Body piercing has been around for thousands of years, and not just ears – people pierced different body parts for reasons that changed with the times. In recent years, the popularity of piercings – and the number of piercings that people have – has increased by orders of magnitude. Because of this explosion in popularity, there are many different types of body jewelry available and they are made of various qualities of metals.While many people will do fine with stainless steel, or even lesser metals, some people find those types of jewelry problematic. Our implant grade titanium (Ti-6AL-4V-ELI ASTM F136 ) is ASTM F136 compliant and is a metal that is nearly 100% hypoallergenic.It can be worn by people who are sensitive to other metals without issue, almost all of the time – this is why many piercers favor titanium for fresh piercings.Titanium is stronger than steel, but approximately 45% lighter. Titanium can be sterilized in an autoclave. As stated, titanium is ideal for customers who are sensitive or even allergic to other metals. It will not oxidize, corrode, react to sunlight, or rust under normal use – which is great news for swimmers and beach people, as well as everyone else.
The reason we offer implant grade titanium (Ti-6AL-4V-ELI ASTM F136) is we want piercers to have quality, affordable titanium jewelry to pierce their clients with. In a business where healing is extremely important, we want to make sure the clients have every advantage after they are pierced and start that process. The jewelry is created with the safety of the customers in mind. Piercers can confidently pierce with implant grade titanium, knowing they are using a high quality material – and it gives them peace of mind to have this in their arsenal.
Titanium can also be left in piercings long-term, which is a benefit for people who don’t like to, or want to, change out their piercing jewelry all that often. There is almost no odor associated with titanium, as opposed to lesser metals, which can tarnish or lose their top coating over time, exposing the piercing to cheaper metals, causing a slight odor, even in healed piercings. Titanium is also not prone to nicks and scratches because it is such a strong metal – and it definitely will not bend.
Another great thing about titanium is its versatility. You can find just about any style of top in titanium, both internally threaded and threadless. From cabochons to clickers, curves to captive bead rings, and even dermal tops, you will find it in implant grade titanium. This enables you to choose fancy jewelry when having the fresh piercing placed, without the wait time to change the jewelry (which is usually months to even a year.)
Those with a hypersensitivity to different metals, such as nickel, should use titanium instead of surgical steel. It is also an ideal choice for a piercer to use to change the jewelry to, if a body is having trouble healing a piercing done with surgical steel or another metal type. Implant grade titanium should help the piercing heal – and heal faster. If you have sensitivities to metals, you should ask specifically for titanium to be used in your fresh piercing to avoid potential difficulties when healing the piercing.
Additionally, titanium can also be anodized, which enables the piercer to create a wide variety of surface colors such bright pink, bright purple and even a rainbow mix. Anodizing is a process where the jewelry is submerged in an electrolyte solution before voltage is applied, creating layers of colors. The thickness of the layer determines the color of the finished jewelry. Popular colors are gold and rose gold, as well as blurple (which is somewhere between blue and purple) and bright pink. Gold and rose gold colored titanium is popular because it is a less expensive option to 14k or 24k gold. Anodized titanium can be used in both healed and fresh piercings. It is a very popular choice, which many piercers offer, as it creates original pieces from tops and bars or posts that other people may already have.
If you are having trouble with any piercings, try titanium. It could be the answer you are looking for, and help stop irritation, bumps, or other discomfort you may be experiencing. If you are dealing with a problematic piercing, it is best to have a trained professional piercer change the jewelry to a titanium piece for you. Most will do so for a modest fee and give you cleaning and aftercare advice, as well.
Versatile, reliable, and safe for initial piercings as well as long-term wear, titanium is a piercer’s – and a client’s – dream come true. We offer both internally threaded and threadless titanium tops, and all our backings are made of this same implant grade titanium. This is the go-to metal for long-lasting, high quality piercing jewelry that one will be able to wear for years to come.
Photo Credit: Dean Galgano (@piercingsbydean95)
