Paulette Stanford, MD, associate director of adolescent medicine at the medical school, says piercing the nipples can be risky business. A reaction to any foreign body that may enter the wound could result in the formation of a cyst or an abscess behind the nipple that would require surgical removal. A young girl who doesn't seek treatment may find it difficult or even impossible to later nurse a baby, due to scar tissue. Piercings done below the waist, as it's delicately put, are subject to the same risks as other areas. Stanford says women who get an infection or keloids could end up with urinary obstruction or loss of sensation in the clitoris.
Painful tears are a possibility, too.
People get piercings for a variety of reasons - from acting on a dare to wanting to identify with a group. For males, there are even greater risks. Eli Lizza, MD, clinical assistant professor of surgery and director of the division of male reproductive medicine at New Jersey Medical School, says piercings behind the scrotum, close to the rectum, are particularly prone to infection. An artery, known as the frenula, runs along the underside of the penis. If it is accidentally pierced, profuse bleeding can occur.