Other Services

Our practice provides an asthma and allergy management program for our patients. Our providers are trained in the diagnosis and management of childhood asthma and allergies. 

ASTHMA EDUCATION

We teach about environmental controls and avoidance of triggers. We will provide an Asthma Action Plan for your child for school.

MAINTENANCE VISITS

Children with asthma should be seen in our office every 3 -6 months depending on their severity of illness and their asthma control. Regular visits are required in order for us to evaluate your child prior to medication refills.

We evaluate children for behavior concerns and school problems including:

• Inattention and lack of focus
• Anxiety
• Depression

We will do the initial evaluation if you think your child is having problems with focusing and attention.  These evaluations need to be scheduled in advance and we require initial Vanderbilt forms to be filled out and turned in prior to scheduling. 

Depending on the severity of the problem or concern, a referral may be sent to a behavioral health specialist for further evaluation and management.

We are excited offer medical ear piercing to our patients and have selected the Blomdahl® Medical Ear Piercing System which is only available to licensed healthcare professionals.

Why should I choose medical ear piercing at Quinn Pediatrics?

In our office your child will receive professional care from a pediatric provider who has been trained in sterile technique and wound management.

The Blomdahl® Medical Ear Piercing System uses single-use cassettes which minimize the chance of infection at the piercing site and medical-grade plastic or titanium piercing studs which eliminates the risk of nickel allergy. Using this system also eliminates the possibility of patient-to-patient cross-contamination because only the single-use part of the equipment ever comes in contact with the skin at the piercing site.

We also offer pre-procedure numbing cream for the ear lobe(s)  in order to minimize pain during the procedure. The numbing cream needs to be left on for at least 30 minutes to be effective.

What are the age restrictions for ear piercing at Quinn Pediatrics?

We recommend ear piercing occur between 3 and 9 months for infants and when school-aged children are 6 years old or older.

Waiting until children are 3 months old ensures that they have had their first set of vaccines and allows the ear to grow big enough to allow for accurate placing of the earring. We want to make sure that this elective procedure carries as little risk to your child as possible. 

We do not recommend ear piercing for children between 10 months and 5 years of age because the child must either be small enough to allow us to completely control her movements during the procedure or cooperative enough to sit still during the procedure and be capable of actively participating in aftercare. All eligible patients must be completely up to date on all vaccines.

Where do we pierce?

We only pierce earlobes and will only do one piercing per earlobe at one time. We do not pierce cartilage or other body parts.

How much does it cost?

We charge $89 to pierce up to 2 ear lobes.  This price includes the cost of numbing the ear prior to the procedure, piercing studs, and aftercare cleaning swabs.

Full payment is due when you check in for your ear piercing appointment.

8 weeks after the procedure the piercing studs should be removed and replaced with earrings of your choosing.

Since this is a cosmetic procedure, it is not covered by your insurance and it will not be billed to your insurance.

Can I get ear piercing done at my child’s well or sick visit?

We do ear piercings by appointment only and not as an “add-on” to another sick or well visit. This allows enough time to perform the procedure, explain and answer questions about the aftercare, and allow the numbing cream to take effect.

What are the risks of ear piercing?

• Infection: There is a risk of infection anytime the skin is broken. We reduce this risk significantly by using sterile technique, using sterile, single-use piercing cassettes, and providing specific aftercare instructions.

• Pain: Even without numbing cream the pain is brief and similar to vaccine injection using the Blomdahl® system. Patients who are old enough to communicate verbally sometimes say that their earlobes briefly feel warm and flushed after the procedure. In order to minimize any discomfort, our price includes the use of numbing cream.

• Nickel allergy: Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is an itchy rash that occurs when your skin comes in contact with a typically harmless substance. Nickel is one of the most common causes of ACD and once you develop nickel allergy you will always be sensitive to it. Unfortunately, nickel is commonly used as a metal hardener and most metals used for ear piercing contain (or “leak”) enough nickel to trigger a potential allergic reaction. Fresh piercings allow direct and constant contact between a minor open wound and the metal, which contains nickel. We chose to use an ear piercing system that uses medical-grade titanium in order to avoid nickel exposure during the ear piercing healing process.

• Keloids: Keloids are shiny, smooth and rounded skin elevations, which can form at the piercing site in some patients after ear lobe piercing because of altered wound healing. Keloids tend to run in some families, are more likely to occur in patients with darker skin pigmentation, and generally occur in persons 10 to 30 years of age. 

Before we start the procedure, we will ask you to sign an informed consent form.

How long do we keep the ear piercing studs in place?

We recommend keeping the original ear piercing studs in place for 8 weeks. The ear piercings studs we use are thicker (1.3 mm) than the standard earring post (1.0 mm). The larger piercing hole makes it easier to switch to normal earrings after the healing period and reduces the risk of repeatedly re-injuring the ear-piercing site when replacing earrings, which should, therefore, reduce the risk of piercing site infection.