Piercing Yourself
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Sunday June 15th, 2008 @ 11:22 PM
Filed under: Navel
I have wanted my Navel pierced for a while, but my parents will not let me. I went out and bought a 14g hollow needle and a ring to fit. I want to do the piercing myself or with the help of friends, but I was told I need a clamp or the bleeding would be really bad. Could I possibly get a step-by-step walk through of how to properly do it yourself? (I will not go to a parlor, so I don’t want any of that.) Thank you.
I can’t speak for the other ASKBME volunteers, but I’ll say you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who calls themselves professional who’s willing to do a step by step walk through on a piercing, particularly in a public forum on someone who refuses to go to a professional.
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29 Responses to “Piercing Yourself”
word like big bird Shawn.
Warren Hiller on June 17th, 2008 at 3:04 am..and just to add the point that your parents are correct in deciding you’re not mature enough to get pierced, seeing as you’re chucking a big tanty and doing a dodgy DIY piercing behind their backs. Long story short, if you have to ask the internet how to do it, you shouldn’t be doing this, full stop.
Lori St.Leone on June 17th, 2008 at 7:09 amI’m with both of thee above. I had a friend who wanted to pierce his own lobe and my advice to him was to go to a professional. My view is that the average person is not properly trained to perform a piercing and could end up damaging something.
Tara on June 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pmReally. it’s just plain stupidity. Going behind your parent’s back and doing a DIY piercing is just showing how immature you are.
My piercer refuses to do navel piercings on anyone below 16, because your body might still be growing, and it has a high chance of rejection.
If you DIY it, have you given any thought on how straight the piercing might be? how clean your equipment is? are you going to buy an autoclave?
trust my advice: wait it out.
Clara on June 17th, 2008 at 6:37 pmThe road to hell is paved with good intentions.
http://www.kctv5.com/news/16572247/detail.html
Even though that kid was admitedly unsafe unless your equipment was sterilized and has been handled properly you could end up in the same position.
Casey on June 17th, 2008 at 11:40 pmor worse than above
Tar on June 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pmIT IS NEVER NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO LET FRIENDS OR YOURSELF INSERT A PIERCING…
YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT LONG TERM PROBLEMS….INFECTION REJECTION
IT COMING OUT CROOKED… BEING TO DEEP OR NOT DEEP ENOUGH WHICH WILL ALLOW YOUR BODY TO REFECT….
YOUR BEST BET HUN IS JUST WAIT…
HAVING A HEALTHY PIERCING LATER
OPPOSED TO ONE THAT IS HIGHLY LIKELY TO CAUSE PROBLEMS NOW..
IS NOT WORTH IT
I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR ALONG TIME
AND I HAVE HAD TO MANY COME IN MY SHOP BECAUSE OF PROBLEMS WITH THE PIERCING THEY DID ON THEMSELVES OR LET FRIENDS DO .. THEY WALK IN WITH INFECTIONS ABCESS UN NECESSARY TRAUMA CAUSED TO THE TISSUE….AND ITS REALLY A BITCH…!!!!!!
I KNOW TO SOME PEOPLE IT MIGHT SEEM EASY TO JUST SHOVE A NEEDLE THROUGH YOUR SKIN
BUT ITS NOT ….THERE ARE MANY MANY OTHER AREAS THAT NEED TO BE COVERED AND PERFECTED WHEN YOU PERFORM A PIERCING… FOR YOU TO HAVE ONE THAT WILL BE HEALTHY AND WITH YOU AS LONG AS YOU PREFER
XOXOX-DIXIE-XOXOXOXO
dixie on July 21st, 2008 at 11:56 pmI honestly would just wait it out. When you’re under 18, there’s not much you can do except do it yourself and risk your health.
I can’t say I’ve never done a DIY piercing. All of my earlobe piercings are self-done, but all the jewelry, needles, and clamps were pre-sterilized and everything was done in a clean way.
Then again, ears are NOT navels . . .
Randi on August 13th, 2008 at 7:52 pmHoney, please, do not peirce your naval yourself. Belly peircings are gorgeous - I’m actually going in to get mine done hopefully sometime this week - but if your parents don’t want you to get it right now, respect them.
