Here at Rogue, we are one of only a handful of studios in the UK who have the skills to perform intimate piercings. Today we will be talking about female intimates!
As in our previous Male Intimates blog, we will be using the term ‘female intimates’ to describe any person with AFAB parts or a vulva. If you have had gender confirming surgery or are undergoing hormone therapy, we are more than happy to pierce you as well! We are a studio welcoming to everyone from all walks of life.
Female Anatomy
Although these piercings can colloquially be known as ‘vaginal piercings,’ we do not pierce the vagina itself. Female intimate piercings are performed on the inner and outer labia, the clitoral hood and the mons pubis. Below you can see a handy dandy diagram of a few female intimate options!
Most female intimate piercings pass through thin, highly vascular membranes such as the clitoral hood and inner labia. These piercings are therefore incredibly fast to heal and require only very minimal and gentle aftercare. There is an intimate piercing suitable for every walk of life and every lifestyle! Every intimate piercing is anatomy dependent. Every person is different! We require a full consultation before any intimate piercing so that we can check that your anatomy is suitable, and so that we can discuss the piercing and make sure you are happy, educated, and prepared for your piercing. If you have your consultation, there is no pressure to then book for your piercing if you don’t feel ready!
Female Intimate Piercings Options
The VCH
The VCH, or Vertical Clitoral Hood piercing, is one of the most common and popular piercings that we perform here at Rogue. This piercing sits on the top of the clitoral hood, and a curved barbell is worn that touches the clitoris. Although this piercing may be known to enhance sexual pleasure, we cannot make any such claims – We pierce for aesthetic reasons only! All this aside, the VCH is a hugely popular piercing and a great jumping-in point for those looking to experiment with intimate piercings.
These piercings heal fully within 3 months!
The HCH
The HCH, or Horizontal Clitoral Hood piercing is the sideways version of the VCH! This piercing is often performed with a BCR ring as opposed to a curve, and the aim is for the bead to sit close to the clitoris.
This piercing is suitable if you find that your hood is visible when you stand up – This means there is space for the jewellery during everyday life!
As with the VCH, the HCH fully heals within 3 months.
Inner and Outer Labia Piercings
Inner and Outer Labia piercings are often paired with other intimate piercings as part of a larger curation, but are also fantastic when working solo. These piercings are not suggested to have any sex-enhancing features, but can look absolutely awesome especially when paired with glamorous jewellery!
Inner labia piercings are, again, super fast piercings due to the soft membrane. These piercings require a BCR ring to start with, as curves or other unevenly weighted jewellery can pull through the stretchy tissue. Inner labia piercings are quite easy to stretch, so larger gauge jewellery can be easily inserted.
Inner labia piercings take as little as 6 weeks to completely heal!
Outer labia piercings can be trickier to heal, but look great when they do. Outer labia piercings are again purely decorative, and can wear either BCR rings as initial jewellery, and can swap to curved barbells if preferred when fully healed.
Outer labia piercings take between 2 and 6 months to fully heal, depending on your anatomy and lifestyle.
Triangle Piercings
Triangles are female intimate piercings that pass through the clitoral hood, and behind the clitoral shaft itself. These are advanced piercings, which should only be performed by highly experienced piercers. The Triangle was pioneered by Elayne Angel in the 1990s, and has been quietly popular ever since. The correct jewellery for a Triangle is a circular barbell, often a minimum of 12g thick in order to provide adequate stability for this piercing.
We do not offer Triangle piercings here at Rogue, but if you are willing to travel then Helen at Holier Than Thou in Manchester is a master and we place full faith in her ability.
Aftercare
The piercing itself is incredibly quick- This is to make it more comfortable for you as a client. We do everything on our side to make these safe and sterile piercings, but healing piercings is a team effort between studio and client. These piercings often pass through thin membranes, and so a sterile saline solution is adequate to clean with. You don’t need to soak these piercings at all. For our full aftercare advice, click here.
We recommend bringing a panty liner to your appointment, as you can expect a slight spotting of blood afterwards. You can wear panty liners for the next 7-10 days, changing them twice daily. This is more for your comfort! In terms of clothing, we recommend underwear that is loose and comfortable.
Simply spray a small amount of saline onto the entry and exit points, and use a piece of folded kitchen roll or nonwoven gauze to gently remove any softened crusties. This should be done twice a day in the morning and evening.
Swimming and bathing are strictly forbidden for a minimum of 4 weeks too!
You will feel a bit sore, so we recommend avoiding sex for at least a week. After this rest period, you can slowly reintroduce your sex life. Condoms and dental dams should be used for the first 4-6 weeks, as foreign fluids can cause an immune response and ultimately lots of irritation! As with everything in life, you should be gentle and listen to your body. If it hurts, or you just don’t feel up to it, then stop! Once you are fully healed, 3-6 months, you can go back to your normal lifestyle.
Female Intimate Piercing and the Law
In 2015, newspapers reported that the UK Government updated their Female Genital Mutilation or FGM laws to include body piercings known as female intimate piercings as a crime. This was not the intended purpose of this law, but we were unfortunately caught up in the knee-jerk reactionary stance that the government took. If you want to read more about the concept of FGM and body piercing, I highly recommend reading this article from the APP. Body piercing studios in the UK practically stopped piercing female intimates overnight, as any doctor or nurse who saw these piercings such as during a pap smear, would be compelled to report the incident to the police.
The UKAPP was formed, in part, to fight this legislative oversight. We campaigned to allow adult women to have full control of their bodies in the same way that adult men can. We can confidently say that we have had confirmation that the grey area that female intimate piercings occupied for several years has now been clarified, and consensual body piercing of an adult woman is now recognised as legal in the UK. We still work closely to the law and require a minimum of 24 hours cooling off period before intimate piercings as part of our studio policy. Part of the consultation that we require is also used to discuss the piercing and make sure you are happy and confident to have it pierced and heal it.
This blog only serves as a diving off point for learning about intimate piercings – If you want to learn more about intimate piercings we strongly recommend booking a consultation with us or sending us an email.