At A Glance
Author	katy
Contact	redsoxbabe406@yahoo.com
When	Three months ago
Artist	me
Studio	bathroom
Location	my house

First of all I wouldn't exactly recommend do it yourself cartilage piercing. Mine turned out great, but that was mainly by luck. You could repeat the exact same steps as I do, and your cartilage piercing could get infected which can lead to a serious health problem. So if you are still willing to try this, please make sure you have a some what idea of what you are doing, and be as sterile as possible.

I am 14 and when I was 11 I went with my mom and got my left cartilage done by professionals at a piercing shop. It was very easy, and much safer then when I did it myself later on. Right now I have 9 piercing, 3 on each lobe, 2 that I did myself, and 3 cartilage piercing, 2 of which I did myself.

3 months ago, I decided that I wanted to get another cartilage piercing. I wasn't going to ask my mom cause I was pretty sure she would have said no. She doesn't really agree with my love of piercing. I really didn't want to wait, so the only choice I had left was to do it myself. I had previously done my ear lobe, and that was a breeze. I figured it would be harder doing the cartilage, but I didn't think it would be nearly as hard as it turned out to be.

The first thing I did was go online and read up about it. I read so many do it your self stories, I felt like I was ready. I went in my bathroom, which was not the safest, cleanest place, but I decided I would take my chance. I whipped off the counter I was going to be using with bleach, and gathered all my materials, which consisted of, a sewing needle, a "starter earring" or an earring with a sharp back, gloves, and alcohol. I got the needle out of the pack, it was brand new, and I soaked it and the earring in rubbing alcohol for about 10 minutes. I cleaned off the surface of where the piercing would be, and drew a little black dot, where I wanted the whole to be. I tried to numb it, but figured that you can't really numb the cartilage. I put the gloves on and was ready to go.

I put the needle right in the center of the dot, and pushed as hard as I could. It didn't really go that far in, about half way. It was a lot harder then I thought it would be. I kept pushing and pushing, but it didn't seem like I was making any progress. I was really annoyed that it wasn't going in. I sat down on the toilet for a few minutes, and just thought how much I wanted this. I got back up, and tried again. I pushed as hard as I could. Then finally I heard the "pop". It was really cool, and I was so excited that it was finally through.

Now comes the hardest part. To get the needle out and the earring in. I thought it would be really easy, but boy was I wrong. First of all I was really stupid and didn't even think about the size of the needle, which was 18-20 gauge, while the earring I was planning to put it was a 16 gauge. Anyways, I took the needle out and tried to put the earring in, and no surprise, it didn't go it. So I tried this for about 10 minutes till I realized it wasn't going to go it. At this point I had no idea what to do, I was really frustrated, which was only making things worse. I tried one more time with the earring and realized I had lost the whole. Oh boy was I mad. If you get to this point I would definitely recommend stopping and just get it done professionally, or at least wait to do it yourself later once you have the proper materials.

I have a very high pain tolerance, and wasn't going to stop now that I was so close. To make a long story short, I ended up taking the starter earring and punching it through my cartilage (very stupid, I know).

Once it was in I was so happy. I feel in love with it right there. I took 2 aspirin to reduce the swelling, but I would recommend Motrin or Advil, because aspirin is a blood thinner, and can cause your new piercing to bleed.

Now for the after care. Every morning as soon I got up, and night I would spray it with rubbing alcohol, and use a q-tip to get as close to the piercing as I could. I would also put Neosporin on it, to help it heal.

It has been about 3 months and it has been doing great. It was really sore for about 2 weeks, but its fine now. Thinking back on it, it was a really stupid idea. I mean, I am glad that I did it, but I could have been a lot safer. I was really lucky that it didn't get infected. If you are going to do it yourself please be careful. It is so much easier to just get it done by a professional.

If you are still willing to do it yourself be careful, and good luck! If you have any questions/concerns/comments please feel free to email me at

redsoxbabe406@yahoo.com

or i/m me. aim sn- redsoxbabe406 or macdonald x3

Here is a picture. It is the top one.