piercings and heart problems

santashelper_2

my daughter who is 14 has her ears pierced which was when she was younger and we didnt know this had implications anyway everything was fine

She is now 14 and gets upset because a lot of friends have belly button piercings and she wants her done but says i know it could be a risk so she has asked me if she can have a second piercing in her ears since having them done many years ago i saw an article which explains there could be complications if you have a heart problem.

My daughter was born with a hole in her heart and a narrowed artery but i have always been told this is minor and not to treat her any different to any other child although if she has a tooth extracted she will need to take antibiotics in case she gets an infection which could cause problems.

Well the article i saw explained if you get an infection from a piercing and you have a heart problem it could go to your heart and could be dangerous.

I feel so sorry for her as my parents were not keen on me having piercings and i had to wait till i was 14 and then i was a bit of a rebel and made another piercing myself.

We have a brilliant relationship and i have never had an issue with this because there are worse things in life and now i dont know what to do because she wants to go ahead and we went to our drs who said he wont say no or yes he told her to discuss it with her parents and explained yes there are problems that could happen but its probably more likely if she got an infection and left it before telling the dr he explained if she did go ahead she would need to have antibiotics before and after having it done but couldnt guarantee there would not be a problem.

i would never forgive myself if anything happened to her but the trouble is with 14 year olds they think their immortal at the best of times, i am also recovering from a nervous breakdown after many years of stress and worry and she is also recovering from depression,.

she also knows of someone else who has a heart problem and she has her belly, tongue and ears pierced and said to me she is fine.

what would you do in my situtation

juno

Go to a decent piercer, and explain the problem. They'll know what to do.

DO NOT go to a hairdressers, Claire's Accessories or similar.

Real piercers will have more training and will use piercing needles. Other places will have watched a video, and will use guns. There's more chance of an infection with a gun, and the less said about Claire's recommended aftercare the better. Also, there's a high risk of going into body shock with guns, and I imagine that wouldn't be good with a heart problem.

If she goes to a good piercer and follows the aftercare (clean twice a day in salt water) then there is a very low risk of infection. If you don't know a good piercer then either check BME or say where you are and see if I/anyone else can recommend anywhere

frivolous_fay

I googled body shock, but only got piercing companies with that name... :rolleyes: what is it?

juno

[SIZE=-1]The body's reaction to severe loss of blood or sudden injury -- a profound depression of the vital processes, including blood pressure. When a person goes into shock, this quick drop in blood pressure robs organs and tissues of blood and oxygen.

You're forcing a blunt object through your body, and your body says "argh I don't like this". It happens most commonly in babies and children with low body mass, but theoretically could happen to anyone.

[/SIZE]

telephone_man

My mums friends daughter had her tongue pierced at one of those tattoo shops and died of a blood clot hours later. I would not advise a tongue piercing at all.

isualive

My 18 yr old son had open heart when he was 4! He recently had 2 tattoos.

I was petrified, and luckily he was ok! I hope the following articles help?

One is from Southampton hospital, the other from the Telegraph!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/12/npierce12.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/12/ixhome.html

http://www.suht.nhs.uk/SCH/media/pdf/a/e/Endocarditis_1.pdf

Tattoo’s and body piercing should be avoided as there is also a small risk of
endocarditis.

Children's Cardiac Services Southampton 2005

For Further Information and Support
Ring the Children’s Cardiac Liaison Help Line Tel: 023 80794659

santashelper_2

isualive wrote: »

My 18 yr old son had open heart when he was 4! He recently had 2 tattoos.

I was petrified, and luckily he was ok! I hope the following articles help?

One is from Southampton hospital, the other from the Telegraph!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/12/npierce12.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/12/ixhome.html

http://www.suht.nhs.uk/SCH/media/pdf/a/e/Endocarditis_1.pdf

Tattoo’s and body piercing should be avoided as there is also a small risk of
endocarditis.

Children's Cardiac Services Southampton 2005

For Further Information and Support
Ring the Children’s Cardiac Liaison Help Line Tel: 023 80794659

thanks for your help as i know how you felt my daughter is also talking about a tatoo later on when shes older the trouble is when you have children you expect the usual teenage problems but never expect to have to deal with life threatening issues

hope you son is doing well now