When it comes to piercings, you'll find that everyone has an opinion, and sometimes a surprisingly strong one on what is appropriate and what is not.
Some parents choose to have their kids' ears pierced at a young age, while others are firmly against piercings of any kind, and would be upset to learn that their progeny had got piercings behind their parents' backs.
Whatever your personal feelings on the subject, it probably rings true that some piercings are best left undiscussed between parent and child - for instance, nipple piercings.
This was very much the situation 20-year-old Sydney Allen of Clearwater found herself in, after her sister paid for her to get her nipples pierced back in June as a birthday present. The pair decided to keep this a secret, because, as Allen told BuzzFeed News, her mom is "a bit conservative on appearances and hates tattoos and piercings."
She reasoned that "Since I don't usually have my shirt off I thought it would be a very easy secret to keep".
Famous last words, Sydney, famous last words.
On Tuesday, during a routine checkup for the alignment of her spine - Allen has a rare condition known as syringomyelia that can build up fluid in the spinal chord - doctors took an X-ray of her spine.
Unfortunately for Allen, the X-ray showed her two nipple piercings, while her mom was sitting in the room next to her. The game was up.
"My mom saw my piercings as soon as the X-ray popped up and the doctor and I started laughing hysterically."
She says her mom went very quiet before saying "We will discuss this later."
"I was initially terrified when the X-ray came up," recalls Allen, "but she ended up being pretty understanding since no one can tell unless I show them."
Thankfully, Allen says that the picture does make her mom laugh now. Incidentally, doctors advise patients to remove all piercings before an X-ray in case they distort or cover radiographs.
It might not have been the way that Sydney Allen would have chosen to tell her mom that she had her nipples pierced, but it actually seems to have ended very positively, and perhaps the bizarre comedy of the situation helped to break the ice.
