Body art is a dangerous fashion, as well as painful. But the pain and danger are magnified when the target for the "work of art" is an area as sensitive as the chest. Getting a piercing in the female (or male) nipple hurts more than in the rest of the body, but it is also the area that requires the longest healing time.

“Any body piercing is subject to a high risk of infection and given the nature of this area, it heals more slowly,” says Marta Fernández Cuevas, an expert in cleavage and breast care, creator of the “healthy bra.” Pillow Bra. “It is estimated that recovery can take between 18 months and three years in some cases, and during the entire period the risk of infection persists, possibly leading to the formation of some scars,” she warns.

This fashion accessory, which is intended to be decorative and even sensual, can become the reason for serious complexes and, in the worst case, require surgical intervention, as the infection can spread through the ducts and affect the lymph nodes. “It can also carry risks during lactation due to the possibility of obstruction and deformation of the lactiferous ducts, which would make it impossible for the normal passage of milk to the outside. It can cause mastitis and decreased milk production (between 5 and 10% less) and that the milk that feeds the baby leaks through the piercing holes. This, without taking into account the risk that the baby could swallow the piercing, so that the best thing to do is to remove it when breastfeeding”, points out Fernández Cuevas.

More? Pockets of pus under the skin, cysts or keloids can form, cause galactorrhea (spontaneous secretion of milk), nerve damage, bleeding, blood cysts, allergic reactions, and even the spread of a disease such as hepatitis B and C. The only good news is that a breast piercing does not cause breast cancer, although some women have confused the symptoms with a hardening of circulating tissue caused by a reaction to the metal in their chest.

To reassure those who regret it, Maite Beleña, laser coordinator at the new International Dermatology Clinic, the first skin hospital to be opened in Spain, the resulting hole can be closed after removing the piercing. "We made a small incision of a few millimeters in it and then sutured the wound," she explains. “There will be a minimal scar that can become practically imperceptible if we use a fractional CO2 laser that smoothes that superficial layer of the skin where the piercing was before and, the quality of the skin is recovered with a topical treatment that includes retinoic acid” , Add.

As for tattoos, if they have been made maintaining the required standards of sanitation and hygiene, it is not contraindicated for health, but it is still a wound in which an ink is deposited that penetrates the epidermis, paying attention to the dermis. And like any deep wound, it needs a series of care, and a lot of hygiene in the days that follow.

According to Dr. Ignacio Sánchez Carpintero, also from the International Dermatology Clinic team, infections of all kinds have been described. “From bacteria, such as staphylococcus, to more serious cases of HIV transmission, hepatitis B and C. Hypertrophic or keloid scars can also be seen. There are cases of reaction to the ink with the formation of granulomas to a foreign body, manifesting with a lumpy and irregular skin, and migration of the pigment to the nearest lymph nodes can be observed, making it difficult in the future to interpret diagnostic techniques”.

This dermatologist advises getting black tattoos because it's the easiest to remove with a laser, if you regret it. "A multicolored tattoo is more difficult, requires different lasers, and the number of sessions is usually high, around 6-10 sessions," he warns.

Another recommendation from dermatologists is not to do it in areas where the skin presents some type of spot or mole, because it can be a factor for the development of skin cancer, since in the case of presenting any anomaly (growth, change in shape and color), it cannot be seen due to the dye that covers it. In addition, the ink is housed in cells called macrophages whose function is precisely to absorb foreign material to the body.

In cases where the tattoo is not a form of body art, but part of breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, the advice is to avoid places where non-organic inks that contain toxic substances are still used. "To hide the excision scars or to "recover" the areola or nipple, it is essential to perform a micropigmentation, not a tattoo -explains Diana Mendoza, professional aesthetic tattoo artist (609754420)- and always with anti-allergic vegetable inks, which are reabsorbed between two and four years later.

The difference with a tattoo is that in this case we reach the epidermis, not the dermis, so the result is not permanent. The inks inside the skin oxidize, and the drawing ends up turning into a greenish or bluish stain”, he assures. "For this reason, it is better to touch it up after 3 or 4 years, than to leave the areola in such an ugly color," he adds. And the other plus of vegetable inks is that they do not interfere with an MRI. "They don't have enough iron to make it not compatible," says this collaborator of doctors Porcuna, Dray, Monereo, Mato and doctors Lacalle and Vilá Joya, among others.

Tags