Puncture on puncture
Irina Vlasova, GazetaMedical complications are received by more than a quarter of people who have decorated the body with piercings.
In the more distant future, there is a danger of other health disorders. These are the conclusions of British doctors who recently completed research among adherents of this fashion.
Poor girls prick more oftenThe study involved 10,503 people aged 16 years and older.
Of these, 1,049 people had piercings, and the total number of punctures on the body was 1943. Seven of the study participants stated that they had piercings made in at least 10 places. In addition, girls had piercings three times more often than boys. About half of the girls aged 16 to 24 have already had piercings by this time, and representatives of a lower social class reported this significantly more often. The most popular places for piercing were the navel, which was pierced in 33% of cases. Next in attractiveness were the nose (19%), ears (13%), tongue and nipples (9% each), eyebrows (8%), lips (4%) and genitals (2%).
The study showed that girls, unlike boys, prefer navel piercing to a much greater extent. Nipple piercing turned out to be the most popular among men and is not popular with girls.
A time bombPublished in the British Medical Journal, the results of the study sounded like a warning to healthcare organizations, the British Guardian reported.
It turned out that in Britain every tenth adult has a piercing located in non-traditional places on the body. At the same time, more than a quarter of fashionistas (28%) faced various kinds of complications, and 13% had serious health problems due to poor-quality piercings.
According to the British Health Agency and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, every hundredth piercing in young people in the age group from 16 to 24 years was the reason for seeking medical help. In this age group, complications arose in a third of cases after piercing, as a result of which half of the young people who sought help needed additional medical interventions.
"If piercing is still in fashion, then almost half of the female representatives will have various parts of the body pierced in addition to the earlobes," the authors of the study warn. This may become a serious problem for health authorities in the future. "Despite the fact that serious consequences of piercing are quite rare, its popularity and the fact that complications can occur much later will cause additional burden on health authorities for many years to come," said epidemiologist Fortune Nkube, one of the authors of the study from the health agency.
Leave the language aloneThe most frequent complications after piercing in the age group from 16 to 24 years were tumors, infections and bleeding – this is the conclusion of scientists.
The most problems occurred when piercing the tongue (50%), genitals (45%) and nipples (38%). Additional medical care was required in 100% of cases when complications occurred in those who had genital piercings, in 25% of cases with nipple piercings and in 24% of cases with tongue piercing. In the UK, no cases of viral diseases such as hepatitis B and C. Have been recorded during piercing. However, such cases have been reported in other countries, so the researchers remind in the report about these risks.
Russian doctors are in solidarity with their British colleagues. Domestic experts consider lips and tongue to be particularly dangerous areas for piercing in terms of infections and possible oncological consequences.
"These are areas of special risk," explains Professor Olga Panova, President of the Society of Aesthetic Medicine, Head of the Department of Dermato–Oncology and Laser Surgery of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences. – After all, chronic long-term injury of these zones is assumed, and since the nature of oncological diseases has not yet been fully studied, it is not worth taking risks. There are statistics that tumors can form at the site of long-term injuries." The expert also noted the danger of piercing technologies invading the tissues. "I would also remind you that it is extremely difficult to treat inflammation of the red border of the lips, associated with allergies to "unclean" metals that are used for jewelry," Panova explains. – Even in gold jewelry there are significant impurities of nickel, and with prolonged wearing of such jewelry, especially on intimate tender parts of the body, allergic reactions are quite likely." Due to the difficulties associated with hygiene and scarring, many doctors do not recommend piercing on the genitals and mucous membranes.
Today in Moscow, the usual "piercing without jewelry" on the navel, nose, eyebrow or lip costs less than $ 50, intimate piercing "without tricks" (nipples, genitals) is slightly more expensive – from $ 60-100, for $ 10 in the salon they can change jewelry or perform piercing with anesthesia. But the salons will not issue insurance for the service and will not discuss with the client the issue of treatment of possible undesirable consequences of the procedure. In Russia, piercing is still outside the zone of influence of healthcare.
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24.06.2008