There are plenty of regular piercings that most people could list off easily, like ear, nose and lip piercings, but how many people have ever heard of a uvula piercing or an Achilles piercing? There are a number of really cool, unusual piercings like those that you may not have known about before, but you’ll never forget them after today!
What Are the Most Extreme/Unusual Body Piercings?
Below we’ve listed some of the more unusual piercings we’ve ever seen, and we’ve included some extreme body piercing pictures so you can see what these unique piercings look like, too. Since our extreme piercing list only includes a few of the many unusual piercings people get, we’d love for you to tell us about your unique piercings by emailing us at info@painfulpleasures.com; with your permission, we'll share your comments here. You can also upload photos of your extreme piercings in our Body Mod Photo Gallery to share them with our online community.
Achilles Piercing
A deep Achilles piercing doesn’t actually go through the Achilles tendon; it goes through the “sweet spot” in between the Achilles tendon and the ankle and leg bones. As with other deep piercings, Achilles piercings take a long, long time to heal. They can often look swollen, red and irritated for years. This is not a piercing for the faint of heart!
If your anatomy will accommodate Achilles piercings, you have to be prepared for a lot more than the initial pain of the piercing and discomfort during the early stages of the healing process. If done incorrectly or stretched too much, Achilles piercings can limit movement or totally inhibit your ability to walk. If done successfully, you’ll need to follow a religious aftercare regime for up to a year or more.
Uvula Piercing
Your uvula (formally “palatine uvula”) is the soft tissue that hangs down at the back-center of your mouth/entrance to your throat that can trigger you to gag or vomit when touched. Uvula piercings are unusual primarily because of people’s strong gag reflexes. The uvula’s typical response to touch can hinder the actual piercing process and cause problems afterwards if the jewelry constantly triggers a person’s gag reflex. The other potential concern with this piercing is that you’d be highly likely to swallow your jewelry if it came loose. Typically circular barbells or captive bead rings are inserted in uvula piercings.
Web Piercings
There are webs of skin all over our bodies. They’re in between our lips and gums, fingers, toes, and other places where connective tissue is needed to stabilize two adjoining body parts. The proper term for such connective tissue is “frenulum”. Frenulum piercings are some of the more popular unusual piercings.
You can potentially get a web piercing in 3 different spots in your mouth alone, as long as you have enough connective tissue to (a) pierce and (b) support a delicate piece of jewelry (usually a CBR or a circular barbell):
Smiley Piercing – A piercing of the soft tissue connecting your upper lip and gums
Frowny Piercing – Goes through the flap of connective tissue between your lower lip and gums
Tongue Frenulum Piercing – Piercing of the tissue connecting the lower soft palate and underside of the tongue
Some people also pierce the webs in between their fingers and toes. The most common hand web piercing is of the skin in between the index finger and thumb.
Unusual Genital Piercings
For women, some of the more unusual genital piercings include:
- Fourchette Piercing – A piercing of the back edge of the vulva that’s comparable to a male guiche piercing
- Triangle Piercing – A piercing that passes through the base of the clitoral hood and under the clitoris (basically a deep piercing version of a horizontal clitoral hood piercing)
- Ampallang Piercing – A piercing of the head of the penis from side-to-side, performed less often than frenum and PA piercings, because it can be intensely painful to get and uncomfortable for partners during intercourse
- Anal Piercings – A piercing of the anal rim that men and women alike can get, but that few do relative to other piercings
Surface Piercings
Surface piercings have been steadily growing in popularity, so the concept in general isn’t really uncommon anymore. However, there are still some unique piercing placements and configurations that fewer people get, such as nasal bridge piercings, neck piercings and corset piercings. Corset piercings can be done by placing two columns of captive bead rings alongside each other nearly anywhere on the body and lacing ribbon or a string through them in a crisscross pattern. They’re more commonly done on the back, but they can also be placed on the calves, the front of the neck or anywhere on the body where there is sufficient soft tissue to place two columns of rings. Neck piercings are more frequently done on the back of the neck, but they can also be done on the front and sides. To learn more about surface piercings, check out our Dermal Piercing & Surface Piercing FAQs.
Other Extreme Piercings
Since nearly every part of the body could be pierced in some way, there are practically unlimited options for more unusual piercing placements. Also, sometimes a regular piercing can be turned into an extreme piercing just because it’s been pierced multiple times (think quadruple tongue piercing) or because of the degree of stretching a person has done. Here’s a perfect example of someone who’s taken a few more typical facial piercings and turned them into extreme piercings:
Check out our Types of Body Piercings article for more piercing placement ideas. To see more unusual body piercing pictures, visit our Body Mod Photo Gallery.
What to Do Before Getting an Extreme Piercing
1) Think about it long and hard. These are not piercings you rush into getting or have done on impulse as you’re strolling by a tattoo and piercing shop.
2) It’s extremely important to do careful research to find a professional piercer with in-depth piercing experience to perform any of the extreme piercings listed here, and especially any deep piercings. Some professional piercers may ask you to wait awhile after your initial consultation/before piercing you, to make sure you’re serious about it and it’s not just a fleeting whim.
3) Stock up on all the piercing aftercare supplies you’ll need to care for your extreme piercing. If you’re getting an oral piercing like a uvula piercing, purchase a piercing aftercare rinse like H2Ocean’s Arctic Ocean Rinse or Lemon Ice Oral Rinse. If you’re getting another piercing, buy Recovery Piercing Aftercare Spray or a comparable sea salt solution (SSS) spray to mist on your extreme piercing when you're at work or on the go. For longer SSS soaks, you'll either need extra SSS spray or iodine-free sea salt to make your own SSS (aquarium salt from a pet store works). You may also want to get some tea tree oil to add to your SSS soaks for its natural antiseptic and moisturizing properties.
4) If desired, you can purchase your own starter jewelry to take to your piercer. You’ll need to find out what style and size s/he recommends for the type of piercing you want first. Once you know what you’re looking for, check out our Body Jewelry section. (Be sure to check out our Events section to get a coupon code to apply to your order!) We can even sterilize your jewelry before shipping it so you won’t have to wait for it to be autoclaved before you’re pierced.
Extreme Piercing Aftercare
Your piercer should send you home with aftercare instructions. Follow them and supplement with the tips in our Body Piercing Aftercare article. You’ll find our recommended sea salt solution recipe there, as well as tips on things like when to replace your jewelry and what to do if you suspect your piercing is infected.
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