This site is great motivation

Hi and welcome! I’ve had an ear pierced and a tattoo (my first!) since surgery. We don’t seem to have these restrictions in the UK.

Good luck with your continued recovery.

Yes, welcome, and this is such a great site for encouragement, motivation, and questions! I am a little older than you (67 years old lol), and the tattoo question is one I asked at a pre-surgery office appointment with my surgeon’s physician assistant. Probably my biggest concern about the surgery in the first place was (and still is) infection. My late mother-in-law was head of infection control at a large medical center and raised my awareness early on. My surgeon is adamant that I will need prophylactic antibiotics for any dental procedure for the rest of my life, although the American Dental Association does not routinely recommend that. After my right total hip replacement four weeks ago, I was seen by an internist right before discharge and I asked her. She laughed and said her husband was an orthopedist and that even though there are mixed recommendations from different disciplines, it would be hard to find an orthopedic surgeon (I’m in the US) who was not strongly in favor of antibiotics for any invasive procedure.
Back to the office visit with the PA: She said no one had ever asked about that but it was a very good question. She recommended asking the doctor, but said she expected he would want me to take antibiotics for a tattoo. If I ever decide to get another one, I will. Same with piercings. A close friend of mine ended up in hospital after a staph infection developed from an ear piercing. These seem like innocent, everyday procedures, but the last thing I want after all this is to be taken down by an antibiotic resistant bug. I may sound overly paranoid, but I am not a germ phobe. I live in a house with four big dogs and five indoor cats. I spend time at a barn with my horse and just this week (four weeks post surgery) began my summer job at horse camp. I know the really bad bacteria live on our skin and are everywhere. I am super careful about taking antibiotics unnecessarily and rarely need them. But I will follow these recommendations because I want this hip to last at least another thirty years!!!

Glad you found us and I hope you are getting your questions answered. Although I myself have not tats or piercings, I had never heard that there were restrictions on these post surgery. Perhaps it wasn’t on my radar. Thanks for posting, and if I were you, I would follow doctors recommendations and if they say no, ask a lot of questions why. 🙂

I have neither tats nor pericings. But…since my THR and being advised that for all dental procedures for the rest of my life I would be prescribed a battery of antibiotics…it got me wondering. First I thought…well what if I’m flossing and my gums begin to bleed…what about that??? Then I thought about tattoos, pericings, and other intentional AND unintential wounds that I, and others, might receive. It’s concerning for sure.

Dan

I did not get tats or piercings after my total hip replacement. However, I asked my doctor if I can get plastic surgery, specifically a tummy tuck (I am 64 years old) he said sure and gave me a recommendation for a good plastic surgeon. So I would think tats and piercings are ok. I was told to take antibiotics for 5 years post hip surgery for dental procedures, but thats was it.

Chat with your doctor. I bet it will be ok. I would like to get a iguana tat. Maybe one day.

Suzanne