I'm working on compiling the glossary for my book, and here are some of the words that came up frequently in the interview responses, and my explanation of some of them thus far:
Industrial piercing – sometimes called a scaffold piercing; it constitutes any two pierced holes connected with a single straight piece of jewelry (straight barbell). The most common positioning is between two piercings in the upper ear cartilage.
Orbital piercing – two piercings connected by a single ring (BCR or CBR or circular barbell/horseshoe ring), not to be confused with the industrial piercing.
“Stretched” ears – many people incorrectly refer to this as “gauged.” "Gauge" is simply the measurement used to assess to what extent one’s ears (or other piercings) are stretched, similar to measuring something in centimeters, inches, or miles. Stretching can be time-consuming, and some people choose to speed up the process by skipping a few sizes with a dermal punch. Gauge sizes go from 20 (smallest) to 000 (larger), and are measured either in inches or millimeters from there on out, 7/16" being the next largest size up from 000. Essentially, ANY piercing constitutes a "stretched" piercing, because it takes up space in one's body, but "stretched" is generally used to refer to deliberate stretching past the size of the jewelry with which the hole was initially pierced. The average gauge for an initial piercing (ear lobe, navel), is 14 gauge. There is a variety of methods that can be used to stretch a piercing, but the end goal of all stretching is to achieve a larger piercing. Almost any piercing can be stretched, but the most commonly seen stretched piercings are ears (also septums, labrets, ear conches, tongues, and navels).
Septum – a frequently pierced part of the nose, the cartilaginous part dividing the two nasal passages; a pierced septum is frequently referred to as a “bull-ring piercing.”
Labret – any piercing that occurs in the lower lip. There are many variations on this piercing, such as vertical labret and multiple labret piercings.
Ear conch – the cartilage shell of the ear, made up of both an inner and outer part
Navel – commonly pierced area; “belly button.” This can be pierced in many ways, such as a traditional navel piercing, an inverse navel piercing (on the “bottom” on the belly button), and various other placements.
Piercing gun v. needle – piercing guns are popular in mall boutiques, and are very dangerous and unsanitary in comparison to needles (which are used at places of professional piercing). Piercing guns are made of plastic, and cannot be sterilized in an autoclave, which is the only way to truly sanitize a piercing device. Tissue trauma is another risk with using a piercing gun, as piercing with a gun forces a blunt stud through the skin, causing it to literally rip in order to make room for the jewelry, and the jewelry back suffocates the piercing, allowing no way for the new wound to heal properly. Many people are pierced with guns and have no problems, but the risks far outweigh the benefits.
Autoclave – essential piercing and tattooing tool that sterilizes all tools and jewelry with heated and pressurized steam.
Circular barbell/horseshoe ring – a barbell bent fully into the shape of a ring, but with two open ends.
BCR/CBR – ball closure ring or captive bead ring; a type of jewelry in which the bead is held in place solely by the spring pressure of the metal. It looks like a circle with a small ball placed somewhere along the circle’s circumference.
Dermal punch – used in the medical industry to take biopsy samples; used in piercing to make piercings that actually remove a piece of skin. This is commonly used to speed up the stretching process in piercings, and is almost always used to achieve a “stretched” cartilage piercing, as cartilage is much more difficult to stretch than ear lobes or other softer skin.
Dermal anchors – also called microdermals or transdermal anchors. It is a piercing that has only one visible end. Small pieces of jewelry that are held in place or “anchored” by the skin around it. Dermal anchors heal and grow into the skin, so they cannot be removed like other jewelry. They must be removed by a licensed doctor or experienced piercing professional.
Plugs – jewelry worn in any piercing, although usually worn in piercings gauge 10 or larger.
Full sleeve – either an arm or leg sleeve; a type of tattoo in which the entire arm or leg is tattooed, generally in a single coherent piece. A “half sleeve” would mean that the tattoo continues only from the shoulder to the elbow.
Snakebites – not to be confused with venoms; refers to paired lip piercings, usually equally spaced, one on the right and one on the left.
Venoms – two side-by-side tongue piercings, named after the obvious resemblance to a snake’s fangs.
“Modified” – to be “modified” is to be physically altered in such a way that results in a change to the body. Most commonly, it is used to refer to people who have obvious piercings, tattoos, and non-traditional implants, but every human being truly is modified. Other lesser-known modifications are: wearing deodorant, dying one’s hair, cutting one’s nails, simple ear lobe piercings, breast implants or reductions, and wearing makeup.
Implants – any artificial device surgically inserted into the body. One generally thinks of breast implants when he or she hears this word, but any carved or molded silicone object can be inserted under the skin is considered. Metal and magnetic implants are also common in the body modification world. Dermal anchoring is a sort of spin off of transdermal metal implants. These piercings can be thought of as “piercings without an exit.”
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1. Any words in bold within a definition will also be defined on their own elsewhere.
2. I tried to explain these in basic, user-friendly (READ: people unfamiliar with bod mod words) terms, but please let me know if any of the explanations I have so far are still too confusing/involved/vague.
3. Also, for more visual people, do you think it would be helpful to include photos/sketches next to each word? I feel like that might make it seem cluttered...but I feel like words alone may not be enough. Thoughts?
4. Can you guys think of any other words that you remember not being familiar with when I first started this project? I'm having a hard time thinking of what words it would be helpful to include, because I'm familiar with most of the terms that will come to pass in this book.
THANKS in advance!
