piercings require a well-defined and two-sided ridge of cartilage that can support a piercing. Tissue thickness is important as well, as very thick anti-tragus ridges can be more difficult to heal and can limit where the jewelry sits inside the ear at the bottom of the conch. If your anatomy does not support an anti-tragus piercing, we would love to help you figure out which ear cartilage piercings would work great with your anatomy.

piercings require a well-defined and two-sided ridge of tissue that can support a piercing without having the jewelry put pressure on the cartilage that forms the nose bridge. This is a piercing that does not always work with glasses or goggles. If you wear either of those things, we strongly encourage you to bring your glasses or goggles to your appointment, so we can make sure that they won’t interfere with the comfort and healing of your piercing.

piercings require a well-defined and two-sided ridge of tissue that can support a piercing while allowing the jewelry to lay somewhat flat along the conch. This is a piercing that rarely works with earbuds, ear plugs, or stethescopes. If you wear any of those things, we strongly encourage you to bring them to your appointment, so we can make sure that they won’t interfere with the comfort and healing of your piercing. If your anatomy does not support an anti-tragus piercing, we would love to help you figure out which ear cartilage piercings would work great with your anatomy.

piercings require pliable tissue and a fairly defined and two-sided ridge of tissue to support a piercing. These piercings are more prone to rejection/migration than other piercings, especially if the eyebrow tissue is flat and/or tight. Failed eyebrow piercings can scar more heavily than other failed piercings, so these piercings are more likely to be declined if the piercer is concerned about the viability of the piercing.

piercings require a very prominent and defined piece of tissue that does not dramatically change shape as the tissue moves. It is not common for people to have proper anatomy for these piercings. Even when clients do have the anatomy for a lip frenulum piercing (commonly referred to as a “smiley”), we extensively discuss the high likelihood of long-term tooth and gum damage from these piercings, due to inevitable constant contact of the jewelry with the teeth and gums.

piercings have a variety of placements that are very anatomy dependent. Some piercings can be started with a ring style of jewelry, while other placements need to be started with a straight or curved barbell. We offer anatomy consultations free of charge, so please feel free to contact us to set up an appointment to learn about your options. (Please see Anatomy tab for more information.)

piercings require the outer ridge of the helix to be prominent and two-sided at two different points: the inside top of the ear, and the outside ridge of the upper ear. In addition to needing the helix ridge to be prominent, the upper ridge of the helix needs to be shaped in a manner that allows the piercing to be performed without having the top ball press uncomfortably into the side of the head. If both of these anatomical considerations are met, the middle of the ear (commonly referred to as the “flat”) needs to be flat or have a ridge that is minimal enough that a barbell can connect the two piercings without putting pressure against it. This is a piercing that does not often work with glasses, goggles, or helmets. If you wear any of those things, we strongly encourage you to bring them to your appointment, so we can make sure that they won’t interfere with the comfort and healing of your piercing.

piercings have a variety of placement options for the upper and lower lip, and some can be very anatomy dependent. Philtrum piercings (centered upper lip) and labret piercings (centered lower lip, under the lipline) require the lip frenulum to not interfere with where the piercing needs to be placed on the inside of the lip. Vermillion piercings (lower lip performed through the center of the lip, sometimes referred to as an “Ashley” piercing) require the lip to be prominent and two-sided where the piercing needs to be placed. With all lip piercing placements, how the jewelry will sit inside the mouth is always taken into consideration, to reduce the risk of tooth and gum damage as much as possible.

piercings are one of the piercings that are most likely to be declined, because they require three different anatomical considerations. Navel piercings require a pronounced two-sided ridge of tissue to support the piercing, and it is common to decline a navel piercing if the upper ridge of the navel is flat or gradually sloping, instead of having a prominent “lip” of tissue. If there is a pronounced ridge, the navel is then evaluated while the client is seated naturally. The piercer may need to decline the piercing, or offer an alternative placement or jewelry style, if the navel completely closes when in a sitting position, if there is a crease or fold located in the piercing site when sitting, if the piercing site is concave when laying down, or any combination of those factors.

