How professional body jewellery works.
If you’re unfamiliar with the types of body jewelry used in piercings today, it can be a bit confusing. You may be wondering how to remove it, take it apart, or put it back in if it becomes loose or falls out. Modern professional piercing jewellery is quite different from the older “scroll” or “butterfly” backed designs, which can be commonly used. While those styles can still be fine for healed earlobe piercings, they pose significant challenges in fresh piercings or in areas beyond the lobes.
The main issue with older styles like the butterfly backing is that they are difficult to keep clean, often collecting dirt and debris in their crevices, which increases the risk of infection. Additionally, the poor surface polish of these designs makes healing more difficult and can lead to prolonged irritation. They also typically come in only one size, which can result in the jewellery being too short, causing it to embed into the tissue and sometimes requiring surgical removal.
Given the vast differences in human anatomy, it’s simply not practical to use this outdated style of jewellery for modern piercings. Thankfully, piercing practices have evolved, and today’s jewellery is designed with both size and style flexibility, ensuring it’s easier to clean, more comfortable to wear, and better for healing. Modern body jewellery also features innovative mechanisms for secure attachment, offering a wide range of options that suit various placements and accommodate individual anatomical differences, all while supporting successful healing and long-term wear.
Style of jewellery.
If you were pierced with us, your piercer should have given you an aftercare leaflet with your jewellery details on it, including the type, length, gauge and mechanism. If you still have this it will be good to take a look for your reference.
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Body jewellery for piercing is made up of components, which typically include a shaft or post and attachment.
The shaft is the part that passes through the piercing, whilst the attachment is typically the decorative part of the jewellery. Attachments are inserted into the shaft or post with either a threading (screwed into) mechanism or held in by tension with a thread-less/push pin ( pushed into) mechanism.
Shafts come in numerous styles, such as:
Labret - a straight post with a fixed disk and single hole for attachment
Barbell - a straight post with holes for attachments on both ends
Curved barbell -a curved post with holes for attachments on both ends
Circular barbell - an almost fully circular post similar to a ''horseshoe'' with holes for attachments on both ends
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If your style of jewellery is a ring, it may be hinged, captive/segment or seamless in style.
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To tighten threaded jewellery, turn the attachment clockwise to screw into the threaded post until it will not turn further any further and has locked into place securely. To remove the attachment, simply unthread it by unscrewing anti-clockwise until the attachment is released from the post.
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To adjust the tension or remove thread-less jewellery, please watch the video demonstration.
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See diagrams for reference