Stress management

Lately, my significant other's daughter has been asking to get her belly button pierced, something pretty common these days. The request got me thinking about a time, oh, so many years ago, when another shining example of our finest graced my trauma bay. It was, of course, during my residency, when so many of my favorite tales have come. So come now and listen, while I tell of stress management, trauma style.
Kelly (for lack of any other name) was a young lady of about 20 yrs when I met her. It was a mid morning trauma, a little unusual, since most trauma is mid night. She and her 18 yr old boyfriend had been drinking and smoking, ahhh, something, and had had a little mishap in their van. Well, actually, not so little. They rolled it over. Of course, they weren't wearing seatbelts, and so they wound up in our trauma room, with me taking the head on Kelly-- that is, trying to get a history from her, assessing the airway, trying to keep her calm. As the clothes were cut away, it became apparent that Kelly had a penchant for piercing-- There were 6 or 7 earrings in each ear, a stud in her tongue, and both nipples were pierced. And don't forget, this was 10 yrs ago, when piercing was much less common. Interestingly enough, with all these different piercings, Kelly just about came unglued with.... You guessed it. The IV. She pretty much freaked out, even with all the self administered sedation. Because we were going to the CAT scanner, all of the metal hardware had to come out-- A learning experience in itself, and one that I still find useful. She wasn't happy about this, either, as she was sure all of her holes would close up. She went through the scanner, got Xrays of her spine, and everything else she said hurt, and after everything was cleared, she got a bed for the night to detox.
The following morning, she was sober, sore, and ready to go home. Since she was pleasant, I took the plunge and inquired. "Explain to me, please. You come into the trauma bay with piercing everywhere, but you freaked out when we started the IV." She explained that she didn't like needles. Uh-huh. Still brave, I asked if she had managed to get all the hardware back in. She told me the tongue stud was OK, but her nipples had already closed. But then it got better (and hence this blog's title). She explained to me that the Native Americans had been using piercings for relieving stress for thousands of years. She continued on, telling me that it was a well known fact that women carry a great deal of stress in their breasts. Finally, she proudly informed me that every since she had had her nipples pierced, she had been so much more relaxed, and her life just seemed so much less stressful.
I kid you not.
I have related this story several times over the years, and asked several very stressed women I have met if they would be interested in testing this theory, but to date, have had no one offer to explore this approach to stress management.

May your evening be stress free.

Good night.