The appearance of jewelry in unexpected body areas creates a need to evaluate our approach to assessment and treatment. Patients with body piercing may present for care directly related to the piercing, such as infection, bleeding, nerve damage or allergic reactions. Or they may present for care not related to piercing, but the presence of body jewelry creates potential hazards or interferes with diagnostic or treatment needs. An awareness of these hazards and the precautions to take are essential to quality patient care. B ody piercings are found just about anywhere on the body.
Common areas are the nose, tongue, lip, eyebrow, ear, navel, nipple and genitalia.
One of the most hazardous places for piercing is the uvula. Fortunately, this is very rare, but if you see one, leave it in. The risk is very high for dropping the jewelry into the airway during removal. A ny piercings in or around the oral cavity present a hazard during airway control. Cheek, chin and throat piercings may interfere with our ability to stabilize the c-spine.