Body piercing complications exposed

Jun 16 2008

A survey carried out in the UK has found that one in ten adults in England have had somewhere other than their ear lobe pierced, a quarter experienced complications, and 1 in 100 piercings results in admission to hospital.

It has also been revealed that 'DIY' body piercings are putting young women at risk.

Doctors say piercing should not be carried out by amateurs as almost a third of piercings in people aged 16-24 resulted in complications, half of which needed medical attention.

The survey conducted by a team from the Health Protection Agency and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, questioned 10,503 people aged 16 and above and found women are far more likely to have body piercings than men.

Almost half of women aged 16-24 (46.2 per cent) have piercings, with the navel the most popular (33 per cent), followed by the nose (19 per cent), ear (13 per cent), tongue (9 per cent), nipple (9 per cent), eyebrow (8 per cent), lip (4 per cent) and genitals (2 per cent).

Men favour other parts of the body with nipples the most popular and the navel the least popular; however genital piercing, though uncommon in both sexes, was twice as popular among men.

The survey has revealed that 1,049 people had piercings in places other than the earlobes, 31 per cent of which resulted in complications, 15 per cent needed medical help, and 1 per cent ended up in hospital.

The DIY cases were more likely to need medical help and Fortune Ncube, of the Health Protection Agency, one of the authors of the study, says it is vital that anyone considering a piercing goes to a reputable piercer to reduce the possibility of having problems.

The authors say much of the advice is common sense - use an experienced skilled professional piercer and make sure the environment is clean and hygienic, follow the advice on how to look after the piercing and if anything unusual is experienced, seek medical advice immediately.

The most common problems reported were swelling, infection and bleeding and these complications were most likely to occur with the piercing of the tongue, genitals and nipples.

The authors say though most problems associated with piercing are usually minor and self-limiting, some complications are serious and can be fatal.

Most piercings were performed in specialist piercing or tattooing shops but about 20 per cent were performed outside of these settings and these were more likely to result in a complication requiring a hospital admission.

The researchers say self-piercings were reported at every anatomical site asked about, even the tongue and 45% of people who got their genitals pierced, 25% of those who had their nipples pierced and 24% of those who had a tongue pierced, needed medical help afterwards.

The researchers say the clear trend in piercing by both sexes confirms that it could place a significant burden on health services for many years.

The study is published in the British Medical Journal.