Nipple piercing may have killed girl
>From the Canadian Press — “A 17-year-old Newfoundland girl is believed to have died from toxic shock syndrome - and the infection that killed her may have resulted from a nipple piercing, the province’s chief medical examiner says.. Avis said her death might be “an extreme example” of what can occur when people have lips, tongues, eyebrows, genitals and other body parts punctured in the name of fashion.”
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March 11th, 2006 at 11:22 am
With normal cleaning and general hygiene, there is no way this happens. She must have gotten it infected and then never done anything about it. I’ve had both of mine pierced and they frequently bruise and tear a little, with infection, from rough-housing around, but neosporin and general cleaning and it’s cleared in a day tops.
March 12th, 2006 at 11:21 am
i too have had lots of exotic piercings and have had only one infected and all i did to get it to heal was cleaned it with sea salts she could have over cleand it you should not clean it more then once or twice a day or maybe she did not clean it at all
March 15th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
TSS is a rare but fatal illness, it can also be a result of using tampons. sayin that she may have died in the name of fashion is harsh, (and also slightly demeaning to the girl in my opinion) would they say so quickly that she may have died in the name of hygiene?. it is a tragic story but tss is very very rare and can be caused any number of things.
March 17th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
she probably got tts from not changing a tampon, this is just a scam to scare kids from being individuals, not a single one of my 10 piercings have ever got infected
March 20th, 2006 at 10:41 am
im a bloke and i have my nipples pirced and they are fab
March 20th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
WELL I THINK ANYBODY WITH A PIERCINGS ARE GROSS AND SHOULD BURN IN HELL
March 20th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
JK I LOVE CHICKS WITH PIERCINGS
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:04 am
Balls!!! she got tts from the tampon end of story!
March 24th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
it is impossible to believe that doctor would come to this conclusion.it is clearly thought control and fear tatics of the mainstream.
they should have checked her….i bet there was string dangling and further it was likely 7 days old
April 1st, 2006 at 12:55 am
Fashion?!! most people get peircing or tattoos because they want it me personally will get my body puncured or permantly colored on cuz i want it.Do an autotopsy and stop blaming it on the holes through her body
April 1st, 2006 at 1:30 am
Did they bother to check and see if she still had a tampon wedged in her? And I agree, “sayin that she may have died in the name of fashion is harsh, (and also slightly demeaning to the girl in my opinion).” It’s just another bad attempt to scare society into believing that individualism is a bad thing. It makes for a great over dramatizing story though, kudos to them.
April 1st, 2006 at 4:48 am
To say that she died from having a piercing is just bull shit. never heard of it before… they are just trying to scare us outta piercings.. i myself, have 8 ‘exotic’ peircings and i am not afraid of TSS. they can only scare me if they ‘proove’ it was from her piercing… and she kept it as clean as mine… fuck the press.
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:57 pm
I have been a body piercer for over 3 years and never have I had someone die as a result of a piercing. There are procedures and sterilization techniques that should take place before and after any body piercing from ears to genitals and skin piercings. When not followed correctly things can become infected or not heal properly but in any situation there are things that can be done to correct the problem therefore it could have been her faught the parlors faught or something totally opposite and have absolutely nothing to do with the piercing. Also just to add a piercing is a piercing no matter where or who it is on!
April 3rd, 2006 at 5:36 pm
I also believe that this is just a case of not cleaning it right. I have 18 piercings and some i do by my self and none have been infected more then a day if that. You just need to know what you are doing. So people if u want something pierced do not be stupid and not clean it.
April 4th, 2006 at 5:26 am
I agree with Amanda. TSS is very rare, and is usually only brought about by allowing exotic piercings to become infected. For more information about TSS, and other tattoo and piercings related “illnesses” contact me at bat_weasel@yahoo.co.uk.
April 4th, 2006 at 10:02 am
neosporin is not to be used on piercings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it hinders healing because it does not allow the piercing to breath….. www.expressyourselftattoo.com
April 4th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
I agree mine have been pirced for 3 years in feb.and i clean mine with bactine 2 times a day and i have never had problems the girl must not have ever cleaned them, if she did die from nipple pirceing.
April 6th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
i have never had a problem with my genital piercings. just the typical crusting and leaking, but since i normally change my tampon i dont have to worry about tss. so guys, just remember: keep it clean and watch out for burning!
April 10th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
Like Katie said “a piercing is a piercing no matter where or who it is.”
Id have to say, out of all my piercings, my ears where done the most unsanitarily because they were done in a little girly jewelry store with a piercing gun. Yes, they got infected, but I didnt get TSS, because I did something about it right away instead of leaving it to the point that its so infected its gonna KILL me. OMG, even if the TSS was piercing related in her case, cause of death is so not even close to being fashion related, it’s the girls own stupidity and lack of hygiene that probably killed her.
April 15th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Speaking as a body piercer, I can see how this could have happened. Truly though ignorace however. She may have been highly allergic to the metal. I use 316 SL Stainless Surgical Steel which contains nickle. Tons of people have a allergy to nickle. If she disregarded the irritation and infection, the metal could have made her sick and led to her demise. Or simply she had bad personal hygiene. Just a thought.
