Tongue Ring
The traditional tongue ring is a 14 or 16 gauge straight barbell that penetrates directly vertical through the center of the tongue.  The web tongue ring is generally a 14 or 16 gauge shorter, curved barbell (similar to and eyebrow ring) that sits horizontal through the “web” under the tongue.

Both of these piercings take a fairly short amount of time to heal and can be ready to change in as little as 4 weeks.  Most states require age 16 or age 18 for piercing.

Industrial
The industrial is a piercing that penetrates two parts of the outer ear.  It can be done in various places but both holes are generally along the cartilage of the ear and are 14 or 16 gauge.  A ball is secured to each end and this piercing takes 4 to 6 months to heal.

Labret/Monroe
Although the labret and monroe are two different piercings, they are a similar concept.  They each pierce the area directly around the mouth or lips.  Typically the Monroe is on the top lip, off to the side (like the infamous Marilyn Monroe mole) and the labret is on the bottom, usually in the center. These piercings go directly through the lip and use a unique type of ring.  They are 16 gauge and very short; the back is a flat surface that can rest against the gum or teeth and the outside is a ball or decorative gem.

Surface Rings
Surface piercings are exactly what the name implies; they are on the surface.  They do not penetrate one spot on the skin and come out on another, rather they stick into the skin and do not come out the other side.   They stay in the body by using a “fishhook” design.  That is, they can move down into the skin, but as you pull out of the skin, it will be stopped, or stuck, by the hook.  In most cases these rings are professionally removed or changed.

Traditional Non-Dangling

These belly button rings are the oldest, and probably the most popular.  They’re kind of like an old standard of the body jewelry industry.  They are most commonly made with a curved barbell, sometimes referred to as a banana-bell. Traditional non-dangling belly button rings are usually 14 gauge and the balls are sometimes decorated with gems and jewels.

Dangling

Dangling belly button rings can vary from just a short charm to a long chain that wraps around the wearers waste.  They include anything from flags to jewels and even words or personalized holographic pictures.

Reverse

This kind of belly ring is sometimes difficult to understand, especially when customers only see a picture online.  They’re actually quite simple to explain, however.  They use the same gauge and style as the non-dangling ring and dangling ring, except that the gems or decorations extend from the top ball rather than the bottom.  The belly button ring extends in front of the navel, rather than dangling below it.

Spiral

Spiral navel rings are a fairly new style but have become very popular.  They are non dangling but they are twisted into the piercing rather than being pushed straight through.

By T.C. Kuster

Wherever the tradition began, navel rings are very popular today, especially among young women.  The ability to easily hide or conceal the belly button ring, especially during the healing process, has really led to the piercing’s popularity.

The name “navel piercing” is not exactly accurate, however.  Actually, the rim above the navel is where the piercing is located.  Of course, a person can pierce the skin on the bottom and sides of the navel as well.

A belly button or navel is usually pierced with a barbell because they allow for the easiest healing process.  Navel piercings have their own special kind of barbells, though.  Because of their slightly curved design, they are often called “bananabells” or “bananabars.”

Body jewelry is measured by “gauges.” Navel piercings are usually done with a 14 Gauge barbell which is the same as 1/16’.  The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) states that no greater than 14 GA body jewelry may be used in piercings below the neck.  This is to prevent the risk of a negative reaction or skin tearing.

A standard belly button ring is 3/8” long, but people sometimes use a longer barbell at the time of piercing to allow room for the area to swell slightly. The balls on a standard navel ring are usually two different sizes; the top ball is 5 mm in diameter while the bottom ball is 8 mm in diameter.

There are, of course, risks involved in having one’s belly button pierced.  The most common risks include pain at the piercing site, swelling, scarring and infection.  To minimize your risk, make certain that the piercer uses sterilized tools in a sterilized environment.

Healing can take anywhere from four months to one year.  There are many things that affect the healing process of a navel ring:  sweat, shirt fabric, overall health, care and quality of jewelry.  Only 316L and 316LVM surgical steel are approved as “implant grade” materials by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Belly button rings are becoming more and more popular and it’s important to people take great care of these piercings.  They are considered beautiful and a great way to add to one’s personal style. If you’re interested in getting this type of piercing, make sure you know all the risks and benefits before doing so.

Tongue piercing is most popularly done with straight barbell. 14 Ga is the most common gauge used for tongue piercing. In order to give room to the swelling, the early length of the pierced barbell should be at least 3/4″. Once the tongue piercing has been healed, it can be replaced to a shorter barbell of 9/16″(14mm) which is the most common size. Wearing a shorter barbell after the piercing is healed is suggested.

Barbell fashion of body jewelry is composed of a straight bar and with a bead on each end, one or both beads unscrewable for removal and/or replacing of the beads. Often one of the beads is fixed, either via epoxy or welding, so that only one bead is used to fix or remove the jewelry. Barbell threads are mostly right-handed.

There are roughly about 5 kinds of barbells for body jewelry.  The internally threaded barbells are slightly more costly than externally threaded barbells as there will be additional machining and labor included. It is also considered superior to the external barbells as it is less likely to cause damage or irritation especially at the time of piercing. An internally threaded barbell has a bead with a receiving tube machine into it which connects with a threaded post extending from the center.

Although the externally threaded barbells have become less common, the internally threaded barbells have increased in popularity. It is named so because shaft of the bar has threads at both ends to allow beads with the receiving threads to be attached to the tongue ring.

Named because of the curvature, curved barbells can also be known as a navel curve. It is mechanically same to straight barbells instead of that they are curved. Curvature on a curved barbell can range from about straight to circular, with some barbells basically being spiral, with the ends overlapping but separated to allow the insertion
of the jewelry. A variation on this design is a J-bar, a slightly curved barbell (sometimes referred to as a bananabell or banana barbell) with a 90 degree bend near one end, used in verticalnavel piercings to position the decorative  end of the body jewelry more appropriately. They can be either internally threaded or externally threaded.

Circular barbells, also known as horseshoe barbells are used in some types of piercings. They are named so due to their shape.

In all surface piercings, surface bars are used. Barbells for surface piercing have a pair of 90 degree bends in the same direction, so they can be used for surface piercing. Because of this design the pressure that would be affected by other body jewelry designs that participate to disallow in healing surface piercings is minimized.