Genital piercing chart: Healing times, gauges and anatomy

Key takeaways

A genital piercing chart puts placement, healing window, starter gauge, and jewelry type for 14 female and male placements on one page.

Female placements run from four weeks for labia minora to nine months for Christina, which also carries the highest rejection risk.

Male placements run from four weeks for a Prince Albert to twelve months for an ampallang or an apadravya.

The reverse Prince Albert heals in four to nine months, so it should never be scheduled like a standard Prince Albert.

Triangle, fourchette, and Isabella placements depend on tissue depth, so screen anatomy at consultation and record what you found.

A genital piercing chart lists every major female and male genital piercing next to its placement, healing window, starter gauge, and jewelry type.

Healing runs from four weeks for a labia minora piercing to twelve months for an ampallang. Starter gauge sits between 10g and 14g for almost every placement, and starter jewelry should be implant-grade.

The tables below cover 14 placements, eight female and six male. They are grouped by how the tissue heals rather than by anatomy. A Prince Albert and a reverse Prince Albert sit inches apart and heal months apart. You can also download the same chart as a blank PDF and fill it in with the placements your studio offers.

How to use the chart

The chart runs across six columns: piercing name, anatomical placement, healing time range, recommended starter gauge, jewelry type, and anatomy suitability notes. Work left to right during a consultation and you cover the questions clients ask, in the order they ask them.

1. Name the placement. Match what the client is describing against the piercing type column. Clients often use the wrong term, and the placement column settles it.
2. Confirm the placement requirements. Each entry names where the needle enters and exits relative to anatomy. That lets you walk the client through the procedure before they commit.
3. Set the healing expectation. Give the range, not the minimum. A client told “six weeks” who is still healing at four months will assume something has gone wrong.
4. Pick the starter gauge and jewelry. The gauge column is a starting point for a healthy first fit. The jewelry column names the shape that suits the channel.
5. Screen for anatomy, then record it. Triangle, fourchette, and Isabella placements need particular tissue depth. Note what you found and what you advised in the client’s file.

Female genital piercings at a glance

Female placements run from the clitoral hood piercings most studios perform every week to the Isabella, which very few anatomies suit. The table lists all eight, with the healing range and the starter gauge for each.

Male genital piercings at a glance

Male placements split into urethral, glans, shaft, and scrotal positions. Healing varies more widely here than on the female side, from four weeks for a Prince Albert to a full year for a glans piercing.

Healing times by tissue behavior

Group the placements by how the tissue heals and the scheduling gets much easier. Surface and thin-tissue piercings close in weeks. Thicker tissue takes months. Deep channels and rejection-prone surface placements take most of a year. The spread between the shortest and longest window is close to a full year.

The three bands below are the shorthand for booking and aftercare. Quote the individual figure from the detailed tables when you are talking to a client. Set automated follow-up reminders against the band the placement belongs to.

Jewelry gauge and material reference

Gauge and material decide how comfortable the first six weeks are. Most genital placements start between 10g and 14g in implant-grade titanium (ASTM F136), implant-grade steel, or solid 14k gold. Record the gauge, material, and jewelry style in the client record, so a downsize starts from the fitted piece rather than a guess.

Aftercare instructions for genital piercings

Aftercare is where most healing complications get decided. The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) publishes the baseline, and these five steps cover what clients need through the first weeks.

Hand them a written copy rather than talking them through it, and adapt our body piercing aftercare instructions if you need a printable version.

1. Rinse with sterile saline. Clients rinse the piercing once or twice daily with a sterile saline wound wash, especially through the first two to four weeks. Pat dry with a clean, disposable paper towel.
2. Avoid submersion and sexual activity. No swimming, hot tubs, or baths for at least two to three weeks. Sexual activity waits until swelling settles and the piercer gives clearance, usually two to six weeks depending on placement.
3. Wear loose, breathable clothing. Tight pants and friction slow healing down. Recommend cotton underwear and loose-fitting bottoms through the initial healing phase.
4. Leave the jewelry alone. Clients should not touch, turn, or remove jewelry while the piercing is healing. Any change of jewelry is a job for the piercer.
5. Watch for infection signs. Ask clients to report swelling that worsens after day three, pus, foul odor, or fever. Clear lymphatic fluid in the first week is normal, and suspected infection means a physician the same day.

Anatomy suitability: Which piercings fit which client

Not every placement suits every client, and the assessment happens before anyone agrees to anything. These are the factors that decide it:

• VCH and HCH piercings need a clitoral hood with enough tissue depth. The Q-tip test, where a cotton bud is placed gently under the hood, tells the piercer and the client whether the anatomy works.
• Triangle piercings need deep tissue underneath the hood. Flat or thin anatomy cannot take this placement safely.
• Fourchette piercings need a pronounced posterior fold. Where the tissue is shallow, rejection risk climbs sharply.
• Isabella piercings need a prominent clitoral shaft with enough depth. Very few people have suitable anatomy, and this one calls for a highly experienced piercer.
• Male glans piercings such as the apadravya and ampallang need thicker glans tissue. Thinner anatomy means more bleeding and a rougher heal.

Screening is only worth doing if the result gets written down. A spa intake form that asks about anatomy, previous piercings, and healing history gives you the record. It also gives the client the explanation behind a placement you have turned down.

Putting the chart to work in your studio

Print a copy for the consultation area and keep a digital one in each client’s file. Use it to set healing expectations before the needle comes out, and to explain why a placement you have declined is the right call.

It also settles disagreements between piercers. Two people in the same studio can quote healing times that are months apart. A shared reference stops a client hearing two answers to one question.

How Pabau keeps piercing consultations and healing records together

Most piercing studios run the consultation on paper and the aftercare on memory. The consent form goes in a folder, the healing window gets said out loud, and the check-in happens only if the client books it themselves.

Practice management software like Pabau puts those pieces on one record. It is software built for spas and studios. The appointment, the signed consent, the anatomy notes, and the jewelry details all live on the same client file. When someone returns at four months with an irritated frenum, the piercer can see what gauge went in and what was advised.

The follow-up then runs itself. Pabau sends the aftercare instructions once the appointment ends. The check-in reminder goes out at the interval you set for that healing band, so a nine-month piercing gets chased at nine months. Every subscription includes the forms, the records, and the automated messaging.

Keep consultations and healing records in one place

Pabau’s digital forms, client records, and automated follow-ups give piercing studios one file per client. Anatomy notes, signed consent, jewelry details, and check-in reminders all live together.

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Conclusion

The chart earns its place when it changes what you say in the room. Quote the range instead of the best case. Screen the anatomy before you agree to a placement, and write down what you found.

The trade-off worth remembering is that healing times are typical, not promised. Two clients with the same piercing and the same aftercare can finish months apart. Book a demo to see how Pabau keeps consent, anatomy notes, and healing check-ins on one client record.

Continue your research

Running consultations for a new service? The esthetician consultation form shows how to structure the questions so nobody has to improvise.

Comparing systems for the studio? Best software for spas walks through what to look for in booking, records, and client messaging.

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