Straight Barbell (Body Jewelry)

Two decorative ends on a straight shaft make a barbell. The shape suits any piercing that runs straight through a fold of tissue with both openings on display. One ball is usually fixed while the other unscrews, which is how the bar goes in. Wearable length means the distance between the inside faces of those two balls. That means a 14 gauge bar sold at 16 mm gives 16 mm of usable shaft however big the ends are.

Ball size changes both the look and the handling. A 5 mm ball on a 14 gauge bar reads as a proper finish and is easy to grip when unscrewing. A 3 mm ball almost disappears and is fiddly to hold with wet fingers. Numbers by placement are fairly settled. A tongue is pierced at 14 gauge around 16 mm and downsized to 12 to 14 mm once swelling drops, a nipple takes 14 gauge at 14 to 16 mm, and an industrial spans two cartilage holes on one 14 gauge bar of 32 to 38 mm. Threading should be internal on anything worn through healing tissue.

Curved barbells arc to follow tissue that will not lie flat. A navel or an eyebrow uses one and a tongue does not. Labret studs trade one ball for a flat disc, so they win wherever the back rests against skin all day. Circular barbells bend the same bar into a horseshoe with both ends left open, giving the look of a ring with the easy insertion of a bar. Captive rings and clickers pass through the same hole and then keep rotating in it.

Tongues, nipples, industrials and some helix placements are the natural ground. Wear a barbell where the tissue is flat and both faces show, and skip it where one side presses into skin, since a ball back will dent you. Contact sport and tooth grinding argue for a soft plastic or a titanium ball on a tongue bar, because metal against enamel chips teeth over years and the chips do not grow back.

Grip both ends and try to twist the fixed one, which should not move at all. Look into the tapped hole of the removable ball under a bright light and confirm the thread is cut cleanly rather than punched. Loose balls are the classic barbell loss, so tighten yours every few days with clean dry hands, remembering that threads close clockwise.