Genital piercing is a form of body piercing

Body piercing

Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice...

 and is considered a form of body modification

Body modification

Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...

. It involves piercing a part of the genitalia and subsequently inserting and keeping a foreign object in the opening until the wound heals. This forms a tunnel of skin around the foreign object, thus creating a suitable place for wearing different types of jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it is illegal for anyone under 18 to have one. Laws in other countries vary.

Types of genital piercings

Male Genital Piercings:

• apadrayva piercing
• ampallang piercing
• Prince Albert piercing
  Prince Albert piercing
  For other uses of "Prince Albert", see Prince Albert The Prince Albert is one of the more common male genital piercings...
  
  
• Reverse Prince Albert piercing
  Reverse Prince Albert piercing
  The Reverse Prince Albert piercing is a form of male genital piercing. The “Reverse Prince Albert piercing” enters through the urethra and exits through a hole pierced in the top of the glans...
  
  
• Dydoe piercing
• frenum piercing
  Frenum piercing
  A frenulum piercing is a type of body piercing located on the underside of the shaft of the penis. A series of parallel frenulum piercings is known as a frenum ladder. A frenum ladder may be extended to include lorum piercings, hafada piercings and guiche piercings.-Placement:Frenum piercings are...
  
  
• Guiche piercing
  Guiche piercing
  A guiche piercing is a body piercing on the perineum. Guiche piercings are much more common in men than in women. Although a guiche normally runs perpendicular to the direction of the penis, lateral placements are possible...
  
  
• Jacob's Ladder
  Frenum ladder
  A Frenum Ladder, also known as a Jacob's Ladder, consists of a series of frenum piercings often extending from below the head of the penis and as far as the base of the shaft of the penis....
  
  
• Lorum piercing
• Hafada piercing
  Hafada piercing
  A hafada piercing is a surface piercing located anywhere on the skin of the scrotum. This piercing does not penetrate deep into the scrotum, and due to the looseness and flexibility of the skin in that area, does not migrate or reject as much as many other surface piercings...
  
  
• Alraram piercing

Female Genital Piercings:

• horizontal or vertical clitoral hood piercing
  Clitoral hood piercing
  A clitoral hood piercing is a female genital piercing through the clitoral hood surrounding the clitoris. There are two main types of hood piercing, the vertical clitoral hood piercing and the horizontal clitoral hood piercing. As the name indicates, the difference is in the direction the piercing...
  
  
• inner or outer labia piercing
  Labia piercing
  Labia piercings are one type of female genital piercing. This piercing can be placed either through the labia minora or the labia majora. They are one of the simpler and more common genital piercings performed on women, and are often pierced in symmetrical pairs...
  
  
• clitoris piercing
  Clitoris piercing
  A clitoris piercing is a piercing through the clitoris itself. It is a relatively uncommon piercing and is often confused with the more common clitoral hood piercing, which pierces only the hood of the clitoris. Depending on the anatomy of the individual, they can be oriented either vertically or...
  
  
• Christina piercing
  Christina piercing
  A Christina piercing, also known as a Venus piercing, is a female genital piercing. It is located where the outer labia meet, below the pubic mound. Unless the recipient has an extremely sympathetic anatomy, Christinas are usually considered surface piercings and have a high rejection rate. Due to...
  
  
• Isabella piercing
  Isabella piercing
  Isabella piercing is a female genital piercing. This extremely deep clitoral shaft piercing starts below the clitoris and just above the urethra, and then goes up through the clitoral shaft and exits at the top of the hood .This piercing was first documented in issue 17 of Piercing World Magazine...
  
  
• Nefertiti piercing
  Nefertiti piercing
  A Nefertiti piercing is a female genital piercing that is a combination of a vertical clitoral hood piercing and a Christina piercing. Healing can be lengthy due to the amount of tissue the jewelry must pass through. Flexible bars are recommended by professional piercers for jewelry due to...
  
  
• Princess Albertina piercing
• triangle piercing
  Triangle piercing
  A triangle piercing is one of several forms of female genital piercing. The piercing passes from side to side, beneath the base of the clitoral hood tissue where it meets the inner labia and under the clitoris. In addition to serving as adornment, it increases the intensity of sexual stimulation,...
  
  
• Fourchette piercing
  Fourchette piercing
  A fourchette piercing is a female genital piercing. It is a piercing done at the rear rim of the vulva, in the area of frenulum labiorum pudendi. Many women do not have a pinchable flap of skin in the area, and are not suited for this piercing...