After a few months one of the rings I had had fitted started to become rather sore and appeared to be growing out so I returned to the professional piercer who had fitted them for advice. He confirmed that the problem one would have to be replaced but only after the existing hole had healed. Rats! That meant another trip back in a few weeks. I jokingly said that presumably I could repierce it myself as I had watched him work so carefully and it wasn't a complex pierce to do. To my amazement he agreed and we discussed where I could get a needle etc (as they were not authorised to sell "supplies"). He checked I was well aware of the necessary cleanliness precautions and gave me a few tips so off I went eager to have a go.
On the arrival of the needles and wipes I promptly set about the work in hand. The ring that had been causing problems had been out for a few weeks and the hole healed so that no hard scar tissue remained to affect the new pierce. I washed the area and my hands thoroughly with antibacterial scrub lotion and then cleaned my fingers and the skin around the pierce area with isoptopyl alcohol. I used a fine fibre tip en to mark the entry and exit holes. Once I was happy with the placement I opened the sterile needle pack and very slowly started to push the point against the first of the marks I had made. This was the tricky part as I didn't have a clamp to hold the foreskin in place. I soon realised that the easiest work around was to use the very point of the needle to push through the first layer of skin and then adjust the position of the second layer by sliding it over the first until the ink marks were alligned. Pushing the needle further at that stage than started to cut into the second layer and anchored the two together. The pain was much less than I had expected and not at all uncomfortable.
Once the hole was punched through completely I continued to slowly push the needle through along it's entire length ready for inserting the (sterilised) ball closure ring. THIS was the bit that WAS rather uncomfortable. Once I was at the stage where only about 5mm of the needle remained to be pushed through, I took the BCR and aligned it with the edge of one open section against the end of the hollow piercing needle. I was convinced that I would have problems getting the ring in place and expected it to slip away form the needle and miss the fresh hole. Fortunately this proed to not be a problem. I pushed the remaining length of the needle through the pierce with the ring and the ring slid neatly into place.
My circlip pliers were not of a style that allowed sterilisation so, in order to keep the ring clean, I covered the tips of the pliers with cling film cleaned with isopropyl alcohol before using them to clip the ball in place.
I kept tissue wrapped around the pierce for 24hrs and wore snug fitting underwear to keep it all in place but there was only a little bleeding and negligible soreness. Slight swelling of the foreskin appeared very quickly and subsided within a week. I ensured that the area was soaked and gently washed at least three times a day and always used sterile saline for the final rinse until the wound appeared to be well healed.
This type of DIY job is not to be recommended but I did my homework, took great care as far as cleanliness was concerned, and the satisfaction of completing the job on my own was tremendous.