Dermal Piercing Removed from Neck and Wrist by a Plastic Surgeon

Last week I removed a couple inflamed dermal piercings from a young patient's wrist.  She had these dermal piercings for years, and then one morning her wrist became red and painful.   This morning I saw another young woman who had a dermal piercing placed in her neck about 7 years ago.  This week she noticed some discomfort and redness around the piercing.   She therefore desired to have it removed as well. 

After prepping the area with a sterile solution, and numbing the area with a local anesthetic, I was able to remove the dermal piercing, cutting away the tissue that had grown into the tiny holes in the dermal piercing's footplate.  This was all performed through the same piercing hole in the skin, and no new incision had to be made.  Antibacterial ointment and a Band-Aid were applied, and with time the small hole in the skin will close on its own.   The procedure takes several minutes.

This photo shows the inflamed dermal piercing of the neck before it was removed.  Oftentimes the body will expel these dermal piercings on its own, but in other patients the tissue ingrowth grabs on to the dermal piercing and won't let it go!  Consider having a plastic surgeon remove your dermal piercings in a sterile procedure room using a local anesthetic if they are causing you problems.