Important Note: Each section below contains a link to a longer post that contains all of my measuring instructions for that piercing location, as well as pictures to help demonstrate what I'm explaining.
Taking the time to measure your piercing will ensure that you get a great fit when you're buying body jewelry online. Please note, some of these sections are specific to jewelry that you purchase from me and won't apply elsewhere (like adding 1mm for the glass beads).
To measure your nose, cartilage, or septum piercing you will need a caliper or you will need a ruler and a piece of paper. You are going to be measuring the distance from the piercing hole to the edge of your nose or ear. The measurement that you get will be the smallest inner diameter that you can wear. I highly recommend taking the measurement several times. It's important to pay attention to the angle at which you are taking the measurement because this can influence if the jewelry will fit loosely or if it will hug your piercing.
Table of Contents
- Don't forget to check the size of the design!
- What do gauge and inner diameter mean?
- How do I measure my nose piercing for a hoop?
- How do I measure my septum piercing?
- What do I need to know to measure my ear piercing for a hoop?
- How do I measure my helix, tragus, or conch piercing?
- How do I measure my daith piercing?
Don't forget to check the size of the design!
I want you to love wearing your new jewelry, so please make sure the design will fit where you intend to wear it! The easiest way to do this is to measure it out on a piece of paper so that you can hold it up to your piercing to see how much space it will take up. I include how wide and tall each design is on every listing for this reason. For the safety of all my customers body jewelry sales are final.
What do gauge and inner diameter mean?
The gauge is how thick your jewelry is. Jewelry gets thicker the smaller the number gets. For example, an 18 gauge nose stud is thicker than a 22 gauge nose stud. You will see gauge written like this: 16G, 16g, and 16 gauge. If you don't know which gauge you wear you may be able to measure it at home!
As long as you are wearing the correct gauge of jewelry in your piercing, just use a caliper to measure how thick (big around) your jewelry is. You cannot measure gauge accurately with a ruler. If you do not have a caliper ask your piercer for help.
AWG (American Wire Gauge) Measurements:
- 22 gauge = 0.64mm
- 20 gauge = 0.81mm
- 18 gauge = 1.02mm
- 16 gauge = 1.30mm
- 14 gauge = 1.63mm
- 12 gauge = 2.06mm
- 10 gauge = 2.59mm
- 8 gauge = 3.25mm
The millimeter measurement that corresponds with each gauge can vary slightly depending on the manufacturer (usually +/- 0.5mm). For example, you may find that your 16 gauge helix stud measures 1.2mm.
The inner diameter of a hoop refers to the measurement that is taken in a straight line from inside edge to inside edge. All of the jewelry that I make is measured using the inner diameter.
How do I measure my nose piercing for a hoop?
I have a more in-depth explanation of measuring here (with pictures): What size nose ring do I wear?
Buying a beaded hoop? You may want to add 1mm to the measurement you took to accommodate the size of the beads if you measured between 6mm-7mm. You don't need to add 1mm if your piercing measured 8mm, 9mm, 10mm, or 11mm.
Important Note: The size of your nose isn't an accurate way to guess which hoop inner diameter you wear! You can have a small nose and still need one of the largest inner diameters, or have a large nose and need a smaller inner diameter. The inner diameter that you wear depends on how far the piercing was placed from the edge of your nostril, which is why it's so important to measure prior to buying jewelry online.
Finding out which inner diameter you wear in nose hoops is not only really simple, but it will ensure that you get a great fitting nose ring that hugs the nostril perfectly! The measurement that you need is the distance from the piercing hole to the edge of your nostril. Measure in a straight line from the piercing hole to the edge of your nose, don't measure at a diagonal angle. If you measure at a diagonal angle (toward the crease of your nose/cheek) you will end up with a hoop that fits larger than you anticipated. This measurement will be the smallest inner diameter hoop that you can wear comfortably, and it will fit snugly against your nostril. The most accurate way to measure your nose piercing is to use a caliper, but you can also easily use a ruler, too.
