Let me tell you a bit about my piercings first. I only had 6 before I got this one. 3 lobes in each ear. I'm not very good with pain, but I wanted a cartilage piercing, so I decided to just grit my teeth and take it. Earlier in the night I had my 3rd hole on my right ear done. It was already done on the left and I wanted to even it out. A nice cartilage piercing on the right side would even it out nicely. I got it on the right because I wanted to be able to sleep on at least ONE side.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened This was not done professionally though. Theres NO way my parents would ever let me do this. But hey, not like they're gonna see. Not like they care enough to see...but anyways. That's another story.
That night we were sitting in my friends basement. It was only a few days ago. I noticed a needle on the table in the corner and decided I wanted a piercing. I love that rush you get just after you get pierced. You feel like screaming "I DID IT. LOOK! I GOT THROUGH IT!" and running up and down the streets showing off your nice new piercing. My friend who was doing the piercing had also done my second holes, my friend's helix, a bunch of lobes on my other friend, and A LOT of other piercings including industrial and corset. She was professional in my opinion.
I had problems finding the right sewing needle. They were all to thin or thick or dull or short. But finally we just decided to use to bent one we'd used before. I bent it back so it was almost straight. Okay, not so smart, but I wanted a piercing then and there. I sat down on the couch and we sterilized the needle with "Claire's Ear Antiseptic" and some cotton balls. We were going to use matches or a lighter but couldn't find any. I marked my ear and we also sterilized that and the little stud. This is the lobe, by the way.
Everything was sterilized and ready to go. I was getting a little nervous. Last time for some reason it hurt like hell. But the one before was just a prick. Who knows. We played some music to get my mind off the pain. "You ready?" she asked. "Yup" I said. And the needle slid in. A LOT quicker and faster than my other third hole, which I had gotten done by her weeks before. "Almost through..." she said. It made a small popping noise. My ears always pop a lot, even on lobes and such.
My friends mom then walked down into the basement. I had this sewing needle sticking out of my bleeding ear and she just walks down here. I kind of went in the washroom till she left. I was worried it would mess up the piercing. It was about 5 minutes. When I came back out my friend took out the needle and punched the little stud through. This always hurts more than the actually piercing. "You're done" she said. "really?!. didn't feel a thing" I got up and looked at it. The finally matched. 3 holes each. I was so happy with the results and hyped up on adrenaline that I decided to get another piercing when she asked. I decided cartilage, I've always wanted one.
I marked the dot on my ear with some trouble. She erased it and marked it again. It's kind of (almost) a helix. It's in between. I really liked the placement. I just wanted to wait a little bit because I read something about if you get pierced one after the other the second always hurts way more. Something about the adrenaline and stuff being used up on trying to numb the pain for the first piercing, theres none left to numb the pain for the second. So we waited about half an hour.
Again, we straightened out the now completely bent needle. We sterilized the needle, my ear, and the stud. We couldn't find a ring, and I was sure I wouldn't be brave enough to get this again, so we were forced to use a stud. I'll change it one it heals though. The studs a pink kind of stone. It's pretty, but I want a CBR.
Again we put some music on. I find this helps a lot. Just concentrate on the lyrics and the song to take your mind off the pain. Again she asked if I was ready. I was even more nervous, but I said yes. It hurt more than the lobe, of course. But to my surprise there were only about 2 seconds of the piercing when it was unbearable and I had to twitch a little. I got through it. The needle slid through nicely and I heard it pop. When it was through she gave me about a 5 minute break to let it cool down a little so it wouldn't hurt very much.
She pulled the needle out, quickly set it aside, and pushed in the stud. POP. The pop was SO loud my other friend across the room heard it. I through it was through, but it wasn't. Apparently cartilage pops more than once. After the second pop I was relieved. My favourite sound is that pop. It means no more pain and it's done.
She put the backing on and it was done. I thanked her and gave her a hug. I looked in the mirror. It was perfect! I'm gonna look great for picture day tomorrow. I'm so happy with my new piercings. I now have 7. Up next is rook.
The lobe stopped hurting before I even started the cartilage piercing. Lobes don't bother me. I was it with antibacterial soap every morning and night. Sometimes at lunch, if I'm home. They're working out nicely. I hope the cartilage doesn't get any bumps though, so I so sea salt soaks every few days to avoid it. So far I've had no problems and can't sleep on them yet, obviously. If you want a cartilage piercing go for it. I don't advise doing it yourself though. Go to a professional, don't go poking yourself with any random object in arm's reach.