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Body piercing

Medical concerns with cutting-edge fashion

  • Clinical Review
  • Published:
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To review the current information on medical complications, psychological implications, and legislative issues related to body piercing, a largely unregulated industry in the United States.

METHODS: We conducted a MEDLINE search of English language articles from 1966 until May 1998 using the search terms “body piercing” and “ear piercing.” Bibliographies of these references were reviewed for additional citations. We also conducted an Internet search for “body piercing” on the World Wide Web.

MAIN RESULTS: In this manuscript, we review the available body piercing literature. We conclude that body piercing is an increasingly common practice in the United States, that this practice carries substantial risk of morbidity, and that most body piercing in the United States is being performed by unlicensed, unregulated individuals. Primary care physicians are seeing growing numbers of patients with body pierces. Practitioners must be able to recognize, treat, and counsel patients on body piercing complications and be alert to associated psychological conditions in patients who undergo body piercing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, 600 Highland Ave., 53792, Madison, WI

    Laura M. Koenig MD &  Molly Carnes MD

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  1. Laura M. Koenig MD
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  2. Molly Carnes MD
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Additional information

Figures 1, 3A, and 3B were reproduced with permission from RE/Search Publications, San Francisco, Calif. Figure 2 was reproduced with permission of ADA Publishing Co., Inc., Chicago, III. Copyright © 1977, American Dental Association.

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Koenig, L.M., Carnes, M. Body piercing. J GEN INTERN MED 14, 379–385 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.00357.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.00357.x

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