A few months ago, I decided I wanted to pierce myself. It was something that I knew I had to do: Every time I thought about it, it became more and more self-evident that I would have to do this eventually. Of course there was excitement about getting a new piercing, but mainly it was the experience I sought.
At A Glance Author Simon Nickau Contact Simon Nickau@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Myself Studio Home I should make a quick note here to anyone thinking of doing this too, it is not something to be undertaken lightly, and you should really do research beforehand and use proper equipment. Piercing needles and sterile jewellery and the rest are pretty easy to come by, there is no need to go for anything less and put yourself at risk.
As I said, I had wanted to do this for a few months, but hadn't actually gotten round to getting everything I need. Not until about a week ago, when I got the opportunity to order some hollow needles and the money for them too, so I went ahead with it. That was last Friday, and on Saturday I went all around town to get everything else that I needed: Sterile Jewellery (the local studio sold me autoclaved barbells at no extra charge), gloves, lube, disinfectant. Now all I needed to do was to wait for the needles to arrive.
I got no sign of them until Thursday. When I got home a notice had come through the letterbox saying a package couldn't be delivered as there was nobody home to sign for it. "No problem," I thought, as I had expected this anyway.
As I had a day off today (Friday) I could easily collect it, so I hopped on my bike, cycled there and back, while mentally preparing for what I was soon to do. When I got home I immediately started preparing the area I would work in, my bathroom, as it had two mirror and easily cleanable surfaces. It took quite a while until I was satisfied that it was clean and disinfected enough, after which I moved everything in that I would be working with.
Everything was lined up on the tray I had in the order that I would be using the individual bits and pieces. I drank a pint of a sweet drink to give me the energy for the task ahead and got started. Gloves on, I began to clean my right lobe with disinfectant and started to decide on placement. This took a while, as I couldn't decide on the spot; every time I marked it, there was something wrong about it and it needed to be repositioned.
Once I did eventually find the right location I proceeded with my task. I removed the needle from its packaging (a 14g Bodycan introcan needle), dipped it in some lubricant (K-Y Jelly) and got to my lobe. The tip was placed on the point I had marked and I held the rest of the lobe with my free hand. Pushing the needle through was slow and somewhat painful, but not too horrible. I found that the tip went through easily, but the edge of the cannula seemed to snag and it was hard work getting it through, but I did manage it, closing my eyes and with several deep breaths while telling myself "It's too late to go back now."
After I had removed the needle from the cannula there remained a dull pain and I quickly snipped the cap off and proceeded to get the jewellery ready (14g titanium barbell, 8mm). I noticed that the hole didn't seem to be straight with the cannula in but decided to put the jewellery in anyway, which was easy enough, and as soon as it was in the pressure from the thicker cannula went away and I could focus on other things again.
I felt pride that I had just done my first self piercing but I also felt a little bit dizzy, so I headed downstairs for another drink. When I got back I looked at my work and saw that it really wasn't straight. After a minute or so of pondering it, I decided to take it out and try again in a few weeks' time.
I still had one piece of jewellery left, which was intended for my septum or the other lobe. Preferring the former, I tried to work out where it would go and how I would align the needle, but despite working on this problem for about 20 minutes I wasn't satisfied and decided on the other lobe instead.
This time it all went a lot quicker, as I had done it once before. I was more careful with how I aligned the needle, and the rest of the process was largely the same as with the other lobe. Once the jewellery was in, I noticed that this one, too, wasn't aligned right. My heart sank, but it wasn't as bad as the previous one, so I decided to keep it in, and began clearing the area of my things and putting everything back to how it was.
Thinking about it, I believe my biggest problem was that I didn't have a clamp and did it freehand instead. As I could only see the area from limited angles it made it more difficult. I've since ordered some clamps, both a septum one and a foerster type for the next time. As for the lobe, I might take it out and redo this one as well, but am not yet decided.
Despite messing up on both I'm still glad I did it, as it taught me a lot, and the experience was what I was after anyway. I changed gloves many times during it and probably should have done several more times. There are many small details that only became apparent during the process, so I am glad that I am now more prepared for next time.