I asked one of my doctors about this and he said, “Nobody’s ever asked me that before.” Then he left the room without really answering.
I was thinking I could hold ice cubes to my ears beforehand, and take lots of gauze in case of heavy bleeding. I don’t want to freak out the person doing it, tho. OTOH, if I tell them, they may very well elect not to do it.
Should I go with It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission? (Goes against my grain.)
What to do, what to do?
How much are you taking? I’m taking a reasonably hefty dose of Warfarin, and I have not been instructed to beware of doing anything which could cause minor bleeding. I’m not getting my ears pierced, but I can even give blood.
I’m not a doctor, only a patient.
Of all the piercings I’ve had done, the only one I can recall any bleeding was my tongue. Ear lobes, cartilage, eyebrow, nose, no blood at all. I can imagine a super vascular spot being something a piercer would not want to do (lip, nipple, pink parts) but I can’t imagine ear lobes being a problem. IANAD and all that jazz…
I had my ears repierced when I was on naproxen sodium (now sold OTC as Aleve). The piercer was a lab technician (and also my mother), and she absolutely COULD NOT get my ear to quit bleeding. It freaked her right out, both as a lab tech and as my mother.
I’d suggest not doing it. And if you think that you absolutely must do it for some reason, wear a top or dress that you don’t mind getting blood on. Lots of blood. Lots and lots of blood. We had iced my ear lobes, and she had lots of gauze on hand, but there was still an amazing amount of blood, and the thing was, the blood just wouldn’t clot.
Right now I’m taking 4 mg a day.
Awhile back I nicked my finger (flyspeck size) and bled for over 15 hours. Not gushes, but steady. I don’t know how long exactly because I finally went to sleep.
Maybe I shouldn’t even be thinking about doing it, but you know how every once in a while you just want to do something for yourself? I’ve been thinking about getting a new haircut, too. (At least it wouldn’t bleed. :eek:)
I’ve got lots of earrings I really like and I’d like to wear them again. “Statement” costume jewelry. One pair is a little chair and a tiny table with a cherry pie on it. I wore them when I felt particularly funky.
Maybe if I got a “drs. note.” Can’t think who would be on board, tho.
The first time I got them pierced a friend did it with a needle. It kind of hurt but maybe I could ply us both with beer. Wonder how long it would take them to heal? (I’m diabetic.)
I missed the Edit window.
Of warfarin.
I manage a LOT of patients on warfarin. Many of them need minor surgical procedures such as dental extractions, abscess drainage, toenail removal, etc. All this can and is done without stopping their warfarin.
BUT: I always like their INR to be under 4 before I refer them for, or perform such a procedure. And that needs to be verified within 24 hours prior to the procedure.
I also make sure there’s plenty of pressure dressing available and that the patient knows what to do about persistent bleeding.
I also do NOT do elective procedures on people who are on warfarin.
So in short, I advise my patients against elective surgery while they’re on warfarin.
Thank you Qadgop the Mercotan. My doctor likes to keep it at 3. I might be able to get away with it, universe-wise, but after reading my own post I thought Dumbfuck.
Guess I’ll stick with a new haircut.
dammit 
An INR of 4? Whoa. I’m supposed to be between 2 and 3 and I usually keep it between 2.4 and 2.6. So I clearly have less of a problem than someone whose INR is much higher, just to calibrate.
Don’t assume too much.
Most therapeutic INR ranges are from 2-3, for those people who have had deep vein thromboses or pulmonary emboli in the past. If the person has a mechanical heart valve, 2.5 to 3.5 is the desired range.
Higher INRs are not therapeutic, and do become more and more problematic. But as long as the INR is under 4, necessary minor surgery can be considered. If it’s over 4, the INR would have to be lowered before a procedure would be done.
I get real nervous when the INR goes over 8.
Then I know this sounds preposterous, but one time I was hospitalized for a few days because mine was 17. My throat was swollen and I sounded like Minnie Mouse when I talked. :smack:
But, I also wanted to thank Lynn Bodoni for reminding me what could very well happen. Searching for decent clip-ons could become a hobby.
17 scares the willies out of me. 
Though I’ve seen a few cases of INRs in the 30’s.
This sounds like a platelet problem. Qadgop, do you agree? I’ve been alternating 10 and 15 mg per day (for 10+ years) of Jantoven (Warfarin previously) for DVT/PE due to anticardiolipin antibodies and I’ve always been told the greatest risk is more on the order of internal bleeding due to a fall.
Don’t know if this is platelet related, but I have Factor V Lieden.
woah, INR in the 30’s???
I take 15mg of warfarin and will see my doc soon about getting off of the stuff 100%. I don’t feel on “my game” since going on warfarin. My at risk is flying and i inject myself with fragmin before any of my long flights.
I wasn’t assuming anything - I was just saying that any advice given to me in my range might not be relevant for someone with a higher INR. Not that they should, of course.
8?: 17? I visualize the instrument going “tilt” at those numbers.
My highest INR was in the 8s-9s (can’t remember exactly), and that pretty much threw everyone up in arms at the lab where I’m tested. Think some policies regarding testing of external patients on Fridays got changed after that! I had hematuria and really felt fluish (but I didn’t LOOK fluish) for a couple of days.
Lesson learned: do not be on a long-term diet and have your warfarin increased prior to a week-long vacation where you go off said diet