Genital piercing is a form of body piercing and is considered a form of body modification. It involves piercing a part of the genitalia and subsequently inserting and keeping a foreign object in the opening until the wound heals. This forms a tunnel of skin around the foreign object, thus creating a suitable place for wearing different types of jewellery.
A clitoral hood piercing is a female genital piercing through the clitoral hood surrounding the clitoris.
There are two main types of hood piercing, the vertical clitoral hood piercing and the horizontal clitoral hood piercing. As the name indicates, the difference is in the direction the piercing is oriented in the skin above the clitoris. Neither of these piercings penetrates the clitoris itself.