Hi my name is samantha and I was diagnosed with hodgkins lyphoma 3 months ago Ive done 4 cycles of chemo and it didnt seem to work so now I am going to do radiation I am in need of some radiation oncology help I have masses in my neck chest and under my left armpit I am into body piercings and my birthday is saturday so I would like to get 2 facial piercings back but I need to know if its okay to get them even though Im getting radiation I wint be using surgical steel or metal I will be using thick plastic I just want to be safe for the healing part of it
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Usually thick plastic does not interfere with radiation therapy. Also, your radiation treatment will be directed to the chest and left armpit and the piercings are going to be on the face. You can have the piercing done provided your blood counts are good, and you do not have any infection. The piercing wounds also require being dune under strict hygienic conditions to prevent infections and complications. For the piercing pat, please discuss with the radiation technologist, and it is suggested to have removable body piercing because we never know if the material used is safe when giving radiation treatment, though in most cases it is considered to be safe. Please do not worry.