If you need to use a ruler to measure, don't just hold the ruler up to your nose. Instead, use a piece of paper and a ruler. Cut a small strip of paper, line the top up with your piercing hole, use a fine-tip marker or pen to mark where the edge of your nostril is on the paper, then measure the marked portion of the paper with a ruler. This is more accurate than just holding a ruler up to your nose!
To avoid the problems that come with a piece of jewelry that fits too tightly, make sure you always round up to the next whole number if the measurement you get is in between sizes. For example, if you measured a distance of 5.6mm from the piercing hole to the edge of your nose, do not buy a hoop that has a 5mm inner diameter. Instead, round up and get a hoop with a 6mm inner diameter.
How do I measure my septum piercing?
I have a more in-depth explanation of measuring here (with pictures): What size septum ring do I need?
The inner diameter for a septum hoop is measured vertically. To find out the smallest inner diameter that you can wear measure in a straight line down from your septum piercing to the bottom of your nose. The measurement you get will give you a snug fitting piece of jewelry (remember to always round up not down).
The easiest way to measure your septum piercing is to use the paper and ruler method explained above. Cut a small strip of paper, line the top up with your piercing hole, use a fine-tip marker or pen to mark where the bottom of your nose is on the paper, then measure the marked portion of the paper with a ruler. Alternatively, if you already have a hoop that fits you well you can measure the inner diameter of that with a ruler or caliper.
Important: Most of the designs I make will take up part of the inner diameter of the septum ring, and I always list this measurement in the item description. To ensure you will be able to comfortably wear the hoop, add that number to the inner diameter measurement you just took. If you typically wear a septum ring that fits closely, then you will most likely need to size up for most of my designs (you may not need to if you usually wear loosely fitting rings). To keep things simple for you to measure at home, my inner diameter measurements are based on what the diameter is prior to putting the bead into the hoop.
What do I need to know to measure my ear piercing for a hoop?
Important Note: The size of your ear isn't an accurate way to guess which hoop inner diameter you wear in your earlobe! You can have a small ear and still need one of the largest inner diameters, or have a large ear and need a smaller inner diameter. The inner diameter that you wear depends on how far the piercing was placed from the edge of your ear, which is why it's so important to measure prior to buying a hoop online if you don't already know which size fits you well.
When you're measuring, don't just hold the ruler up to your earlobe. Instead, use a piece of paper and a ruler. Cut a small strip of paper, line the top up with your piercing, use a fine-tip marker or pen to mark where the edge of your ear is on the paper, then measure the marked portion of the paper with a ruler. This is more accurate than just holding a ruler up to your ear!
To avoid the problems that come with a piece of jewelry that fits too tightly, make sure you always round up to the next whole number if the measurement you get is in between sizes. For example, if you measured a distance of 8.6mm from the piercing hole to the edge of your ear, do not buy a hoop that has an 8mm inner diameter. Instead, round up and get a hoop with a 9mm inner diameter. If you want a hoop that fits loosely, add 1-2 millimeters to the measurement that you took.
How do I measure my helix, tragus, or conch piercing?
The measurement that you need is the distance from the piercing hole to the edge of your ear. Take this measurement in a straight line, because if you measure at a diagonal angle you will end up with a hoop that fits larger than you anticipated. This will be the smallest inner diameter hoop that you can wear comfortably, and it will fit closely against your ear. If you prefer a looser fit, add 1-2mm to this size.
I have a more in-depth explanation of measuring your helix piercing here: How big should a helix hoop be?
I have a guide for measuring your conch piercing here: How do I measure my conch piercing?
How do I measure my daith piercing?
You can figure out the approximate inner diameter that you need for your daith at home using just a strip of paper, a ruler, and a marker. Follow my guide (with pictures) to learn how to take this measurement: How to Measure Your Daith Piercing for a Hoop
If you don't want to measure, then you will need to ask your piercer for help. Make sure you let them know what the dimensions of the design you're buying are (you can find this information listed in every product description) so they can check to see if you have room to wear it. The only alternative way aside from asking your piercer or measuring at home yourself are to measure the inner diameter of jewelry that already fits.
