Correspondence

A Most Attractive Nose

N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1474-1475May 14, 1998

Article

To the Editor:

A 10-year-old girl presented to the emergency room with pressure and discomfort in the nose. Earlier that day she had placed a pair of magnetic earrings in her nose, one on each lateral ala, to mimic a bilaterally pierced nose. These earrings, now available in stores throughout the United States, consist of a small, decorative metallic earring and a small but powerful magnetic disk in the shape of a watch battery. The magnet is strong enough to hold the earring in place by producing a percutaneous magnetic field through the ear lobe. Several hours after putting on the earrings, the patient felt a sudden pop in her nose, after which the outer half of the earrings fell off. She was left with an uncomfortable sensation of nasal pressure and pain. Evaluation in the emergency room revealed the two magnets stuck to each other on either side of the nasal septum, surrounded by mucosal edema and out of reach of available instruments. The two powerful magnets, because of their proximity, had apparently rotated their polarity and attracted each other.

An otolaryngologist was consulted, and after topical vasoconstriction, one magnet was removed with a Hartmann forceps. As the forceps was being reintroduced, the second magnet jumped out of the nose, attracted to the metallic forceps. There was no permanent injury to the nasal septum.

Terry J. Garfinkle, M.D.
North Shore Children's Hospital, Salem, MA 01970

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