A dermatologist has issued a warning about hand piercings after North West appeared to show off the look on social media.
North West has grown up in the spotlight, and despite her young age, her style choices can quickly attract attention online.
Given how often trends linked to her family have spread across social media and influenced beauty culture, it’s easy to understand why any new change in North’s appearance would spark discussion too.
That is part of the reason a medical expert has now weighed in over the kind of piercings she seemed to be wearing on her hands.
North’s look has become a recurring talking point over the past year, with reports that she first showed a dermal piercing on her hand in 2025 and later appeared to build on the style with additional finger and wrist jewelry. More recently, she was also seen showing off lip piercings during Paris Fashion Week, underlining just how quickly her body-art choices continue to generate headlines.
Kim Kardashian’s oldest daughter first appeared to reveal a dermal piercing last September. In another clip shared earlier this year, she seemed to have added more metallic details to her fingers, while also referencing them in her debut single, ‘Piercing on My Hand’.
The apparent jewelry has been described as a combination of surface and dermal piercings. Surface piercings sit just beneath the skin instead of passing through areas like the ear lobe or cartilage, while dermal piercings involve a single entry point.
That kind of piercing is generally considered especially high-maintenance because it sits in an area that is constantly moved, knocked and exposed to bacteria. Dermatology guidance on body piercings notes that infections can cause redness, swelling, soreness and discharge, while more unusual placements can also be more prone to scarring and rejection.
One TikTok user commented on one video:
“Eventually she’ll have to let the piercings go. The placement is high risk for infection and they won’t heal.”
Hands are widely seen as a higher-risk location for piercings because they are constantly in use, easily bumped, and regularly exposed to bacteria.
According to Hello, North’s wrist piercings are fake. Whether the same applies to the jewelry seen on her fingers and hands remains unclear, but the conversation has still prompted a specialist to speak publicly about the risks.
Board-certified dermatologist and founder and medical director of Skin Wellness Dermatology, Corey Hartman, MD, warned the New York Post:
“Long term, these piercings can lead to hypertrophic scars, hyperpigmentation, disfigurement and loss of function of the body part where the piercing is done, particularly in patients with highly melanated skin, like North West.”
Hartman also cautioned that if a piercing extends deeper than intended in the hand, it could affect tendons and potentially interfere with normal movement and function.
Kim has previously defended her daughter while speaking on sister Khloe Kardashian’s podcast Khloe in Wonder Land, saying:
“I have pictures of her in first grade where she’d come with like a fake septum ring, and she has her green braids and pink braids.
“She’s always loved the colored braids, she really is who she is and always has been that girl, and so I nurture her.”
Even so, Hartman said parents should ideally wait until their children are 18 before allowing them to make a choice like this, so they fully understand both the commitment and the potential complications.
Health guidance from dermatologists also stresses that piercings should be cared for carefully while they heal, because irritated skin is more vulnerable to infection and scarring. In areas like the hands, that challenge is even greater because the skin is frequently stretched, washed and exposed to knocks throughout the day.
His blunt conclusion was:
“Just don’t do it.”
Representatives for Kim Kardashian have been contacted for comment.