The “valley piercing” is a surface piercing of the lower back that lies right above, or sometimes within, the cleft of the buttocks. This funny and interesting contemporary piercing has also been known by many other names, including “butt crack piercing,” “sacral piercing,” and “coccyx piercing.”
Like most surface piercings, the valley piercing can be performed with either a single hollow piercing needle, two hollow needles, or the punch and taper technique, depending upon the preference of the client and the piercer. Due to the area of the body in which it resides, this type of piercing can be difficult both to clean and to completely heal, and because of constant movement there’s a higher rate of rejection or migration than average.
Valley piercings are worn almost exclusively with surface bars, though flexible PTFE or tygon bars have been used from time to time. They can be pierced both vertically and horizontally, and sometimes will sit slightly higher up on the back. As an alternative to the traditional surface piercing, some choose to get dermal piercings in the area instead. Those who have tattoos across the lower back may also use valley piercings or valley dermals strategically to accent their body art.
Although valley piercings have been around since at least 2007, they remain rare to this day in both the US and UK. For a long time these piercings were called by interesting alternate names by both the persons who wore them and the artists who pierced them, causing them further anonymity. Many piercers throughout the western world have yet to even perform one, making them some of the coolest piercings you may have never heard of.
