Body Piercing Glossary

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Caliper

• A device for the accurate measurement of distances and thickness.
• Used to measure jewelry accurately.
• Also commonly used to measure parts of the body, such as the thickness of the tongue, to assist in choosing appropriately sized jewelry.

Cannula

• A narrow tube of plastic carried on a needle.
• In piercing with a cannula:
  • The needle cuts a hole and the cannula passes through with the needle.
  • The needle is partially withdrawn but the cannula stays in place.
  • The jewelry is inserted into the cannula.
  • The cannula is withdrawn carrying the jewelry through the piercing.

Capillary

• The smallest blood vessels in the body.
• The capillaries carry oxygenated into the tissues and allow the oxygen to diffuse into the tissues to support life.
• After travelling through the capillaries, and giving up its oxygen, the blood flows into the veins and thence back to the heart and lungs.

Capillary Loops

• The blood vessels that feed oxygen to the skin are called capillary loops because of their shape.
• They are capillaries that start in the dermis of the skin, and loop up towards the epithelium, and then back down into the dermis.
• Different parts of the skin have different numbers of capillary loops and this helps explain why different parts of the body heal at different rates:
   

  Site	Loops Per Area
  Face	150
  Hand	50
  Ear	30
  Finger	20

  
   
• The greater the number of loops, the more oxygen and nutrients delivered to the skin, and the faster the rate of healing.

Captured Bead Ring

• A ring made up of a bent rod clasping a dimpled bead that completes the circle.
• Special ring opening pliers are required to open up the ring and release the bead.

Cartilage

• A tough elastic tissue that gives shape to the nose and external ears.
• Also makes up the smooth surfaces of joints.
• Cartilage has a poor blood supply and so cartilage piercings take much longer to heal compared to normal piercings.

Cheek

• Either side of the face below the eyes.
• Piercings can pass from the cheek on the outside to the inside of the mouth.

Chin

• The front part of the face below the lips, overlying the mandible or jaw bone.

Chloroxylenol

• An antiseptic which currently appears to best meet the criteria for body piercing use:
  • Very effective against bacteria, fungi and yeasts
  • Tested safe in long term use on open wounds
• Also called PCMX.
• Marketed as Provon Medicated Lotion Soap ®, a 0.3% solution.
• Unfortunately it is difficult to obtain. In USA try 800-328-0141. It is unavailable in Australia.

Chrome Crawford

• A labret piercing at the side of the upper lip, in honour of the model Cindy Crawford with her famous beauty spot.
• Also called a "Madonna".

Chondritis

• Chondritis usually refers to bacterial infection of cartilage.
• This is notoriously difficult to cure.
• See a physician if you suspect a cartilage piercing is infected.

Christina

• A piercing of the female mons pubis or pubic mound

Circular bar bell

• A barbell bent into a circular shape.
• Usually has a gap between the ends just less than a quarter of the circle described by the barbell.
• Commonly used in septum, nipple,and Prince Albert piercings.

Circumcision

• In males circumcision is the removal of the foreskin of the penis.
• In females circumcision is usually the incision of the hood of the clitoris.
• In some societies and illegal in most countries is "circumcision" involving removal of the clitoris.

Clamp

• A surgical device consisting of jaws operated by handles designed to hold tissue or other instruments during piercing procedures.

Cleopatra

• Alternative name for the Reverse Prince Albert piercing.

Clitoris

• That part, situated in the midline of the female genitalia, whose apex is visible as a small elongated erectile organ anterior to the urethra and inferior to the mons pubis.
• Highly sensitive and variable in size from barely visible to over a centimetre in exposed length.
• Can be pierced if large enough but piercing will carry a risk of damaging the nerves of the clitoris and reducing sensation.

Clitoral Hood

• A cover of skin overlying the clitoris on its superior aspect.
• Much less sensitive than the clitoris itself and commonly pierced without complications.

Complication

• A problem arising from a procedure or operation.

Conch

• A piercing of the shell shaped part of the pinna adjacent to the ear canal.
• A conch is a marine mollusc characterised by a large spiral shell.
• In piercing refers to the part of the outer ear shaped like a shell to funnel sound waves into the external ear canal.

Contra-indication

• A medical reason for avoiding a procedure.
• For example persons with heart valve problems should avoid body piercing because of the risk of infection of the heart.

Copper

• A reddish colored metal.
• Atomic Number 29.
• Chemical Symbol "Cu".
• Melting point 1083^oC
• Used as a component of gold alloys.

Corpus Cavernosum

• The penis contains two sets of erectile tissue in the shaft, each called a corpus cavernosum.
• During erection blood flows into these faster than it leaves and so the penis swells in size.
• Plural = Corpa cavernosa

Corpus Spongiosum

• The corpus spongiosum sits within the shaft of the penis on its inferior aspect.
• The urethra passes through the centre of the corpus spongiosum.

Crystal

• A highly transparent and brilliant type of glass used as a replacement for more expensive gemstones in jewelry.

Culture Medium

• A substance that promotes the growth of micro-organisms.
• Laboratories most commonly use agar gel, made from seaweed.
• Dead tissue is an ideal culture medium. Never use substances to clean a piercing that can kill tissue, e.g. alcohol, for the dead tissue then becomes a culture medium for bacteria.

Curved barbell

• A barbell in which the bar is curved.
• Commonly used in eyebrow, nipple, clitoral hood and reverse Prince Albert piercings.
• Also called a bent barbell.