First of all, I want to let everyone know that this is my personal experience on self-piercing, and everything I did was based on articles I had previously read. I basically created a personnalized procedure to follow, since I didn't know of anyone who had self-pierced their ears before. I'm not suggesting that my way is the best way. I did what seemed right to me, and it all worked out fine.
At A Glance Author liane Contact spiritual_black_dimensions_13@hotmail.com When Six months ago Artist Myself Studio Sutton, Québec, Canada Location Bedroom So, before all of this, I had four piercings in all. I had a tragus and one lobe done in each ear. I thought it might be nice to have a double lobe one one side. However, I didn't fell like making the effort to getting myself over to the piercing studio and paying 30$ for a hole that I could very well do myself (for free :)).
I believe I spent about a week reading people's experiences on BME. I noted down the most common mistakes that were made during self-piercing. Let's see, I read that this one girl tried to self-pierce her lobes, and she pushed the needle through, and immediately pulled it out. She then had a great deal of trouble putting her jewelry in. So, note to self: wait a few minutes before pulling needle out of ear.
I chose a date, to be sure that I wouldn't try and get out of it. I decided to do it on a monday, after I got home from work. It was around 5:15 when I got home after my boyfriend came to pick me up (because I still don't have my license, hehe hehe). I chose to do this in our bedroom, there being good lighting, and a big desk with a huge mirror. So I set up my stuff: a bunch of Q-tips (fresh out of the box), a sewing needle (don't laugh - this is probably my only mistake), a 16g CBR from a previous piercing (I had soaked it in alcohol all night), a marker (to mark my ear, of course), and some nice ice.
My boyfriend chose to get himself out of making supper for us to come and watch me pierce my lobe hehe. So first thing first, I marked my ear. It looked fine. So I proceeded: I got my needle ready. I held an ince cube on each side of my ear for about two minutes. Then I took them off real fast, and picked up the needle. But stupid me, by holding the ice with my bare hands, my fingers were completely numb! I couldn't even hold the needle.
By this time my boyfriend is laughing his ass off. So I went to get a cloth, and wrapped the ice in that. This went much better. I started over, holding the ice to my lobe for close to five minutes this time. Then I picked up the sewing needle, and placed so that it would touch the dot I had made. I began to push. Nothing. The needle was not pointy at all (damn it, I didn't think of that at all). But I told myself, you've come this far, don't just abandon...
So I put the ice back on again, and put the UN-sharp needle to my ear. Now, I PUSH as hard as I can. I feel the needle go through, maybe about half-way. So I continued to push. The pain was... moderate. It hurt about as much as getting a flu vaccination.
Finally, the needle went all the way through. I pushed it a little more so the largest part of the needle would be in the fresh hole. YAY! I had done it. I then waited about 5 minutes before I tried to take it out. Unpleasant surprise: the stupid needle refuses to even move. I wiggle it, nothing. My boyfriend suggests: lube.
So I try, and after a lot of wiggling, the needle comes out. I immediately put my CBR in. Awww, how beautiful it looked. And I'm glad, it never got infected. I would only suggest one correction: Use a real, good piercing needle. My sewing needle just wasn't sharp enough to pierce my skin without a lot of effort. I don't know if the procedure I went through is the best, but it certainly worked fine for me :) Good luck to all you first-timers. I think it's really important to do some research before you throw yourself face first in something you know nothing about. Especially if it can leave a scar or something on your body. I'm seriously glad it all turned out well. No scarring, just a beautiful piercing :D
Oh, and NO, I never did do my other ear (just too afraid).I had it done professionally, and paid the 30$ for it... Anyways, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions or anything.