One of the most modern body piercings is the eyebrow piercing. Coming from the 'if it protrudes, pierce it' philosophy of the 1990s, the eyebrow has become rather popular, despite being a notoriously problematic piercing. This is actually a surface piercing, a placement of permanent jewelry in a part of the body that does not really have a skin fold.

An eyebrow that has a heavier 'ridge' or thickness of tissue under the brow line is better suited to support the successful healing of this piercing. A very flat brow creates tension across the pierced area and will lend the healing piercing the natural tendency to rejection. Sometimes called 'healing out,' this is when the body pushes the jewelry towards the surface of the body, as though it were attempting to push away the new jewelry. Most often, in cases of rejection, the piercing is highly irritated and painful, and some rejecting piercings show extreme and sudden reversal of negative symptoms immediately upon the removal of the jewelry. The basic idea response to this situation is, if you think your body is telling you that you should not have a certain piercing, your body is probably right and you should take it out.


Eyebrow piercings should be performed 'freehand' with a proper piercing needle by a trained body piercer, and should NEVER be pierced with ear piercing guns. Placement along the brow line varies highly from person to person and varies with brow anatomy and aesthetic preferences. How far into the facial tissue the piercing is made also varies individually, and your piercer should be consulted as to what they suggest. If you wear eye glasses or sun glasses regularly, make sure you check the placement and size of your jewelry so that it doesn't conflict physically or visually. If you are a woman who plucks or waxes her brows, be sure and have your brows done before getting a new eyebrow piercing. You do not want to be plucking stray hairs from around your fresh, tender brow ring for as long as you can after it is first pierced.


Jewelry options include tiny barbells or rings. Whichever jewelry seems to stress skin surface and angle of the new piercing less is best to start. There are small, subtle nylon 'keepers' made for wearers of eyebrow piercings who have to hide their facial piercings for jobs, families and other public situations. People who like to sleep on their faces should consider if they can change their sleep habits to facilitate healing this piercing. Eyebrow piercings can take 9 to 12 weeks to heal: consider the impact that healing this piercing will have on the next three months of your life. During the initial healing period, you will want to avoid wearing makeup or other facial products that might contaminate or irritate the fresh piercing.