How to Pierce Your Own Ears

Earrings have been a fine piece of jewelry to both men and women all around the world for years upon years. But there is one big thing people do not like about earrings; they have to actually be shot through your body. Ouch, right? Not really. There are two ways for you to achieve the earring look. You can go through the piercing and wear the earring through your ears, or you can cope out of the piercing and wear fake earrings (this clip onto the ear). Here is something for you to think about:

Fake earrings:

Wearing fake earrings are good for those who are terribly afraid of getting their ears pierced, but there are quite a few down sides to the fake earring.

- You cannot wear the stud.

- You have less of a variety in pick.

- You are more apt to lose a clip on earring.

Needle earrings (real earrings):

The needle earring requires the piercing. There are both upsides and downsides to having your ears pierced.

The good:

- You get to wear those gorgeous diamond studs.

- You are less likely to lose your earring.

- You have a wider selection of earrings to choose from (with many unique styles.)

The bad:

- You have to go through the piercing.

- You can achieve infection in your ear from the piercing.

- There is a chance your earring can be ripped out of your ear.

So do you still want to pierce your ears? If so, feel free to move on.

If you are not all that fond of piercing yourself, I would advise you to get someone else to do it for you. You will need the following items to proceed:

Rubbing alcohol

Cotton ball

Latex gloves

Permanent marker

Starter earring (this is pointy at the tip, not dull)

Ice cube

Half and apple

Ready now? Good. Here we go...

Step 1: Now is the time to prepare everything before you start with the piercing because once you get started you do not want anything to slow you down. Have the person who will be piercing your ears wear latex gloves (this will help cut down on your chance of infection.)

Step 2: Now they should clean your ear lobes, or wherever they are piercing your ear, with the rubbing alcohol. Get out a cotton ball and wet it down with the rubbing alcohol. Gently wipe down the entire ear in both the front and back. Also make sure to clean your earring before piercing. Do this by placing the earring in a small bowl of rubbing alcohol.

Step 3: Now that the ears are cleaned, allow them a few minutes to dry. Get out your permanent marker and put a single wherever you want the piercing. This will be your placer.

Step 4: Place an ice cube behind the ear to numb it. This will take a about 5 to 10 minutes. While the ear is being numbed, make sure you have your earring ready to go. This should include a cleaned earring and the back of the earring to hold it in place once pierced through the ear.

Step 5: Once you have made sure the ear is numbed completely, you can now proceed to piece. Place the flat part of your half apple beside the ear where you will be piercing. Take your starter earring and pierce through the ear. You do NOT want to do this slowly. Don't do it so fast that you mess it up, but don't do it slow to the point the poor person has to suffer through it longer than they have to. Once the earring is through the ear, remove the apple and place the back of the earring onto the earring to hold it in place.

Step 6: Now is the time for final touch ups. Gently wipe down the pierced area again with rubbing alcohol. You don't want to push on the piercing, just gently sweep over it.

NOTE: The average lobe piercing will take about 6 months to heal entirely. You can change earring after at least 8 weeks, but do not leave an earring out of the piercing for at least 6 months. There must always be an earring in the piercing up until the 6 month mark.

A cartilage piercing takes about 12 months to heal. You can change the earring after 12 to 14 weeks. You should not deprive the piercing of an earring for at least 12 months (sometimes even longer.)