Hospital staff

This could be part of the wider debate about standards of dress that the public should expect from those they have to deal with. I'm with you on this particular example ( would include eyebrows, noses) - yes I know there's an inconsistency with ears!

I don't think there's a hygiene problem Celeb, any more than if the radiographer had a ring on her finger.
But I do agree it's unprofessional.
It wouldn't have been allowed in my practice <assumes authoritarian expression> and I had a thing about open-toed shoes as well
Write to the Chief Executive of the Trust - raising standards of dress in his hospital is probably more worthwhile than what he usually does on a Monday morning!

Did her lip piercing hurt you in anyway? Will it delay your results? The girl was pleasant but you didn't like her fashion sense. It had no effect on the xray or the treatment it may or may not lead to.

Is n' t the NHS short of radiographers? So long as she did her job and was pleasant, can't see the problem. She's probably a bright young woman.

I don't like the look of facial piercings but what I do or don't like is, I think, irrelevant. I'd be more interested in whether the person did their job properly, communicated well with me and was pleasant and approachable.

Eloethan I think it's about first impressions and making patients feel comfortable and confident in their healthcare professional.
Pierced ears are mainstream, and in some cultures noses too.
But lips, tongues, eyebrows and tooth grills (nipples, navels and penises obviously not applicable in this instance but you get my drift) are not, and shout out 'I am a rebellious person and I don't care what you think.'
You are obviously a rational person and prepared to judge other than by appearances, but to many patients appearances are important and they would feel slightly threatened by what they would regard as bizarre body decoration.
In a hospital situation patients have no choice over who looks after them. That's why its important that all staff do their best in every way they can to make patients, who are often very apprehensive about what's going on, feel comfortable and at ease.

I would quite like to be xrayed by a girl with a lip piercing. In the overly hierarchical world of medicine it is good to see someone who is not afraid to be an individual.

Lip piercing is pretty mainstream now and can hardly be called bizarre body decoration.

DD1 has two tongue piercings and several ear piercings. She has a responsible job that requires her to interact with adults and children of all ages plus she is the mother of an 18 month old son. Her piercings have never stopped her doing her job properly, she has never had a negative reaction from employers or clients, her home is immaculate and her child is well looked after.

Her piercings are not an act of rebellion and certainly not an expression of a couldn't care less about other people feelings. She simply likes piercings.

I can't help thinking this similare to the niqab argument .....I don't want you to have a pierced lip/wear a niqab because it makes me feel uncomfortable therefore I will remove your right.

I really don't like facial and body peircings, they make me feel quite sick, but if people want them , well hey ho..

I have worked with a lot of young people with piercings/ tattoos and bizarre hair colouring - many of them were very troubled, and I came to view the piercings as a legitimate form of self harm....

same with the weird hair colours- it is often seen on larger young women, almost as a defiant look at me I am special kind of statement -sadly, while they hope it is individual, they all look the same and you would be hard pushed to tell one black garmented , overweight tattooed girl with facial piercings from another.....

I wish these youngsters could see that they are lovely and individual just as nature intended, but sadly they are all to often plagued by lack of self esteem and self belief due to poor parentiong

I am now concerned that I am becoming
my mother

I don't have a problem with piercings or tattoos or leggings with no skirt or headscarves. I do have a problem with full face veils and hoodies obscuring the face as it greatly hinders my ability to communicate with the wearer and yes, it makes me feel intimidated. Piercings, tattoos, etc don't.

DD3 has a nose piercing and wears a tiny diamond in it. She also, sometimes, has orange hair. She is a really good mum to two under twos, has her own business and, in my opinion, is lovely

One of my nieces-by-marriage has multiple piercings and 'interesting' hair colourings. But she is a charming, polite and sociable young woman, extremely well qualified in her field and shows every sign of being highly successful. My GD1 has a belly button ring and a couple of tattoos, but nothing visible - yet.

I don't understand your concerns over hygiene. An x-ray is not a sterile procedure. I'm sure you didn't come into contact with the young lady's face.

Live and let live I say. Personally I don't like the look of piercings except ears but that's just me.

Piercings completely mainstream these days.

Interesting comments but main point was I had n idea it was allowed! I certainly would not have thought so as agree with lady who said a job like that should entail putting you at ease not revolting you.

IMO a. Lip piercing is extremely off putting. If itis fiddled with is not hygienic either.

It is n question of fashion sense just good old fashioned standards!

NFK I'm just wondering how often you come across the need to communicate with someone wearing a niqab or hoodie to be intimidated by them.

I wonder whether the problem is that the generations do not mix very much these days? I met a younger woman today who (sweetly) announced "I like to have intergenerational friends". I think she may be on to something.

I went to Nottingham a few years ago to the theatre and it was Goth night at Rock City so the car park was full of Goths. I did wonder if some people might have been a bit scared [with it not being Hallow'een].

I find piercings repulsive, I would have been devastated if DD had defaced her body in such a way.

Both my daughters have piercings. They are beautiful girls and neither of them have defaced their bodies they simply have body ornaments that can be removed anytime they choose.

Depending on how many years ago Tegan my daughter might have been one of them

She's a very respectable mother now

If my hair was thicker I think I'd've been a Goth but thin black hair doesn't look good. I'd love to go to Whitby during Goth week!

There are always wigs, Tegan...