Assessment of body piercing associated health complications among young people in Greece

Abstract

Cosmetic body piercing has increased greatly in popularity in recent years. Complications with body piercing have often been reported in the medical and dental literature, but there have been few attempts to quantify the problem. The purpose of this study was to assess demographical and social parameters of people who have undergone body piercing in Greece and to detect the impact of associated health complications. To conduct the research, a questionnaire was formulated and distributed to 353 people with body piercings. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 19.0 statistical program. 78.19% of the participants were female and 21.81% male, most of them between18-35 years old. The statistical evaluation demonstrated that women preferred to have it done in jewelry stores and they follow the aftercare instructions. People between 18 and 25 years old more often were repeating a piercing. 70% of the piercers working in studios wore gloves. Piercers warring gloves more often gave written or oral care instructions. 72,8% of the participants reported that they decided to do the piercing because of personal beliefs while 22.1% reported stress in their family context. The place where the piercing is performed and the proper conditions for the practice of piercing are clearly very important for ensuring a healthy outcome. There is therefore a need to provide education and enhance awareness to better assist people in their decision to go ahead with body art purchases.