I was lucky enough to grow up in a house where my mom was pretty chill about peircings and tatts; I got my first “big” piericng (my nose) when I was thirteen, with her permission. I’ve done self-peircings before, and they were all right for a while (mind you, this was in my lobe, NOT my naval, which is a much more complicated peircing to do!!) until I did one over the summer that got severely infected only a few days after it was done. My whole ear swelled up and the infection spread to my face. I have a huge tolerance for pain, but when I cleaned it out it about made me cry. My boyfriend finally insisted that I go to the doctor because I had gotten really sick and I found out I had gotten blood poisoning.
It took a while for my face/ear to clear up, and I was on medicine for a long time. Seriously, hun, I absolutely love peircings, but don’t try to be cool and do your naval yourself. Chances are, you’ll mess it up, it’ll look like crap, most likely get infected, and then your rents are gonna yell at you when they find out you did it anyway.
Just wait.
Morgan on October 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI did what you are thinking about doing, and I would say DON’T DO IT.
I didn’t have any huge problems…except it didn’t work out. Too shallow, not straight, painful, migrated, hard to sleep on because it wouldn’t heal, impossible to keep a secret from parents, I don’t care who you are. And guess what? I have nice scar tissue where my once pretty navel is!!
again, speaking from experience, DON’T DO IT.
I don’t know how old you are, maybe thats why you won’t go to a parlor, but it is SO worth it to wait til you are old enough and have a professional do it. Actually, that is how I celebrated my 18th birthday, but that is another story entirely.
bamber on November 20th, 2008 at 2:13 pmWell if you are determined to do it, then buy a clamp, and just do it! Either it’ll work out or it won’t. Sterilize your equipment, and do your best. I will say, from someone who pierced herself a lot growing up- that placement is realy tricky, and to be able successfully complete a piercing yourself, you need to be able to not stop when you feel pain, most self piercings are more traumatic, but it was a spiritual thing for me, and I’m glad I had those experiences. So it all depends on what you are going for here, If you want a fairly painful, spiritual but not necessarily well done piercing ten go for it.
But don’t make the mistake that piercing is nothing more than running a needle through your skin, it is NOT so simple as that.
Best of luck!
Cuntess on December 12th, 2008 at 11:43 amDon’t do it. Just wait it out. I learned the hard way. I did my navel myself many years ago and It was rejected and left an ugly scar tissue.
Miss.Necro on December 17th, 2008 at 1:27 amIts probably the stupidest thing to do, I have done ALL of my 22 piercings myself but I’m a risk taker-dont-care-what-happens type of person. Gone through infections and rejected piercings. Its a lot easier to get them done professionally. You won’t have to go through the pain and puss from self done piercings. And asking about it online is horrible, Very low and immature.
I am amazed by how many people advised against self piercing. It is his body. If he wants to do it, let him experiment.
i on January 13th, 2009 at 11:23 amIn any case, can you imagine asking a professional for a free “step-by-step walkthrough” in any other field? It’s like going to a computer shop and asking them, “Hi, can you tell me how to fix my computer? But I’m not going to give you any money.”
http://notalwaysright.com/she-uses-the-google/153
Xenobiologista on January 17th, 2009 at 8:33 pmIt’s quote normal to do that in appropriate forums, Xenobiologista. There’s a difference betwqeen a shop and a forum. That here, is a forum, not a shop.
And indeed most times you get answers.
Indeed the second, most times you could get the answers by properly using the http://www.
And indeed the third, you could get all the answers for the question “how to pierce yourself safely” on the www, or more precice even here on BME.
So… at the one side it is abso0lutely ridiculous how the prople react here about self piercings, which are indeed something normal to do. And somethin safe if done right.#
But it shows off quite some kind of neglection to go simply somewhere and ask, instead of looking out for information, reading, learning for himself, and maybe, then, quite educated, ask some specific questions. Indeed, somebody who is not ablo to find… lets say 95% of the important (AND CORRECT) information by himself… should betterr not pierce himself. In such a case, there is a basic lack of understanding, makind self-piercing a bad choice.
Stormchaser on January 30th, 2009 at 10:48 amWow, you all are fucking harsh.
I’ve done ALL my piercings myself, excluding my cheek / ‘dimple’ piercing and my naval. Those two were the first ones I’d ever gotten done professionally, and they both rejected/didn’t work out.
