At A Glance Author Holly Contact Holly@bme.anon IAM loveisparanoid When A week ago Artist Me Studio My bathroom Location Surrey When I was younger I wanted every available inch from my lobes to the top of the cartilage in my ear pierced in the colors of the rainbow. I got one in each lobe in kindergarten and then another set of lobes and a cartilage (all gunned) when I was 15. After that my mom said no more ear piercings or I'll look trashy.
Fast forward to 19. My mom no longer controls what piercings I can and can't have (I always tell her if I am getting something done ahead of time though). I have 14 piercings ranging from belly button to surface nape. I have a "trashy" CBR in my conch, a snug, an industrial and I want more lobe piercings. I know now that getting my lobes gunned at the mall by someone possibly even younger then me isn't a terribly bright idea. But my wallet is quite empty at the moment and its not cheap to go a proper piercing studio. So I decided to do it myself.
If your clean and safe its not that bad to pierce yourself. Though of course its always better to go somewhere professional.
This was an impulsive decision and so I didn't have too many supplies on hand. I'd never done a DIY piercing before. I tracked down a sewing pin (not even a sewing needle), cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and washed my hands. I marked with a purple felt pen about where the first piercing should go picked up the needle and began to push. I quickly realized this was a tiny pin and not very sharp. It would take A LOT of pushing and pain and then I would probably have a hole to small for the little barbell I planned on using anyway. So I decided to wait and get a proper needle and actually clean my surroundings. I thought that having a sharper needle also would make it faster and less painful. I ordered some 2 inch 14ga needles from the bme store and waited (impatiently) for them to arrive in the mail.
About two weeks later I strolled up to the mailbox and happily saw a packet from the bme shop. Piercing time! First of all I cleaned the bathroom thoroughly with bleach. Then I used rubbing alcohol to clean the 16ga barbells (extras from my inverse navel). I didn't use gloves but washed my hands numerous times and dried them on a fresh towel. I used a purple felt pen to do two dots on my right ear above my two lobe studs. I toyed with the idea of doing three but with my snug there just wasn't enough room. I erased and re-marked about two or three times until I had the perfect placement. I lined up the needle and stuck it in. Unfortunately I had the crazy thought that it would be really sharp and it would just slide in painlessly and effortlessly. But that wasn't the case. I had to put a lot of pressure on it and it hurt like hell and went through slowly. I think when someone else pierces you they just shove it in quick and and hard, I was going too slow. But I did get it through and stuck the end of the barbell in the needle and slide it out leaving the barbell in place.
As I screwed on the ball my ear began to bleed. It bleed all over my ear, my hands and neck. I was amazed at the amount of blood. I held some Kleenex on my ear tightly to stop the blood flow. That worked so I cleaned up my ear and and admired the pretty new adornment in my lobe. I decided that one hole was enough for today (it hurt quite a bit) and that I would do the other hole later. I cleaned up the bathroom sprayed some "Sunshine Mist" that I got from Westcoast Tattoo and Piercing and went off to the computer to tell someone of my accomplishment and write this account of it.
There is something that feels really good about doing your own piercings. I guess I feel "accomplished". I would definitely DIY again, for certain parts of the anatomy anyway. I want my septum re-done and my vertical clitoral hood, but I would not do those myself. I am considering getting some numbing cream for when I do the second hole. I like the rush afterwards of piercings and how they look, but I am a wuss and do not like the pain at the time of the piercing.
It was a successful piercing (despite me chickening out on doing the second hole at the time). I would recommend trying it yourself, as long as you do it cleanly and safely. Not with a safety pin from your pocket. Going to a professional is definitely the best route, but it can be interesting to try it yourself. It turned out go for me but it doesn't for everyone.