What is body piercing problems?

Body piercing is very popular. Many areas of the body are used for piercing.

The ears are the most common piercing site. Most of the time, an earlobe piercing heals without any problems. Piercing other areas of the ear usually involves piercing the cartilage that gives the ear shape. Piercing ear cartilage creates a wound that is harder to clean, takes longer to heal, and is more likely to become infected than earlobe piercing.

Other popular sites include the lips, tongue, nose, eyebrow, navel, nipples, and genital area. Each body piercing site has its own normal healing time and its own set of possible problems. Careful aftercare at home can help speed healing of the wound and prevent problems. At first, a body piercing site may be slightly swollen. A small amount of blood or fluid may drain from the site.

Common problems that develop from body piercing include:

• Infection of the site.
  • Infection of the lips or tongue may cause speech, chewing, or swallowing problems or swelling that can block the throat.
  • Infection of a nipple can cause an abscess and scar the breast tissue.
  • The infection could be serious or life-threatening and involve the entire body (systemic).
• Splitting or tearing of the skin, which may cause scar tissue to form.
• Problems with the type of jewelry used, including allergies to a metal. Make sure to use the type of jewelry designed for your piercing site. Use only nonallergenic jewelry.
• Other problems caused by the jewelry.
  • Jewelry in the lips or tongue can cause chipping or cracking of the teeth, gum problems, and trouble chewing or swallowing. Jewelry can also become loose and be swallowed.
  • Jewelry in the navel can get caught on clothing and linens. This constant irritation can delay healing. Navel piercings can take up to a year to heal completely.
  • Jewelry in the genital area may cause injury to you or your sex partner. It also can cause condom breakage. Piercings in the penis can change the urine flow, cause recurring genital warts, and result in erection problems.
• Damage to blood vessels or nerves under the skin.
• Scarring of the piercing site.

If a sterile technique isn't used, there's a chance of spreading diseases, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or tetanus. Blood infections (sepsis) can occur if a sterile technique isn't used.

You can reverse a body piercing fairly easily by removing the jewelry. This allows the hole to close.

Each body piercing site has its own normal healing time. Common sites usually heal within the time frames listed below. Healing depends on many things. It can depend on how big the piercing is and how thick the tissue is at the site. Your own ability to heal can also affect healing time.

A piercing may not heal as fast if it gets infected or irritated or if scar tissue forms. You may need to see your doctor if your piercing does not seem to be healing.

If you are thinking about having a tattoo or body piercing, go to a reputable studio. Look for or ask about the following:

• Is it clean?
  • The entire studio, including the bathroom, should be clean.
• Do the tattoo or piercing artists follow these steps to prevent infection?
  • Wash their hands before putting on new, disposable gloves.
  • Clean the client's skin properly with iodine or alcohol before the procedure.
  • For tattoos, they use sterile equipment, new needles, and disposable single-use ink cups for each tattoo. And they use sterile water to dilute ink or rinse needles during tattooing.
  • For body piercing, they use sterile needles that are only used once.
• What type of training does the person doing the tattooing or piercing have?
• Is a piercing gun used to do the procedure?
  • Do not have any kind of piercing done with a piercing gun. These instruments increase your risk of infection because they cannot be sterilized between procedures.
• What kind of jewelry is used for the piercing?
  • For a new piercing, use nonallergenic jewelry made of material such as surgical steel, gold, or titanium.
  • Do not use nickel or brass-plated jewelry.
  • Choose jewelry that has not been used or worn or that has been sterilized.

Problems that can develop when you have your tongue, inner cheek, uvula, or lip pierced include:

• Pain.
• Bleeding.
• Infection at the site of the piercing.
• Infections, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or tetanus.
• Speech problems.
• Chewing and swallowing problems.
• Tooth damage, including chipped, cracked, or broken teeth.
• Scar tissue.
• Swelling that may block your throat.

If you have your mouth pierced and use oral jewelry, make sure you can remove it. The ball on one end of a barbell-shaped device must be able to be screwed off and on to make the jewelry easy to insert and remove. Mouth jewelry that dislodges can be accidentally swallowed or inhaled, causing injury or requiring surgical removal.