Bone et al show that the prevalence of body piercing is increasing.1 The body piercing industry is poorly regulated, practitioners require no formal qualifications, and there are no formal training programmes. The Local Government Act 2003, which came into force in 2004,2 was supposed to remedy the situation, but enforcement is patchy and not much has changed since the act, despite the growth in the industry.
Body piercing is a public health problem with risks especially to people with underlying health problems.3 It can also lead to unnecessary investigations and inappropriate treatments when patients present with persistent and “unexplained” signs and symptoms.4 Piercing of the lips, nostrils, and tongue can present difficulties during resuscitation, especially in emergency situations, as valuable time is lost trying to remove the piercing and jewellery within them for effective resuscitation, many doctors being unfamiliar with the release mechanisms of these devices.5
Modern day “genital mutilation” (multiple genital piercing) occurs under the guise of body piercing. Bone et al limited their survey to the age group 16-24 years, but a lot of children and toddlers are undergoing body piercing as there is no minimum age of consent for it. When does the piercing of children become child abuse?
Competing interests: None declared.
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a595
References
- 1.Bone A, Ncube F, Nichols T, Noah ND. Body piercing in England: a survey of piercing at sites other than earlobe BMJ 2008;336:1426-8. (21 June.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Local Government Act 2003: Regulation of cosmetic piercing and skin colouring businesses. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_4076283
- 3.Ochsenfahrt C, Friedl R, Hannekum A, Schumacher BA. Endocarditis after nipple piercing in a patient with bicuspid aortic valve. Ann Thorac Surg 2001;71:1365-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Modest GA, Fangman JJ. Nipple piercing and hyperprolactinaemia. N Engl J Med 2002;347:1626-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Khanna R, Kumar SS, Raju BS, Kumar AV. Body piercing in the accident and emergency department. J Accid Emerg Med 1999;16:418-21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]