Piercings and surgery....?

Question

Has anyone had surgery and "hid" their piercing? I just got my rook pierced and totally forgot that I would have to take it out before surgery next week. Do you think I should try to hide it? The surgery will last 40 minutes, do you think it would close right up if I did take it out?

Answer 1

don't hide the piercing.

you may do yourself more harm than good attempting to take the jewelry out yourself. rook piercings are typically done with captive bead rings and are difficult to take out when its a piercer who put it in.

go back to your piercer, explain your situation and get fitted with a glass or pyrex retainer. Since you just got it done, you don't want to be using an acrylic (plastic) retainer, as it is too porous and not good to wear through healing.

Answer 2

Body piercing jewelry must be removed before surgery, because electrical burns can occur when the jewelry is exposed to an electrical current during electrocauterization. Also, piercing jewelry creates artifacts during magnetic resonance imaging and may pose a risk to the patient during the study.

I don't know what kind of surgery you are having, but it is not worth the risk of keeping your piercing in. I suggest you let them know about the piercing beforehand and if it will not pose a risk to you to keep it in, they will tell you. But your new piercing is also inhabiting your body and your body is focusing on making it heal. When you have the surgery, your body will have to work harder to recover from both. It's just not worth it, I would remove the piercing for the surgery.