy.

Guides for individual placements are listed below.

Start with these

• Flat back earrings — what studios use instead of butterfly backs, and the post lengths by placement.
• Nose ring sizes — gauge, post length and hoop diameter for nostrils and septums.
• Nose piercing jewelry — studs, hoops, nose bones and screws compared, and what to wear at each stage of healing.
• Septum piercing jewelry — circular barbells, clickers and retainers, and what to wear while it heals.
• Eyebrow piercing jewelry — why the barbell is curved, the sizes, and when a ring is safe.
• Nipple piercing jewelry — barbell first, how the length is chosen, and what suits bras and exercise.
• Conch piercing jewelry — why the conch hoop has to wait, and how it is sized.
• Cartilage earrings — what the sources say goes in a new helix, tragus, daith or rook, and what you can wear once it has healed.
• Belly button rings — the curved barbell to start, the bar length the sources disagree on, and styles for later.
• Lip piercing jewelry — labret studs, rings and post length, with the dental research.
• Tongue piercing jewelry — barbell length, the end under the tongue, materials and what dentists say.
• Nickel allergy and piercings — the signs, and why surgical steel is not the answer.
• Piercing retainers — hiding a piercing at work or in hospital without losing it.
• Ear stretching — the 10% rule, how long to wait between sizes, and whether a stretched lobe shrinks back.
• Ring and hoop styles — captive bead rings, seamless rings, clickers and circular barbells, and which one suits which healed placement.