My parents always believed that it was barbaric to pierce a baby's ears because it couldn't have a real say in it, so when I was growing up as the only one of my friends without ear lobes pierced I felt quite weird. I always wanted to have a little stud in each lobe. A couple of times we went to those awful mall piercers that use piercing guns, but I kept chickening out, luckily.
At A Glance Author sorcha Contact sorcha@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist I did. Studio my bedroom Location Northern Ireland One day I'd been asking my mother if I could get my cartilege pierced with a few of my friends, who were going the next day to get it done together, and she refused absolutely to even think about it. She said, "Why can you even consider that when you won't get your lobes done?!" Of course, this inspired me a little, and I considered her words a loophole... Keyword being hole.
Now, I was quite a newbie to piercing, and was only about thirteen at the time, so I had no idea what to do, and didn't research it properly, if at all. I took a sewing needle and numbed my ear with ice. Pressing my fingertip against the back of the lobe, I forced the needle through. I was surprised how little it hurt, and repeated the process on the other one. I inserted two cheap Claire's ear rings into my lobes and left them there for a few days.
One night about a week later my dad was sitting beside me on the sofa and must have seen my ears, because he said, "When did you get those done?" and I told him I had done it the other night. Now, my father isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier so it took him a day or two to tell my mother, but when she did she asked to see them, she seemed pleased that I'd finally done it. "But you have to put gold ones in for the first 6 weeks!" she said. "Didn't the person who did it tell you that?" I said no, because for some reason I thought she would completely flip if she found out I'd done them myself. It was inevitable though when she asked if I'd had them done in Claire's, and I had to tell her they were DIY. She seemed to find it funny, not infuriating, and rang my auntie for some Ear Piercing Lotion (which I don't recommend, as it dries out your piercings and does nothing to heal them).
After my ear lobes were almost completely healed, I'd been asking for more piercings on my ears, but she wouldn't let me, so once again I followed the DIY route. Same procedure; I got a sewing needle, some ear rings, ice, and made two holes in my right ear. The second didn't bleed or hurt but the third did quite a bit. When my mother found out she shouted at me a bit but nothing came of it.
Over the past few months I've added another hole to my right ear, and two more to my left, as well as two labret piercings (left and middle) , my tongue web (ouch) and my nostril (hurt like a bitch, I must admit). I don't really trust people with needles easily but I think I can learn to. I would love to pierce my septum, but I've been told bad things about getting it straight and all that jazz. I still want my cartilege pierced, and might get it done next Saturday when my friend goes to get her tongue. I can't believe I was ever afraid of the pain factor, because even if it does hurt, it's worth it in the end. And for the record, I've learned to just do piercings with gauged needles and sterilised jewellery from now on, but I've had no problems with any of my do it yourself piercings and would repeat them all in a heartbeat.
So if you're contemplating a piercing and you don't have the money to get it done professionally, just make sure you have the correct equipment (ebay is a great spot to find cheap sterilised needles and kits), are in a steril environment, and pierce away =)! I have to say I agree with my parents though, and I am glad they didn't pierce my ears when I was a baby or toddler. Although there were a year or two of awkwardness I learned to live with it until I did it myself, and if they had pierced my ears, I never would have discovered the "joys" of self piercing, haha. I wouldn't have all my beloved piercing s that I have today - and that would be quite a big disaster! Haha. Thank you mum and dad, I owe you one!