Although I do believe in piercing yourself if you know what you’re doing,…the naval isn’t something to fuck around with, it doesn’t compare to the lips or nose, etc… It’s much more difficult and the skin around it is ten times thicker. Not even like cartilage…
Anyways, good luck!
Laura on March 29th, 2009 at 7:46 pmyes, you can go to a well experienced professional and get an accurate job, but nothing is stopping a person from attaining the information and doing just as good. this is after all the information age, people are going to diy whether a professional is available or not.
steven kelly on July 25th, 2009 at 11:31 amI’d argue that they’re going to do it “just as good”- but perhaps I’m wrong and the modification world is just getting more used to mediocrity. That someone is going to “just do it anyway”is their issue, not mine.
Shawn Porter on July 26th, 2009 at 11:30 amI am an apprentice piercer and I think that doing piercings on your self is fine. I did my foirst piercing when I was 16 and have doing it ever since. Including my own belly button and nothing went wrong and nothing was wrong. So if you want to do it then do it.
GiGi on August 18th, 2009 at 5:23 pmGigi…. Does the person you’re apprenticing under also feel that piercing yourself is a good option? Or that something is acceptable if you’ve done it (as a 16yo) and nothing went wrong? Just curious.
Shawn Porter on August 19th, 2009 at 1:54 pmIf you’re asking how to pierce yourself you probably shouldn’t be doing it. i have gotten several professionally done piercings and have observed many others getting done, why because one i believe in doing what’s best for your body and two i wanted to learn. i have done a few piercings on myself they have all worked out but not all people are capable of it and no i am not screaming i am qualified but i do enjoy learning.
Lucas on December 6th, 2009 at 1:24 pmOkay just wait for it. Trust me it’ll be worth it.
Missy on January 12th, 2010 at 6:44 pmPiercings your ear yourself is one things after all I do it, but hips is so much diffrent. See I want my hips and my belly button done, but you dont see my going to do it myself. You dont have the proper materials, nor are you a professional.
I recently pierced my own naval with a 14g hollow needle, and everything turned out fine?
Liz on May 14th, 2010 at 7:36 pmMaybe I’m just lucky? It all isn’t too complicated if you ask me.
yeh i did the samething. I did my own vch,nipples belly button and tongue, but i didnt do them fast i pierced slow so i could see where it was going.Its not that complicated doing it,the after care is the annoying part.
Jen on June 1st, 2010 at 7:00 pmI pierced my own nose and pierced my ears (several times) when I was younger, (nose when I was 13 and ears 12-20) none of them got infected and never had any problems with the after care. My view is, it’s completely up to you, as long as you’re aware of the risks involved.
Emka on June 6th, 2010 at 6:53 pmThe #1 reason this individual shouldn’t do it is because his/her parents said no. They WILL find out, they WILL insist it be removed, and it’ll all be a waste.
I pierced my nipple myself when I was 26, with equipment bought from BMEshop. It can be done. But it’s just a waste to do it without the knowledge of parents.
Meredith on August 29th, 2010 at 10:30 amAs far as piercing yourself, just ask what is the absolute worst thing that could happen. Infection, massive scarring, ect… if you are fine with living with that, then go for it. I could live without an earlobe just fine, but went to a professional for my hch. Also anything that I want perfectly straight or lined up properly you want someone with knowledge do it.
MissRoni on September 29th, 2010 at 11:09 amCountless times I see people piercing themselves. Why? To save a buck? What happened to piece of mind? Knowing that the person doing your piercing is a trained professional, that is the greatest piece of mind. How many times have I seen people come in with infections, misplaced piercings and so forth? Only because they had wanted to save money. All it takes is a little research and some questions asked. We have autoclaves to sterelize our equipment. And all needles are pre sterelized and disposed of in a biohazardous sharps container. We are trained in bloodborne pathogens and cross contamination. Are you? What happens if you pierce yourself in your bathroom/bedroom or livingroom,etc. And it is not cleaned properly? Animal hair, feces and such is prevelent? What if you don’t know? Are you really that immature to risk it? This is your body!!! AApparently my advise is too not risk it, and listen to your parents!
Angela on October 20th, 2010 at 6:44 pmStep one: shove needle through. Step two: insert jewelry and scratch fistula because it’s externally threaded. Step three: realize it’s REALLY darn crooked! Step four: remove.
Kitty on May 29th, 2011 at 12:50 amLeave a Comment