A clitoral hood piercing is a

genital piercing Genital piercing is a form of body piercing that involves piercing a part of the genitalia, thus creating a suitable place for wearing different types of jewellery. Nevertheless, the term may also be used '' pars pro toto'' to indicate all body pi ...

through the

clitoral hood In the female human body, the clitoral hood (also called preputium clitoridis and clitoral prepuce) is a fold of skin that surrounds and protects the glans of the clitoris; it also covers the external shaft of the clitoris, develops as part of th ...

surrounding the

clitoris The clitoris ( or ) is a female sex organ present in mammals, ostriches and a limited number of other animals. In humans, the visible portion – the glans – is at the front junction of the labia minora (inner lips), above the op ...

. There are two main types of hood piercing: the vertical clitoral hood piercing and the horizontal clitoral hood piercing. As the name indicates, the difference is in the direction the piercing is oriented in the skin above the clitoris. Neither of these piercings penetrates the clitoris itself.

Pain, healing and aftercare

Compared to other piercings, clitoral hood piercings tend to be rather uncomplicated with regard to the piercing process itself as well as the healing, which certainly contributes to the popularity of the piercing. In contrast to common expectations, this piercing is no more painful to perform than other body piercings. Since the piercing passes through a thin layer of tissue, it is quick to pierce and reportedly hurts less than ear piercings. Clitoral hood piercings also have rather short healing times, due to the amount of blood circulation to the area. During the healing period however, the piercing is a

wound A wound is a rapid onset of injury that involves lacerated or punctured skin (an ''open'' wound), or a contusion (a ''closed'' wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a ''wound'' is an acute injury that damages the epider ...

and can increase the risk of

sexually transmitted diseases Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral ...

Jewelry

A wide variety of

body piercing jewelry Body piercing jewelry is jewelry manufactured specifically for use in body piercing. The jewelry involved in the art of body piercing comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes in order to best fit the pierced site. Jewelry may be worn for fashio ...

can be worn in clitoral hood piercings. Barbells, J-bars and other bar-style jewelry are common in vertical hood piercings, and both

captive bead ring A captive bead ring (CBR), ball closure ring (BCR), captive hoop, or captive ball ring is a common example of body piercing jewelry. The captive bead or ball fits into a small opening in the circle of the ring. The bead is slightly larger than ...

s and barbells are common in horizontal hood piercings. It is not uncommon for the beads of a barbell to be decorative, as is common in

navel piercing Navel piercing (also referred to as a belly button piercing), a type of piercing located through the skin of the navel. It is most commonly located on the upper fold of skin, but can also be effected underneath or around the edges of the navel ...

References

* {{Body Piercing Female genital piercings Clitoris