Some piercings have been the cultural norm for quite some time, but pierced genitals or nipples are still seen as kinky and sometimes even slutty depending on who you’re asking. Regardless, the bottom line is they’re really sexy! Plus, many genital piercings have the added bonus of sexual pleasure…but which ones are those? And who benefits more from the piercings? How many types of genital piercings are there? What’s the aftercare like for an intimate piercing? How long do you have to wait to have sex again? Will it affect using sex toys? There are so many burning questions when it comes to genital piercings! Fortunately, I’m here to walk you through some of the more important questions.
If you can pinch it, you can pierce it!
So piercings can go virtually anywhere, I personally have quite a few piercings (11 to be exact, but I’ll let your imagination wonder exactly what they are), and something my piercer said really stuck with me, and that’s “if you can pinch it, you can pierce it”. While that’s true, there are more popular piercings and I’ll list some of the more popular intimate piercings and where they go, and what they typically can stimulate. Piercings can be both a way to enhance sensations, as well as a way to get more attention focused on a particular body part. Think about it like a tattoo. You might not notice someone’s legs, but if they have a sexy tattoo on them, it draws your eye to it. Plus piercings give exhibitionists an excuse to show off a particular part of their body.
Labia piercings are more a visual enhancement than they are physically stimulating.
- Nipples: Goes through the nipples typically horizontally, though can be done vertically. Does typically makes the nipples more sensitive, although sometimes folks have opposite results.
- Prince Albert: This piercing goes through the underside of the head of the penis, into the urethra, and out through the urethral opening. This can give stimulation to the g/p spot during penetration.
- Frenulum Piercing: These are side-to-side surface piercings placed along the underside of the shaft of the penis and are great for adding some texture to the shaft of a penis.
- Jacobs Ladder: When a column of frenum piercings line the shaft of a penis, it’s called a ladder or Jacob’s ladder. Ladders are usually done along the top or bottom of the shaft, but some folks line the sides of their penis.
- Various Head Piercings: There are various piercings that go completely through the head. Depending on the angle is the name of the piercing these would be good to give intense stimulation to a g/p spot.
- Clitoral Hood Piercings: There are 2 main types of clit hood piercings, vertical hood, and horizontal hood piercings. A vertical hood piercing goes through the top of the hood and out the bottom, so jewelry rests against the clit. A horizontal hood piercing goes from side to side through the clitoral hood, over the top of the clitoris. Your piercer will need to do a cotton swab test to see if your clitoral hood is deep enough to do a VCH piercing without the risk of damage to your clit.
- Clitoral Piercing: These are actually one of the least commonly done genital piercings, but people often confuse clitoral hood piercings with clitoris piercings. The clitoris can be pierced, but it’s rarely done because it can cause nerve damage.
- Labia Piercings: There are 2 types of labia piercings, inner labia piercings, and outer labia piercings. An outer labia piercing goes through one of the outer vaginal lips, and an inner labia piercing goes through one of the inner lips. Labia piercings are more a visual enhancement than they are physically stimulating.
It’s recommended to wait until the maximum amount of time has passed to resume sexual activity, just to be safe.
Care and Cleaning
Most genital piercings heal in about 6-8 weeks, but some can heal in as few as 4 weeks and others take 6 months or more to feel fully healed. At the end of the day, everyone is different. You may feel your piercing is fully healed more quickly than expected or you might have complications that make it take longer than usual to heal. It’s recommended to wait until the maximum amount of time has passed to resume sexual activity, just to be safe. The most important thing is that you wait until your piercing feels completely healed and you’re comfortable exploring again in the bedroom.
Penis owners with newer genital piercings should wear condoms initially during intercourse, even if in monogamous, fluid bonded, relationships. Dental dams or Lorals during oral sex should be worn for vulva owners. It’s just best to keep any bacteria your partner carries away from your piercing for as long as possible. As your piercing ages, the walls of the fistula will thicken and grow stronger, and then you won’t need to worry about condoms and dental dams as much. If you feel uncomfortable at any point while you’re still healing, you should stop immediately. It’s not recommended to ignore any pain, you should stop, figure out what’s wrong (bad friction, rough twisting of jewelry, etc.), and then try something else if you’re still in the mood.
Toy Considerations
When using vibrators against body jewelry keep in mind that toys made out of firmer materials will make noise against the jewelry. So while hard plastic bullets are great vibrators in general, bullets like the Fun Factory Bullet, Blush Gaia Rechargeable Bullet, or the FemmeFunn XL Bullet will all be extra loud clicking against metal jewelry, so take that into consideration when picking a vibrator.
With penis piercings, the main issue you might run into with rings is they might rip sleeves and condoms.
Vibrators like the We-Vibe Touch X, Kiki Flex, Dame Kip, Dame Pom, or any of these Je Joue Bullets, have a range of intensities and a softer layer of silicone to buffer between your body jewelry and the vibrations of the toy so you don’t have the rattling of the metal against the toy. If you’re looking for a suction option, an option like the Womanizer Premium Eco that has different-sized replacement heads available is a good option if you need a larger opening for jewelry to fit into. Keep in mind, switching out jewelry after it heals is always another option.
With penis piercings, the main issue you might run into with rings is they might rip sleeves and condoms. You could stick with sleeves intended to be disposable anyway like the Svakom Hedy, Tenga Eggs, Tenga Cups, Sexy Pills, Or some of the thinner Doc Johnson Strokers. Then you can use them with the intention of using them until they rip then toss them out.
If your piercings are on or focused around the head you can get sleeves that are open-ended so that the ring won’t catch on the sleeve, potentially ripping it. Sleeves that are open-ended like the Shots Reversible Sleeves, Sono 71 Sleeve, VeDo Grip, Quickshot Vantage, or Bswish Bhandy. You could even do a silicone vibe intended specifically for a penis like the Fun Factory Manta, which is silicone and more durable so its flexible material will work better navigating around body jewelry.
With piercings in general, it can also come down to finding jewelry that works with your particular wants and needs. A captive bead ring or a barbell might make a huge difference in how the jewelry catches on toys, clothes, or your partner. So finding a piercing studio where the piercer can help you find jewelry that really fits your lifestyle is helpful when you’re picking a studio and I don’t recommend just wandering into just any place you find. Sometimes unfortunately finding jewelry that works for you can be trial and error, but once you find the right jewelry, toy, and are feeling good, you’ll be absolutely unstoppable!
