What Types of Jewelry are there?

The selection of piercings you can get on the market is varied, and they are different in shape, material, and quality. You can also find different latches, to replace the common latch of standard piercings, and various additions you can attach to the piercing.
If you’re only looking for a replacement piercing, for a piercing you are already wearing, after yours has already healed – you can buy at any jewelry shop – almost any jewel you want, of any material or quality.
If your piercing is still fresh, or you know your skin to be sensitive and allergenic – it’s recommended you only acquire the new jewel at a professional piercing-studio, after telling the guy that the piercing is new or that you have a sensitive skin.
Usually, in regular shops, they only sell cheap piercings that might be very beautiful and uniquely shaped – but are very low in quality. Those piercings are manufactured mainly in the far-East, and the shops that sell them, have no means of sterilizing them (about sterilization please refer to the article “How do I Pick a Piercer?”).

The jewelry that I am going to herby specify, include only the “creation piercings”, that is, piercings suitable for both a fresh piercing and sensitive skin.

Shape: There are two basic groups of piercing shapes:
Barbell: divides into a number of sub-groups, in accordance with the type and placement of the piercing on the body, such as Bananabell, Labret, Barbell and more. This type of piercing has two distinct advantages. First of all, the piercing closes with a screwing mechanism (or in the case of the nose-bar, doesn’t have a latch), so if needed, it will be very easy to remove it and put it back in by yourselves. Secondly, and more importantly, the bar barely moves inside the body, and so, allows the piercing to heal effortlessly.
Ring: Divides into two sub-groups: regular ring and a horseshoe. The rings have a tendency to spin around in its place and allow the bacteria on it to penetrate into the piercing. In addition, as it rotates it rubs the healing piercing, slowing down the healing process.
The horseshoe has another disadvantage. Because of its open shape, it has a tendency to get caught on clothes and objects, and disturb the piercing. On the other hand, it has one of the barbell’s advantages, and it also closes with a screwing mechanism.
[The ring (CBR – captive bead ring) is pressure-closed. That is, its latch is pressure-gripped between the two ends of the ring.
To open it – you must separate the two ends, until the latch comes out.
Closing, now that’s a bit more complicated, especially with small rings, and even more so, when they’re inside your body. You’d be better off popping by a piercing studio, and asking them to do it for you. To open a barbell or a horseshoe, you need to grip one of the latches and turn it ccw.
Never try opening the piercing using pliers or any other tool! You might create grooves in it and these will wound you as you take the piercing in and out of your body.]
The shape of the piercing you can choose, will vary by the type and location of the piercing you’re getting. You’ll get details on the deferent types from the piercer when you get to the studio to get pierced.

The material of the piercings: the creation-piercings are made from one of three materials: surgical-steel, titanium, and p.t.f.e. (Teflon).
The surgical-steel and titanium are quality metals that are easy for the body to handle.
Of the two, the titanium is considered the highest quality, and is used for many medical purposes too. In addition, it’s lighter than the surgical-steel, and the body doesn’t sense it as much (by the way, if you’re interested, titanium also comes in various colors and not only in silver color, unlike the surgical-steel).
The p.t.f.e. is a flexible material, that you can find only as a bar. Because of its flexibility, it’s good for difficult types of piercings, such as various surfaces, or such that combine two punctures (like the industrial, for example). In addition, that is a material that the body accepts easily, and advised for sensitive skinned people.
Inferior metals, such as silver, gold etc. are not suitable for a new piercing, since they might contain other materials, such as Nickel, which the body has a harder time handling them, and might suffer allergic reactions, or try to reject the piercings out.

Special latches (closures) and various additions
There are countless special latches that can replace the standard latch. Most are not recommended for a new piercing, for their quality, the material they are made of, or their shape. Among the most problematic are the plastic ball, that might easily break and hurt you (especially in a pierced tongue), the spike (sharp-tip), that has a tendency to get caught in clothes and objects, causing the piercing continuous damage. So, I recommend sticking to the standard ball – at least until the piercing has completely healed.
You can get various additions that can be fitted on the piercing. These additions burden the piercing with their weight and shape, and in addition, they are often made from problematic materials such as silver. Therefore, they’re not suitable for a new piercing. Even if your piercing has fully recovered and healed, you should seldom attach such additions for short periods of time, and not on a regular basis.