I have been stretching my earlobes for about 14 months and am at 6g and so I am a part of a few stretched online communities. Dermal punching has become popular in those places lately and that's how I heard about it. I like all dermal punching but I especially think conches look great. About six months ago I decided I wanted one and kept the idea in my mind at all times, knowing it was permanent and would require a great amount of consideration. During this time, I got my vertical labret pierced. I was overall dissatisfied with the experience and felt I could have done a better job myself. Along that train of thought, I began to seriously consider punching my own ear. I knew it was a very serious body modification but I felt that I could do it.
At A Glance Author Teenager When A week ago The first thing I did was to decide on a size. My ears are rather small so after much consultation with educated friends and internal debate, I decided on 5mm, or 4g. If I later decide I want to go bigger, I reasoned, I can always just punch again. I ordered the dermal punch from the BME shop, so it was sterilized. I then ordered glass plugs from bodyartforms and chose to have them autoclaved through the offered service. While waiting for these supplies to come, I went to a local place and had them autoclave a flattened spoon to use in place of cork or a tongue depressor. I also bought gloves, sterilized gauze pads for wiping up blood afterwards, and alcohol wipes for prepping the skin beforehand.
It took two weeks for everything to arrive and I was more than decided that I could, and would, do this. I went into the bathroom with my sister, who wanted to take pictures. I thoroughly scrubbed the bathroom that day to attempt and have a clean workspace but I accepted that it would not be sterile. I laid out everything on the counter, put on my gloves, and picked up the dermal punch. I felt a little shaky and sick from adrenaline but I was also very excited. I spent a few minutes checking for veins with a flashlight and then a few more minutes deciding on the position. I had wanted to buy a sterilized surgical marker to properly mark my ear but they were only available in huge quantities so I went without.
Ready, I put the spoon against the back of my ear and pushed/twisted the dermal punch. It cut through my skin immediately and hit the cartilage. I was pushing and twisting with all the force in my body, so much so that my arm was shaking, and it would not go through. I had to pause and take deep breaths as I was starting to feel a little lightheaded and like maybe I had a mistake. Still, I knew I had to continue, so I just kept pushing and finally it went through. I am disappointed to say that I never heard the fabled crunch.
After getting the punch all the way through, I opened the sterilization package that the plugs had come in and put them in. There was blood everywhere and I wiped it off my ear and neck with the gauze pads and then cleaned up the blood off the counter and sink. I had intended to eat the punch but I ended up throwing it away on accident.
I felt almost no pain because I was so focused on what I was doing. However, I did have to sit down and lower my head afterwards because I was feeling dizzy. After a few minutes I did a sea salt soak and then decided to go to sleep, to avoid the initial tenderness of my ear. I slept for several hours and when I woke up my ear was pretty sore and still crusted with blood on the side and inside of my ear. I tried to get the blood off with wet q-tips but otherwise left it alone.
My mom noticed right away and I was afraid she would be mad but she just asked if I was on drugs. My dad took about a week to notice and when he finally did he just asked how I'd done it. I didn't discuss the procedure with him, or with anyone. Even though my sister had been present, I felt like it was an extremely personal thing, and I didn't want to share the details with anyone.
I have had a few problems resulting from it being DIY. For one, the punch actually didn't go all the way through the back of my ear, so when I inserted the plug it ripped a little. The skin ended up just scabbing off, luckily, or else I would probably have bought a scalpel and cut it off. The only other issue is that the positioning isn't perfect. It's not horrible but it is a little bit angled. It's not really noticeable to anyone but me though.
This was done on May 25. As far as healing, I have been trying to practice LIMA. The problem is that I can't stop myself from touching it. I've been doing better over the past few days but when it was sore I was constantly picking off crusties, which is of course a BAD thing to do. I was considering healing without jewelry but in the end decided to keep my plug in.
As far as other people going the DIY route, I would say NO. I spent a long time researching and asking questions and I still made a few mistakes. I am considering getting my helix punched on my other ear and if I do, I will definitely be seeing a professional. I suggest you do the same if you're interested in dermal punching :)