April 21st, 2006 at 5:01 am
that is wat i got done yesterday my tounge
April 23rd, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I just have to say for the sake of the topic that i hope it wasnt from the peircing, im about to get mine done.and i really dont believe you can die from a peircing even if you arent super super clean.Ive had my nose peirced for 2 years and only cleaned it for the first week then it was fine havent really “clean cleaned” it since. but wow this girl is dead and some of you are just talking about her like she isnt even a person. she may have had “bad personal hygiene” but please have some tact.
May 1st, 2006 at 1:07 pm
I am not saying that it was her hygiene,but just by taking the ring out would have done good in my 13yr as a tattoo artist I have never seen something like that,
May 22nd, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Well isn’t that nice.
A girl died because of a nipple piercing was it?
I really doubt this is real, and if it is she was probably not paying attention to her piercing.
That’s what I think, or the tampon thing, they need to see all options before they can publish it though…
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Hold on you guys, the tampons did it, guess girls are going to be too scared to wear tampons now…
There goes Kotex…
May 23rd, 2006 at 3:28 pm
IM ALEXA WOOOO! I rule. And I have every part of my body pierced possible, including my no-no area.
WHAT NOW BITTTCHH?!
TAMPON REVOOLLTT!!!!
July 5th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Having medical training for nursing, I can safely state that without the proper examine for cause of death; no one can state that the young woman passed away from her piercing. However, TSS is not only caused by tampons. Tampons are the *main* cause though of TSS. (The body goes into toxic shock usually from an infection that gets into the blood stream.) Be it a sliver, body piercing, stepping on a nail, cutting yourself, etc.. you could develope TSS *if* everything fell into the right breeding ground for it. Change your tampons every 3 to 5 hours, don’t wear them all the time, and only wear them with a heavy blood flow. Pierced? Keep it clean, go to a Doctor the moment you suspect any kind of infection, (signs of yellow, or green drainage, bloody drainage days after the intial piercing, a foul or *stinkY* smell from the pierced tissue, sudden swelling that persists for over 12-24 hours, heat coming from an enflamed area, a puss sack, a large knot that’s painful under the flesh) and always practice excellent hygene … pierced or not. Simple as that.
Could a piercing kill her? Sure, if she had had a weak immune system, or an unknown heart problem and a bad infection that she left untreated. The infection could have easily went into her bloodstream. She could have also done nipple play to soon (good way to get feces into the still healing wound since it’s almost always on unwashed fingers) and got one hell of a quick spreading infection. However, the statistics for this all to happen would be very low. Odds are she simply passed away from another cause. People die everyday from simple things that the rest of us do all the time. Taking tylenol, eating certain foods, simple operations, riding a roller coaster, etc.
Just don’t get your nipples pierced by some drunk street bum (or unlicensed friend), then go take a roller coaster ride, and top it off by leaving a tampon in for 2 days while barely bleeding. Odds are you’ll be dead soon.
InkedFantasy
P.S. For the burn in hell remark guy.. I really feel the only idiots who will burn in *hell* are the morons like you who hope people burn in hell over dumb things such as body piercing.
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September 18th, 2006 at 7:41 am
Let’s remember that we’re talking about a real person here who probably has a family (parents, etc) she left behind. The remarks about having a 7 day old tampon stuck in her are rude and obnoxious. We should respect her and her family enough to stop making vulgar comments like that.
As someone who’s been researching nipple piercings and talking to piercers (because I’m thinking about getting mine pierced) I would say that most likely it was a freak accident and it’s wrong of the coroner, etc to blame it on “fashion”. (BTW, this “fashion” has been around since the 1500’s and was very popular in Bavaria and throughout Europe.) There are risks with any piercing if it’s not properly cared for and anyone with a piercing realizes that. Toxic Shock Syndrome starts out as an infection or a bacteria that’s VERY COMMON and if it gets into an open wound (ex: a new piercing) it can become deadly - especially if not treated from the get-go. I’ve read about a young boy who got TSS from the bacteria entering a cut on his knee. A tampon is not the only way to get TSS and women aren’t the only people group to get it either.
October 17th, 2006 at 9:56 am
I have been in this industry for 5 years and apprenticed under Reverend Josh (a masterpiercer of 15 years). Neither one of us has seen this happen as a result of any piercing (exotic or otherwise). We believe that there has to be an underline cause and you can’t always believe what you hear or see in the news. Media hype is a big part of the reason that our industry is degraded instead of celebrated. I also have a partial medical background and to my knowledge, TSS is typically caused from using a feminine hygiend product that has an aggressive absorbency that your body is not in need of. Even my most unclean trailer bunny type clients are able to heal their piercings with the appropriate aftercare. Nipples generally have a great source of blood supply as well and heal relatively well unless the piercer has gone deep enough to damage something or has piercend the areola instead of the niple itself.