piercings require the tissue to be prominent and two-sided to support a piercing long-term. If the nipple is fairly flat, we sometimes need to decline or advise against the piercing, due to the higher risk of migration and/or rejection. We are often able to pierce nipples that are inverted, although this will depend on the extent of the inversion and how that will affect the comfort and healing of the piercing.

piercings are performed with a straight barbell with a disk on the back, although you will be able to wear a ring in a completely healed nostril piercing. Barbells can start at $35 for a two-piece implant-grade titanium threadless post with the most basic titanium ball ends, and can go up to almost $400 for some of the most decorative solid gold ends with genuine gemstones.

piercings are performed with a ring style of jewelry (captive bead rings, fixed bead rings, and circular barbells are all ring style options) Rings start at $20 for the most basic implant-grade steel captive bead ring, and can go up to $400 for some of the most decorative solid gold options. (Note: This is a $65 piercing fee because it is two separate piercings connected by one piece of jewelry.)

piercings require a well-defined and two-sided ridge of tissue that can support a piercing while allowing the jewelry to sit comfortably between the bottom of the rook and the top of the daith. This is a piercing that if your anatomy does not support a rook piercing, we would love to help you figure out which ear cartilage piercings would work great with your anatomy.

piercings are one of the more difficult piercings to perform looking straight and centered on the face, and there are some situations where the anatomy of the septum will not make the piercing look centered or straight, regardless of how the piercing is performed. A piercer will evaluate your anatomy at the beginning of the piercing appointment, and will discuss any concerns with you prior to your commitment to having the piercing performed. Also, while we will go over this with you verbally during your appointment, we would like for you to know prior to your appointment that this is considered a “blind” piercing, which means that due to the location of the piercing site, we are unable to accurately mark the entrance and exit of the piercing. This is the only piercing that we are unable to mark and have the client approve the marks prior to the piercing, which unfortunately means that there is a higher risk of this piercing needing to be redone to adjust the angle or placement.

(commonly referred to as “dermals” or “anchors”) are temporary piercings that rarely last long term. Due to the style of the jewelry combined with the nature of the piercing, these piercings might only last for months, while they might last for years. There are some areas of the body where we will not perform these piercings, either due to high rate of infection (hands, wrists, feet), too much movement in the area which can decrease the amount of time that you have the piercing (cheeks, throat, lip), and/or the area being proven to have other complications (arms, legs, chin).

piercings are extremely anatomy dependent, with most ears not having a pronounced and defined ridge that will support a snug piercing. This piercing requires a very prominent and two-sided ridge located between the outer helix and the conch, and the tissue needs to be thick enough to support the piercing long-term. However, there is an option to perform a “faux” snug piercing, which is two piercings that are performed to give the illusion of a single piercing. A “faux snug” is often easier to heal than a traditional snug piercing, and often has a wider variety of jewelry options.

are very anatomy dependent and require an in-person anatomy consultation to check movement in the desired area. There are also some areas of the body that we will not perform these piercings on, either due to high rate of infection (hands, wrists, feet), too much movement in the area which can decrease the amount of time that you have the piercing (cheeks, throat, lip), and/or the area being proven to have other complications (arms, legs, chin). Even in the best of circumstances, surface piercings have a higher rate of migration and rejection than more “standard” piercings due to piercing a flat surface versus piercing a two-sided piece of tissue that can better support a piercing long term.

piercings can be anatomy dependent. We will decline to perform the service if the tongue is short enough that the piercing would be too close to the front teeth and gumline, which will greatly increase the risk of tooth and gum damage. We might also decline the piercing if the frenulum (the tongue web) is prominent enough that it will interfere with the piercing or compromise the piercing placement. We only offer vertically placed tongue piercings due to the severely increased likelihood of permanent tooth and gum damage from horizontal tongue piercings.