Body Piercing Glossary

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Ultrasonic Cleaner

• A device for cleaning surgical instruments and jewelry prior to sterilization.
• Consists of a liquid-filled chamber through which high frequency sound waves are transmitted.
• The sound waves break debris free from the surface of the objects being cleaned.

Umbilical cord

• A collection of blood vessels inside a fibrous sheath that connects the placenta to the fetus in the womb.
• When a baby is born the umbilical cord is cut or bitten off and the remainder then shrivels up. The navel or belly button is formed at the point where the umbilical cord used to enter the body.

Urethra

• The tube that conducts urine from inside the bladder to the outside world.
• In the female exits in the midline between the labia minora inferior to the clitoris and superior to the vagina.
• In the male usually exits in the centre of the glans penis.
• Can conduct piercings in both sexes.
• See also Hypospadias and Sub-incision.

UV

• Ultra-violet light.
• UV light will make some jewelry emit visible light, so called "fluorescence" or "glowing in the dark".

Uvula

• The extension of the roof of the mouth that hangs down in the midline at the throat.
• Piercing here carries a high risk of aspiration.