# Does body piercings increase the risk of frostbite?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 4, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098 "2005-01-04T22:38:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/1 "2005-01-04T22:38:56Z")

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If the earing, nose ring, cheek ring, is exposed wouldn’t this increase heatloss in that area and increase frostbite risk?

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/2 "2005-01-04T22:48:36Z")

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I remember having to take my earrings out when I walked home from school in the Northern Indiana winter. They would start to hurt within a couple of minutes. I’m guessing that, yes, it would be easier to get frostbitten earlobes with metal earrings in.

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**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/3 "2005-01-04T22:57:15Z")

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[Frostbite](http://encyc.bmezine.com/?Frostbite) is especially bad for stretched piercings.

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/4 "2005-01-04T22:59:09Z")

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“Downsize your ear” :eek:  
I’m hoping they mean downsize your \*piercing[/].

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**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/5 "2005-01-04T23:03:50Z")

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Haha, yeah, they do.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-body-piercings-increase-the-risk-of-frostbite/283098/6 "2005-01-04T23:28:21Z")

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I’ve had it happen. Earring my first winter in college (at Frostburg State University).

Long French Hook type earring. The damn thing froze solid inside my ear. It hurt like you would not believe. I honestly wanted them to cut my damn ear off so it would hurt less.

Kids, don’t let this happen to you.