Published 8 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a595
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a595

Letters

Body piercing in England

Health and regulation issues for body piercing

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Bone et al show that the prevalence of body piercing is increasing.1 The body piercing industry is poorly regulated, practitioners require no formal qualifications, and there are no formal training programmes. The Local Government Act 2003, which came into force in 2004,2 was supposed to remedy the situation, but enforcement is patchy and not much has changed since the act, despite the growth in the industry.

Body piercing is a public health problem with risks especially to people with underlying health problems.3 It can also lead to unnecessary investigations and inappropriate treatments when patients present with persistent and "unexplained" signs and symptoms.4 Piercing of the lips, nostrils, and tongue can present difficulties during resuscitation, especially in emergency situations, as valuable time is lost trying to remove the piercing and jewellery within them for effective resuscitation, many doctors being unfamiliar with the release mechanisms of these devices.5

Modern day "genital mutilation" . . . [Full text of this article]

Umo I Esen, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist

1 South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, South Shields NE34 OPL

umo.esen@stft.nhs.uk


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Relevant Article

Body piercing in England: a survey of piercing at sites other than earlobe
Angie Bone, Fortune Ncube, Tom Nichols, and Norman D Noah
BMJ 2008 336: 1426-1428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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