Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:22:38 GMT — For Wednesday's Facebook story of the day, you wanted to know more about body piercings and the health problems they might cause.
Generally, infection is the most common side effect of a piercing, and it all depends on where you get it done. The ear, which is relatively exposed, is a low risk area, while genital piercings are the most high-risk area.
It can also depend on what kind of piercing -- a post, ring or loop -- you get in a given area.
"There's some things, for example, let's say you get your nose pierced, the nares of your nose. Well, if it's the kind of thing where you have a post, so you have a back to the post, where the back to the post is inside your nose, right? Sometimes what can happen is you're going to inhale that in your airway," said Patricia Quinlisk, State Medical Director for the Iowa Department of Public Health. "Well, if you inhale that and it gets in your lungs, obviously, you're going to have to have a medical procedure to get it out. So if you have something in your nose, a ring or a loop is safer than something like a post."
The biggest thing to keep in mind when getting a piercing is getting it from a reputable shop. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV can occur when needles that are not properly cleaned are used to pierce the skin. There can also be more severe health risks.
"There's more serious complications, obviously, you can get too, depending on where you do it," Quinlisk said. "You can hit a nerve, especially like on the face. That's rare, but obviously hitting a facial nerve is not a good idea. So there's things like that too."
Another thing to keep in mind is allergic reactions. Some people who are allergic to certain metals, like nickel, can only wear piercings made of silver or other materials.
And it's important to clean the piercings, wherever they are, regularly. Quinlisk said that at any sign of redness or infection, to see a healthcare provider.
