Kids, do not try this at home, fergoshsakes

Okay, I’m probably not the most rational person to talk to about piercing and the like, but … some safety warnings.

Three weeks ago Indiana surgeons removed the breast of an 18-year-old diabetic whose torso was invaded by flesh-eating bacteria surrounding the nipple rings she acquired at a salon to celebrate her birthday. A few days later a Boston mother was sentenced to 18 months in prison for failing to seek medical attention for her 13-year-old daughter, who suffered major organ damage from an infection that resulted after the girl pierced her own belly button.

Other reports in medical journals include a sewing needle that disappeared during a do-it-yourself tongue piercing and had to be extracted by oral surgeons; a variety of serious, drug-resistant bacterial infections; hepatitis and tetanus; fractured teeth and nerve damage from tongue studs; as well as permanent scarring.

“People think it’s hip and cool, but they don’t realize that it’s not like getting your ears pierced,” said Eugene Giannini, president of the D.C. Dental Society, who, like the American Dental Association, opposes oral piercings. Giannini said he has seen gum damage and speech problems among his nearly two dozen patients who have tongue studs. “I think people need to be informed consumers if they’re going to have it done.”

Heck, people even have problems with infections related to pierced ears (just ask Margie).

Doctors say that while pierced earlobes sometimes become infected, other sites are more often prone to complications because they tend to be subjected to friction or continuous moisture, which can contribute to the growth of bacteria. In other areas, such as the cartilage in the upper ear, the lack of blood vessels can retard healing. And the mouth is teeming with bacteria.

Meltzer said she is particularly concerned about the lack of sterility in some tattoo parlors, where many piercings are performed; the proliferation of teenage “piercing parties” where booze is used as an anesthetic; and, in most states, the lack of regulation of an invasive procedure capable of transmitting HIV and other blood-borne diseases. (The District has no regulations governing piercing, officials say. Virginia prohibits piercing of minors without parental consent, while neither Virginia nor Maryland
requires routine inspection of shops performing piercing.)

I will grant that most of my reservations are aesthetic and/or visceral. But if you are going to have piercings done — even on the ears — please be professional and safe about it.