The barbell piercing is one of the most common and versatile types of piercing jewelry. A barbell is a small piece of jewelry that consists of a straight bar with a ball at both ends. You can also remove one or both ends of a barbell.

Barbells are often available in a number of sizes depending on the type of piercing you are going for. They can be used for tongue piercings, ear piercing, eyebrow piercings, and even nipple and clit piercings.

Types of Barbells

Barbells are rather interesting as they come in various types of shapes such as straight, circular, or curved.

Straight Barbells

Straight barbells are mostly used to adorn tongue piercings. However, since they are highly versatile, they can also be used for industrial, eyebrow, and nipple piercings. Moreover, if you opt for barbells for genital or tongue piercings, the balls will be quite a heavy gauge.

Curved Barbells

Curved barbells are appropriate for various types of piercings. However, you will mostly see them being used for eyebrow, navel, and vertical labret piercings. Curved barbells aren’t recommended to be used for surface piercings as they have a very high rate of rejection.

Circular Barbells

Circular barbells are very popularly used for ear and septum piercings. However, they can also be used for lip, nipple, cartilage, navel, and genital piercings. Another name for circular barbells is ‘horseshoe.’

Barbells for Piercings

Barbell for Tongue Piercings

All tongue piercings are done using a barbell as jewelry. The barbell used for this type of piercing is 1.6mm thick and 16mm in length. When you get a tongue piercing, a big barbell is used, to give your tongue some extra space in case of swelling. However, once your tongue heals, it will go back to its original size, allowing you to switch to a normal-sized barbell.

You will find a variety of barbells in the market for your tongue piercing, but not all of them will be suitable for you. For instance, if you opt for a gold-plated barbell, it will even start to wear off due to the constant exposure to saliva and friction. Moreover, this also goes for other barbells that come with any sort of coating.

Barbell for Nipple Piercings

Barbells make a fantastic piercing of jewelry for nipple piercings. Even though there are more attractive jewelry options for nipple piercing, barbells have a much wider variety to offer. Most nipple piercings require a barbell that is 1.6mm thick and between 12-19 mm long.

Barbell for Ear Piercings

Ear piercings allow you to adorn a variety of jewelry options including barbells. You can wear gorgeous barbell with a length of 6mm and a thickness of 1.2 mm. Just make sure to select the right kind of barbell for your ear.

All in all, you can use various types of barbells for piercings. They are a stunning piece of jewelry and look all the better on piercings.