Body Piercing Jewelry - Plugs & Tunnels - Body Piercing
Plugs and tunnels
A flesh tunnel is a kind of body piercing jewelry, and it is also called by different other names such as gauge, fleshy, spool, eyelet or earlet at times.
Flesh tunnels are a very original kind of body jewelry. They consist of hollow tunnels which are used in scalpelled or stretched piercings. They may seem a bit complex but they are a lot more convenient compared to flesh plugs because of their light weight. They look great for stretched ear piercings. Top Hats, Flesh Plugs, Flesh Tubes, Flesh Tunnel, and Laser Canisters are held in place with silicone o-rings while the flesh tunnels are screwed into place. These flesh tunnels can also be worn with a ball closure ring or another object passed through them.
Flesh plugs are short, cylindrical pieces of jewelry which are used in body piercing. They are inserted in large gauze piercings, usually in the ear. The ends of some plugs are flared to hold them in place, and others need small elastic rubber rings (o-rings) to prevent them from falling out. They are not as common as flesh tunnels as they weigh more.
Flesh tunnels are available in various kinds of materials from surgical steel, Pyrex glass, titanium, acrylic plastic, silicone to different natural materials like horn, bone, bamboo, amber, wood and stone.
If you think flesh tunnels look plain and bland, you can go for those that contain ornamental inlays or semi-precious stones to add beauty and style to your piercings.
Hollow tunnels, generally used in stretched or scalpelled piercings (usually large gage ear piercings) are called flesh tunnels. Some people might opt to wear flesh tunnels instead of flesh plugs as they weigh less, especially at bigger sizes. Flesh tunnels might be worn with a ball closure ring or some other object passed through them.
Some flesh tunnels are flared at one end to prevent the jewelry from falling out or grooves might be cut near the edges to enable rubber or silicone o-rings to keep the jewelry in place, in the absence of flares. The back of the flesh tunnel can also be screwed off.
Plugs are usually, and have historically, been worn in the ears. However, they can be inserted into any body piercing. A double-flared (or double-flare) plug flares outward at both ends, and is thinner towards the middle. It does not need o-rings to keep the plug in the piercing, but the fistula needs to be wide enough to have room for the flare when the plug is initially put in. A straight plug (or no-flare plug) is a cylinder without flares, and is kept in place by sliding o-rings against both ends of the plug. A grooved plug is a variation of the straight plug, and has grooves carved in the material to hold the o-rings closely.
Due to the size of flesh plugs, which is frequently a lot thicker than a standard wire earring, plugs can be made out of almost any material. Acrylic glass, metal, wood, bone, stone, horn, glass, or silicone can all be used as plug materials.