Piercing of the Ear Using Carbon Dioxide Laser

Abstract

Piercing involves puncturing or cutting a part of the human body to create an opening for placement of jewelry. Various forms and lesions of body piercing have been documented throughout human history, and its popularity has led to increasing concerns about beauty and fashion. Piercing can be performed by various methods including use of piercing guns, needles, safety pins, catheters, and magnetic earrings. However, each method has some disadvantages including contamination or aseptic conditions. Although piercing is gaining in popularity, information about the evaluation of associated medical complications is lacking and exact statistics for these procedures are also unavailable. Thereafter, the carbon dioxide laser has been introduced as a better alternative for piercing, but reports are still rare. We report on a female patient who had her ear pierced on the scapha using a carbon dioxide laser. No major complications including infection, bleeding or scarring was observed. We suggest that the carbon dioxide laser is a safe, precise, and aseptic technique for ear piercing and it can also be applied in body piercing of other parts.