About two weeks ago I was in one of those moods where you're so tired, so bloody tired, that if someone were to talk to you you'd probably just grunt back and stare at them glazed-eyed. Like a zombie! But you still can't get to sleep, like you're running on hyperactive energy or adrenaline or something. Anyway, I recently had found the studs which they did my earlobes with the first time (in a super-tiny backstreet spanish chemist, for the record:p), and decided, purely for reference sakes, to see how much it would hurt to self-pierce my second hole.
At A Glance Author LaInglesa Contact LaInglesa@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Myself Studio Home sweet home I just started pushing, first of all, to make a little dent in my ear that looked reasonably like an earring, so I could see if I liked the effect. I did, it looked really sexy! Plus I have rather nicely shaped earlobes so the second hole just accentuated the first one (decorated at the time with a sparkly stud I got in a vintage shop near my house). So I thought, right, I'm into adverse art, why not go in for body art? Just to point out in the absolutely tiny town I live in piercings are almost unheard of, definetely not in the main social circles anyway! The idea of being linked into a big community outside my town really appealed to me... Lol I'm such a romantic!
Anyway, back to the pierce. Me being quite stupid, I didnt clean the stud or earlobe with anything other than really hot tapwater. This I do not reccomend as, apart from the fact that most tapwater in the world is not sterile at all (we have some sort of anti-limescale feature that makes our water really pure, my parents utterly go in for the natural health rigamole) its not anywhere near hot enough to really clean anything to the point of sterility. But I guess if you're going to do it anyway, i.e. drunk, stoned, or like me just tired and thinking about self-pierces (not advisable again but I can appreciate that in that state of mind its probably going to happen, you know, so try your best to be clean as possible and all that!) so really hot soap and a strong soap cleaned it for me.
I went back to my room after cleaning my ear, and the dent I'd made before was still there. I carried on pushing the (sharpened) stud through my lobe, but I couldnt get a grip on my skin and it kept slipping. I then got a needle, which admittedly creeped me out else I would have done the whole thing with a needle :p and just pierced the first layer of skin. I can honestly say I didnt feel anything, which at the time was a godsend :p. After that, I just carried on pushing my stud through. You have to apply a fair bit of pressure, as you're sticking a piece of metal through your skin, but if I'd felt an abnormal amount of resistance, like if it felt like there was something hard in there, I definetely would have stopped.
Eventually (well, after like 2 minutes, I'm an exeptionally impatient person :p)I heard a really stupid but relieved *pop/crunch* sound that I knew meant the stud had gone through. Again, I didnt feel anything at all for this whole procedure! I appreciate other people may have other nerve/pain thresholds but it wasnt *just a little pinch* rather I didnt actually feel a thing :p
Now I had the dilemma of putting the butterfly back on the stuck, which, in years past when I had my first hole done I remembered to hurt loads when you put it back on after cleaning. It really didnt this time! But if you were to use a stud that didnt have a ridge on the end to hold the back, I'd say be very careful because if you push it too tight the skin wont have enough space to expand (like when the blood rushed to the location to help it heal) and you may me messing up your healing time.
Its been three weeks now since I did it, and my *darling* friend almost ripped it out today, but in the end it was ok. Until today, it was healing pretty well, as I was cleaning it everyday with a warm saltwater solution (1 part salt to every 8 parts water, like a small teaspoon in a big mug of boiled water). To clean it, I simply took the back off (after like three days the stud came out anyway, it was super easy to push it back in after I'd thoroughly cleaned it) and wiped gently around the holes with a cotton wool pad dipped in the saltwater. On the first night, I watched TV with my ear stuck in the warm saltwater and that helped so much...
Have fun piercing your lobes yourself, the only hard thing I'd say is getting symmetrical holes if you're doing two! Also, never ever ever use someone else's studs to do this because AIDS isnt a very nice thing to have, no matter how desperate you are to get your ears done. Also remember that loads of other diseases, that arent fatal but still arent nice, are transmitted with the exchange of bodily fluids, so even if your friend doesnt have aids they may have something else.
Also, my parents havent noticed a thing yet, but that may be because I have an assymetrical bob and I did the piercing on the side I never tuck behing my ear....