Ear piercing의 부작용: Ear piercing 후 발생할 수 있는 Cyst의 역학

Abstract

Background: Ear piercing is widely and easily practiced by medical as well as nonmedical personnels but it has been associated with many complications such as bleeding, local inflammation, oozing and cyst formation. Epidermal cyst may develop after ear piercing and result in permanent deformity of ear. However, there have been few studies to investigate the complications of ear piercing, especially epidermal cyst. Objective: To evaluate the epidemiology of epidermal cyst developed by ear piercing. Methods: A written questionnaire was distributed to 236 students at the Chosun University. The questionnaire consisted of 17 items concerning the overall evaluation of the complications of ear piercing, the treatments for complications and the epidemiology of epidermal cyst after ear piercing. Result: Of 236 students included in the survey, 136 students(56%) had already pierced ears. Among them, 80 students(60.6%) experienced one or more complications such as contact dermatitis(41.5%), infection(39.2%), cyst formation(13.7%) and bleeding(5.9%). In 14 students who experienced epidermal cyst after ear piercing, the ratio of male to female patients was 1:3.7 and the mean age of the patients when they underwent ear piercing at first was 18.7 years. Asymptomatic cystic mass was most common clinical symptom. Half of them(50%) received medical treatment such as dressing(50%), oral antibiotics(25%), drainage(12.5%) and surgical procedure(12.5%). Conclusions: Our data indicates that ear piercing is not easy and simple but dangerous procedure due to its frequent complications. Epidermal cyst is more likely to develop when woman pierces the earlobes. Therefore, dermatologists should warrant a warning against the complications of ear piercing and play a major role to prevent them.