Labia piercings are one type of female genital piercing

Genital piercing

Genital piercing is a form of body piercing and is considered a form of body modification. 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...

. This piercing can be placed either through the labia minora

Labia minora

The labia minora , also known as the inner labia, inner lips, or nymphae, are two flaps of skin on either side of the human vaginal opening, situated between the labia majora...

 or the labia majora

Labia majora

The labia majora are two prominent longitudinal cutaneous folds that extend downward and backward from the mons pubis to the perineum and form the lateral boundaries of the pudendal cleft, which contains the labia minora, interlabial sulci, clitoral hood, clitoral glans, frenulum clitoridis, the...

. They are one of the simpler and more common genital piercings performed on women, and are often pierced in symmetrical pairs. Like all genital piercings, depending on jewellery and placement, they may provide additional stimulation to one or both partners during sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse

Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

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History and culture

There is little direct evidence of pre-contemporary practice of labia piercings, outside of anecdotal reports of the use of these piercings as chastity devices. Like many genital piercings, the contemporary origin of labia piercing resides in the BDSM

BDSM

BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...

 culture that gave rise to the resurgence 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...

 in contemporary society. In contemporary practice, these piercings often simply fill a decorative role, rather than a purely sexual one.

This piercing plays a prominent role in the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 erotic novel, Story of O

Story of O

Story of O is an erotic novel published in 1954 about love, dominance and submission by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage.Desclos did not reveal herself as the author for forty years after the initial publication...

. The heroine, O, has a hole pierced through a labium, through which a stainless-steel ring is inserted. Another ring is linked to it, and to that, a metal disk with identifying information on it, including the name of her Master, the mysterious Sir Stephen.

Comparing piercings of labia major, minora

Labia majora (outer labia) piercings heal slower than labia minora (inner labia) piercings, depending on the anatomy of the individual. They also tend to be more painful because there is more tissue to pierce through. Stretching of labia minora piercings occurs on its own in most cases due to the relatively high elasticity of the tissue, whereas labia majora piercings are much less likely to do so.

Jewelry

Almost any type of jewelry can be found in labia minora piercings, although rings are the most commonly used jewelry, both as initial jewelry, and on a long-term basis. Both types of labia piercings can be stretched to accommodate large jewelry; the wearing of heavy jewelry in these piercings may be a form of ongoing or temporary sexual stimulation. Both types can also be stretched to accommodate flesh tunnel

Flesh tunnel

A flesh tunnel is a type of body piercing jewelery. It is also sometimes referred to as a spool, fleshy, earlet, expander or eyelet.Flesh tunnels are hollow tunnels, usually used in stretched or scalpelled piercings. Flesh tunnels are made in smaller gauges however the smaller the gauge the...

 or flesh plug style jewelry.

Jewelry worn in labia piercings may have a fetish purpose. Rings or other specialised jewelry may be worn to occlude

Occlusion

Occlusion may refer to:* Occlusion , the manner in which the upper and lower teeth come together when the mouth is closed* Occlusion effect, an audio phenomenon that occurs when one closes the opening into the ear canal and the loudness of low pitched sounds increases* Occlusion miliaria, a skin...

 access to the vagina

Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...

, as a form of short-term or long-term non-surgical infibulation

Infibulation

Infibulation is the surgical modification or mutilation of the genitals in males and females, particularly the foreskin, labia minora and labia majora...

. Other chastity

Chastity

Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....

 devices might also be worn that make use of the piercing, sometimes incorporating locks

Lock (device)

A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object or secret information , or combination of more than one of these....

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