Flesh tunnels are just another type of body piercing jewelry and are often referred to as gauges, spools, fleshy, earlets or eyelets. As any other type of jewellery wearers use them to show off, but in this particular case the wearer is showing off what he's gone through to achieve that certain flesh tunnel. In most cases getting a flesh tunnel means going trough a rather nasty stretching operation that hurts pretty bad.

Flesh tunnels by definition are hollow tunnels that are commonly used in stretched piercings. Apparently flesh tunnel wearers pride themselves with their piercings and the bigger the plug, the bigger the impact it has on admirers. Thus, the smaller the gauge the smaller the effect and that's a big no-no when it comes to flesh tunnels. Because a high impact flesh tunnel requires a big flesh plug, some wearers opt-in for flesh tunnels because they weigh less - especially at larger sizes. Flesh tunnels have different sizes, shapes and weights and the best pattern is left to your imagination; flesh tunnels can have a ball closure ring or almost any other object passed through them. Flesh tunnel fans have been using different sorts of plugs made out of various materials for a pretty long while, but piercings of this nature have only recently become a trend.

Usually flesh tunnels are made out of:

• surgical steel
• titanium
• pyrex glass
• silicone
• acrylic plastic
• bone
• horn
• amber
• bamboo
• stone
• wood

Flesh tunnels may contain a variety of decorative inlays or semi-precious stones. Some flesh tunnels have flares at one end to keep the body jewelry from falling out, or in the absence of flares, grooves may be cut near the edges to allow rubber or silicone o-rings to hold the jewelry in place. Some of the newer flesh tunnels have internally threaded backings allowing for less irritation when the plug is inserted and it extends the life of the body jewelry.