Sometimes I'm on BME, coasting through, reading the experiences for all mods. Some of them just make me wince, especially those dangerously self-done tongue pierces. No way, man!!! Maybe thats one of the things you do as a kid and don't have access to money, supplies, or people...all you have is that urge for immediate gratification, and a helluva a lot of time on your hands.
At A Glance Author switch Contact switch_3@hotmail.com Artist My friend Studio In our apartment Location At home There was one time when I went down that self-piercing road, out of the necessity I had felt at the time. I come from a middle sized, Lutheran and conservative as all hell Minnesota town. Now my story situates itself circa 1993(I was 17, about to graduate HS), when we had no piercers or tattooing shops, except for my friends stepdad who was in a "mood altered state" and doing third rate mods on kids. We who were smart knew to stay away from him.......and were doomed to do it all on our own.
At this time, my best friend had experimented a little with tattooing. She had gone to a prominent art school in the metro area and had decent enough talent. I let her ink a little scarab on my left ankle. We decided though, that we wanted piercings, I forget why. I wanted a navel piercing, and she her nipples. Erin was confident in that she could do a good job; better than the hack artist in town, at any rate.....
We had MTV on, and Erin grabbed her supplies: A huge safety pin, a and rubbing alcohol. She then set to work. Heating the safety pin which was a crude effort at sterilization, she chose the spot to pierce and began to drive the needle home. Owwwwwwwwww. It hurt like hell and Erin just didn't have the heart to continue; we would instead stop, and start again; she was so afraid of hurting me she couldn't do it all at once. Plus her hands would sweat and the needle would stick. Poor Erin. I was thinking she was on the worse end of the piercing than me, the one being stuck! She was so scared of hurting me. Well, I know it was a few hours later before the needle popped through the bottom of my navel. It was deep.....
I didn't have any jewelry, so I left the safety pin in. People would look when I showed them and they'd get all grossed out. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. No pain, pus, redness, anything. I put in a small silver earring with a silver rose that hung right in my belly button. It was cute....
..Until the day when I noticed the flaw in the design. Erin had done a great job (to her credit) *but* she pierced a little too high. I took out the jewelry.
Erin decided to pierce her navel too, except she too used earrings to put in the piercing and because they were too thin, they migrated out (both time she tried). She finally gave up and went with the nipple, but that didn't work either. I remember her in front of the bathroom mirror for hours attempting to force an earring through, to no avail...
A few years later,our town got our very first tattoo and piercing shop(now we have another that rivals that one, and the work there is even better). It drove the first guy underground (thank God). After checking the place out, I had the new shop repierce my navel in the correct place (which wasn't too far off the mark from the orig. holes). Well, that piercing went differently; it didnt heal and I had scores of problems, the top hole was all red (hypertrophic (sp?) scar?) and due to an unexpected surgery, I had to remove all jewelry. Now I only have scars from both attempts. The ironic twist to the story is that I can STILL reinsert jewelry into the hole made with a safety pin back in 1993. I can't say the same for the other.
Here's what I would say about self piercing, especially to minors, especially after reading some of the unnecessary horror stories on BME. Be rational; Use your best judgement and don't compromise your health or safety to "fit into" the body piercing or any other peer group!!!
If you go to a reputable piercer, there is better chance of correct jewelry selection, and less change of migration (which can leave lasting scars). I know that there are piercings you can do on your own that turn out all right, *but* when it comes to piercings that require more precision and skilled handling (e.g.,tongue and genital) PLEASE, go to a reputable piercer. If you do those kinds of piercings on your own, you may give yourself lasting nerve and other physical damage that can't be easily, if not at all, reversed!!
There was some girl who was 14 on one of my message boards who had her similarly 14 yr old "best friend" pierce her tongue with a 14 ga. CBR. Now THAT is a stupid idea. The idiotic thing about it was that the girl wouldn't listen to the advice and pleading from the modded persons on the board regarding safety concerns and deteriorative damage as a potential result. The girl refused to take out the jewelry, let alone talk to anyone like her parents or a doctor under the advice of the "friend" who pierced her!
Back to my story...In conclusion,I don't think I will repierce my navel, but there is a lot of attractive jewelry on the market that makes that piercing look tremendously sexy, making me sometimes reconsider my position. Even so, I don't want to try again.
Happy Piercings!
-switch