At A Glance
Author	Cyanide
Contact	zeypher75@hotmail.com
When	It just happened
Artist	Myself
Studio	My House
Location	Maryland

Well, I'm sixteen years old and I've pierced every single of my body that can be pierced by myself. I have seven piercings, two of which I've done myself and have been able to keep. I've never once had an issue with a self-piercing nor with any of the piercings that I've given to my friends and family. In fact, I've had quite a few people ask me to do more of their piercings because I did them so well.

The latest piercing I did was my side cartilage, right where the lobe starts to turn to cartilage and I did this one last night, actually. To be quite honest, it really did hurt a little but it wasn't anything worth crying or whimpering over. It felt like a shot that you get at the doctor, except it was in my ear.

Anyway, I went into my bathroom at my house with a safety pin, the stud I was going to use, which was a piercing stud, by the way, some cleaning solution, and Q-Tips. I had to lock the door and keep it locked because my parents don't like me having five of the seven but they can't do anything about it because, hey, they paid for them to be done after I whined at them for a long time.

Basically, I took a medicine cup, the kind that comes with cough medicines and the like, and put enough cleaning solution in it to cover the stud and the earring back. I used a Q-Tip soaked in the solution on the safety pin to keep germs off of it so I wouldn't get a nasty infection or anything of the sort.

I took the safety pin, after sterilizing it with the cleaner stuff, and put the tip where I wanted the piercing to be and I pushed it enough to get through the first few layers of skin in my cartilage to keep it straight. All I felt was a little twinge and a slight pressure against my cartilage and the finger that I was holding behind my ear to keep from stabbing myself in the head or neck because, well, I don't want a piercing in my skull.

I kept firmly pressing the safety pin through my ear until I only had a few thin layers of skin left. At this point, I took out the safety pin because I wanted to make sure that I got the stud all the way through and I've come to realize that, if you use the safety pin all the way through, sometimes you don't get it all the way through your ear and only the tip gets through the back and that opening isn't nearly big enough for the stud, so I just take out the safety pin and use the stud that I'm going to be putting in.

I got the stud through until I hit the point where I took the safety pin out and, obviously knowing that I didn't go all the way through with the safety pin, I twisted the stud gently and pushed it, like you do when your lobe piercings close up a little in the back. I got to the last layer of tough skin and felt quite a bit of resistance and pressure, so I just pushed it hard, felt a little pressure, and heard that *pop* that signified that I got the stud through. This last part hurt a little bit but it wasn't a severe pain but more like when you accidentally prick yourself with a sewing needle or an, excuse the reference, safety pin.

I put the back on the stud, taking it directly from the cleaning solution that it had been soaking in for the duration of the piercing, and immediately cleaned the piercing and the area around the piercing with the same cleaning solution that I had the earring, back, and safety pin in to prevent germs and bacteria from growing or infecting my brand new ear piercing.

Now, I have the stud in and it tends to hurt a little if I touch it or knock it against something like my headband or my hair brush but, other than that, it doesn't hurt at all. Of course, I can't exactly sleep on it now but that's to be understood.

The only thing I would do different is wear gloves or something because that could probably help with preventing infection. So, if you're going to do a piercing, clean your hands thoroughly or wear sterile gloves when you do it.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask me on AIM at xRAWRlikeWOAHx

Here's a picture of how my new piercing looked right after I did it: