I first pierced my cartilage about six months ago, during the Christmas holiday. Since then I had pierced my ear three more times, all done myself, using a safety pin sterilized with alcohol and a lighter. About three months ago I started itching for a new piercing. After several failed attempts to pierce my nipple (but that's another story,) I decided on the conch of my right ear. I figured it would hurt more than the others had, but I told myself "hey, it cant be too bad, right?" I even had the jewelry all picked out: some cheap silver hoop from Claire's I'd gotten as a pair for my birthday a couple of years ago. I thought it would look badass hanging from my ear between my other piercings. So one day I plucked up the courage to go through with it. I got a large safety pin, sterilized it as well as the earring with a lighter and some isopropyl alcohol, and marked where I wanted the piercing to go with a Crayola marker. Holding an eraser behind what would be the general area of the exit hole of the piercing, I shoved the safety pin in. I had to twist it and prod it a bit before I could feel it poke into the eraser. It hurt some, but it wasn't too bad. Since I didn't use some fancy hollow needle, which would have been a lot easier, I then had to wriggle the safety pin out of my new hole and try to insert the hoop in its place. The hoop went in about half way with no difficulty, but I couldn't get it through the exit hole. I tried to wiggle it out the back, but it hurt quite a bit, and I wasn't about to repierce it using the earring, like I had to do with my other piercings. So I found a small stud that was on my dresser, sterilized it, and tried to stick that in the hole. I got it in fairly quickly. Although I was a little disappointed that I hadn't been able to get the hoop in, I was still very pleased with my new piercing.
At A Glance Author Marla Contact do11partz@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Me Studio Home Location Texas If you are planning to pierce yourself I recommend using the right needles, equipment, etc. for the best(least painful) experience as well as the best possible piercing. But I won't knock the safety pin method; it works in a cinch and, with the right precautions, is probably better than a piercing gun wielded by some mall-rat teenager who doesn't know jack. I also recommend researching the type of piercing you want, and the methods and risks associated with it. I did some research online before I did any piercings on my own, just to have an idea of what I was getting myself into.
The first week there was some swelling and soreness but it was about the same as my other piercings had been. Every night I rubbed triple antibiotic cream on my new piercing. About two weeks later I decided to try to stick the hoop in again, figuring the hole was probably healed up enough to take it. So I took out the stud, and slid the hoop right in. Success! My intended look had finally been achieved. The piercing seemed to be doing well, the only things that I had trouble with at first were sleeping and bear hugs. I normally sleep on my right side, but my ear hurt when I laid on it. Readjusting my sleeping habits was a bit of a pain, and cost me a few hours' worth of good night sleep. Hugging was also an issue. Some of my friends are big huggers, and as I'm pretty short, somehow my face usually ends up smashed into the other person's body. The right side of my face, that is. Hugging was, and still can be, quite painful for me. One friend in particular, a zealous hugger, actually made my ear bleed, which he felt terrible about. My grandmother's hugs are the worst, I think. She smashes my ear against her face, with surprising strength for a seventy-five year old woman.
About a month after I pierced my conch, it swelled up, started draining again, and began hurting terribly. Much more than any of my other piercings had, and a lot worse than it had hurt to pierce it in the first place. I guess I wasn't that bad, since I was never tempted to remove it, but it caused me continual discomfort for about two weeks straight. Then, one day I realized that it no longer hurt, and that the swelling had gone down. Needless to say, I was relieved. It's been close to four months since I pierced my conch, and things are going great. No swelling, no pain, no drainage. It looks great, and I'm very happy with it. Hugging is still something of an ordeal, and it's sensitive to being knocked, but that's normal.