When you get your ears pierced, the appearance, of course, changes. Suddenly a hole appears in your skin where you can insert jewelry of your choice. If you are a child, you certainly don’t choose. They cut a hole in you to show the world that you are a girl so that no one gets confused. In this case, the appearance also changes. But putting that aside, the truth is that piercings don’t just change what you see. It also affects what is not visible. This conclusion was reached by scientists from McGill University and MTL Tattoo Parlorfrom Montreal, which shows how the microbiota of the ear skin changes after piercing.
Actually, it makes sense. The person doing the piercing will usually clean the area with alcohol, for example, when they draw blood or give us an injection. This is necessary before piercing the skin to avoid infections. This alcohol seeks to eliminate possible pathogenic microorganisms, but can also remove beneficial ones from the microbiota. Logical. However, no one has stopped to analyze this until now.
Of course there is tattoo studio participation in research may result in a conflict of interest. But in this case it’s conflict of interest It’s not a problem; Well, at the end of the day, the results are just a curious fact and a thread that can be pulled for further investigation.
What is microbiota?
Microbiota is a collection of microorganisms that live in our body constantly, and not just during illness. In fact, most of them are useful. When gut microbiotaincorrectly called flora, helps digest food and also keeps pathogens that try to colonize the digestive system at bay.
When skin microbiota, It serves as a barrier against attack, especially from other microorganisms. So with everyone: in the mouth, in the genitals, in the eyes… Throughout the body there are bacteria, fungi and viruses that live in harmony, without causing any disease and, as a rule, bringing many benefits. This is microbiota. Its genome, which is often studied to find out the composition of each microorganism, is known as microbiome
What happens to microorganisms on the skin if we get a piercing?
The authors of this new study wanted to analyze changes in the skin microbiota after piercing. To do this, the driller took skin samples with a tampon immediately before and after the procedure. And, in addition, the volunteers themselves took and sent more samples: one after 12 hours, and the rest after 1 day, 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks.
Scientists from McGill University began analyzing the smears and discovered something interesting. Despite the alcohol, not all microbiota was removed. Part of it remains. However, in the vacuum left by the microorganisms removed during disinfection, new species have appeared.
They noticed that the new colonies of microorganisms were much more similar to those in wet areas, for example, the inside of the nose or armpit than the skin of the ear without piercing. It really makes sense. It is much more difficult for moisture around the piercing to completely evaporate. Thus, when piercing, a new environment is created, and with it various microbial ecosystems.
This is something that has never been studied. However, now that this is known, it would be interesting to continue research in this direction. This study was carried out only with 28 participants, so the first step is to recruit more volunteers for the new study. In addition, it would be necessary to observe what consequences this change in microbiota has. Are they beneficial, harmful or indifferent? We will have to study more. What is currently known is that the predominant bacteria are Staphylococcus epidermidis And Cutibacterium eels, both are very common in the skin microbiota, so there doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about. Everything is within normal limits, but it would be interesting to understand further.
Source: Hiper Textual
