BODY PIERCING INCREASES RISK OF INFECTION

By Robert Seth
CWK Senior Producer

"When I got it done, my whole mouth swelled up, it was awful." Sara Yarborough, Age 18.

A pierced ear is just the start, now there’s the navel, the nose, eyebrows, lips, and even tongues. 16-year-old Ryan had his tongue pierced to keep up with the crowd. Ryan says, "everyone was getting one so I thought, I’ll get mine done."

But even for kids who manage to get through the pain of piercing, there can be complications.

"When I got my tongue done," says 18-year-old Sara Yarborough, "my whole mouth swelled up, it was awful, I couldn’t eat anything."

Thirteen-year-old Shirley had her ears pierced but wants the tongue piercing too. "It’s just as risky as getting your ears pierced because you can get infected pretty much any way."

But the American Dental Association disagrees. The ADA recently cited oral piercing as a public health hazard. The piercing of oral structures presents risks of infection because of vast amount of bacteria in the mouth."

Infectious disease specialists, like Dr. Arnold Lentnek, say stopping teens from piercing their lips, cheeks or tongues may take more than a stern warning. "And I think it’s going to be difficult to dissuade them by telling them about the problems that may theoretically occur down the road," Dr. Letnek says.

He adds that mouth piercings may increase the risk of diseases that can be sexually transmitted, like hepatitis C, or AIDS. He finds that especially troubling because in the case of hepatitis C, for example, a teen might not even realize he has been infected for years.

"And the first evidence of disease that you may find, is 10, 15, 20 years later, when someone tells you that you have cirrhosis, and your liver is not working right."

But Dr. Lentnek says turning teens away from this trend may take more than just scare tactics. "Holding your child down by threats or by fear is not an effective long term strategy," he says. "So if you don’t want to participate in that strategy, then I really think you need to explain the dangers, explain where (your child) may lower those dangers, and then very clearly transmit what you think is acceptable and not acceptable behavior."

So You Are Thinking About Getting A Tattoo Or Body Piercing?

You might want to know:

Unsterile tattooing and piercing equipment and needles can spread serious infection, hepatitis, tetanus, or possibly even HIV.
Asking a friend to apply a tattoo may ruin a friendship if the tattoo doesn’t look like you thought it would.
Tattoo removal is very expensive. A tattoo that costs $50 to apply may cost over $1000 and more to remove.
The law in many states prohibits the tattooing of minors.
Tattoos are not easy to remove and in some cases may cause permanent discoloration. Think carefully before getting a tattoo. You can’t take it back if you don’t like it.
Some people are allergic to the tattoo dye. Their body will work to reject the tattoo.
Blood donations cannot be made for a year after getting a tattoo, body piercing, or permanent makeup.

Source: University of Iowa Health Care: Virtual Hospital

How Infections Can Occur

The potential for serious infection occurs during tattooing and body piercing. The needles that are used to penetrate the skin at various sites on the body can become contaminated by blood or serum.

HIV (the virus which causes AIDS), Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses are present in blood and spread by infected blood entering another person’s bloodstream. This can happen during tattooing or body piercing, when needles used for penetrating the skin are contaminated with infected blood or serum and are not sterilized before use on another person.

Blood or serum does not have to be visible on an instrument or needle for infection to be transmitted. It is important to note: all instruments that penetrate the skin of a person, including needles and attachments such as nozzles bars and tubes, must be sterile.

Source: Department of Human Services: A Victorian State Government

Oral Piercing

Piercing is becoming a more prevalent form of body art and self-expression in today’s society. However, oral piercings, which involve the tongue (the most common site), lips, cheeks, uvula or a combination of sites, have been implicated in a number of adverse oral and systemic conditions.

Patients typically undergo piercing procedures without anesthetic. In tongue piercing, for example, a barbell-shaped piece of jewelry typically is placed to transverse the thickness of the tongue at the midline in its anterior one-third using a needle. Initially, a temporary device longer than the jewelry of choice is placed to accommodate postpiercing swelling. The free end of the barbell stem then is inserted into the hole in a ventral-dorsal direction. The recipient grasps the free end of the shank between the maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth and screws the ball onto the stem. The barbell also can be placed laterally, with the studs on the dorsolateral lingual surface. In the absence of complications, healing takes four to six weeks.

In lip or cheek piercing, jewelry position (usually a labrette) is determined primarily by aesthetics with consideration to where the jewelry will rest intraorally. Once position is determined, a cork is usually placed inside the mouth to support the tissue as it is pierced with a needle. The needle is inserted through the tissue and into the cork backing. The needle then is replaced with the labrette stud, and the disc backing is screwed into place. Healing time can range from weeks to months.

Common symptoms following piercing include pain, swelling, infection and increased salivary flow.

Source: American Dental Association

Resources

Association of Professional Piercers – http://www.piercing.org
University of Iowa Health Care: Virtual Hospital – http://www.vh.org/
American Dental Association – http://www.ada.org
Department of Human Services: A Victorian State Government Department – Australia – http://hma.ffh.vic.gov.au/phb/hprot/tattoo/1.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – http://www.cdc.gov