Piercings Gone Bad
Filed Under Body Modification on 2006-10-18, 10:38
Piercing is safe if you know what you’re doing and you listen to your body. People have been piercing their body parts for thousands of years. However, with body piercing moving into the mainstream in the last decade or two, and more and more people getting pierced, it’s not suprising for the media to pick up on the rare cases of really bad piercings. CNN had two articles on their front page related to piercings gone bad today that are reminders of important lessons in piercings.
Lesson #1: Don’t pierce yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing. A 13 year old girl attempted to pierce her own navel and somehow managed to perforate her intestine. She ended up getting a nasty infection and doctors say she was in danger of dying at one point. She dropped from 115lbs down to 70lbs and became incontinent. No piercing is worth that!
Link to article
Btw, the mother was found guilty of neglect by not seeking treatment for her daughter.
Lesson #2: If it still hurts, take it out!
Piercings are not supposed to hurt once they’ve healed up. If it hurts, something is wrong. An Italian teenager was apparently experiencing severe nerve pain that was linked to her tongue piercing. “The Italian teenager said the stabbing pains in her face felt like electrical shocks that lasted 10 to 30 seconds and struck 20 to 30 times a day.” The simple solution? Taking out the piercing.
Link to article
If anyone is interested in the actual medical article on this one, here you go
Some additional articles on piercing and the medical community are also available on the JAMA site.
If you want something pierced, get someone who knows what they’re doing to do it. Your body is your canvas: decorate it, don’t destroy it. And educate yourself before you do it. BMEZine is a great place to find info and experiences on the various ways to modify your body.