My Piercings...

I have always been obsessed with having piercings done and at the moment I have 14 piercings in total. I thought I would write this post to share with all of you my personal experiences with having my piercings done and any extra details or knowledge you need to know about having piercings done.

MY CURRENT PIERCINGS

MY RIGHT EAR:

5 x lobe piercings
A tragus piercing
An industrial piercing

MY LEFT EAR:

5 x lobe piercings
A helix (cartilage) piercing

MY FACE:

A nose piercing

WHAT JEWELLERY/PIERCINGS I WEAR

I only wear sterling silver or surgical steel as it is the most suitable for me, costume jewellery does not agree with me at all, and I prefer silver over gold jewellery. Most of my plain silver sleepers/hoops in my lobes was purchased from jewellery stores that you can find at any shopping mall (usually cost between R60-R150 depending on size). My large silver hoops were bought from Papagayo in Kalk Bay for R180, but it is also easy to find these hoops at most jewellery stores as well. The silver sleepers with the cross pendants were purchased from Harris & Darcy jewellers (in Blue Route Mall) for R160. My diamante huggie hoop (surgical steel) in my helix/cartilage piercing is from Lovisa and it was R280. My nose ring, industrial piercing, my tragus piercing, and my last lobe piercings (diamante studs) are all surgical steel piercings that were put in when I had my piercings done. If you are looking for really beautiful earrings, nose rings or belly rings I highly recommend Lovisa as they have a huge variety of stunning piercings to choose from in silver, gold, rose gold and surgical steel - you are spoilt for choice! I also suggest that if you have sensitive skin or you react badly to wearing costume jewellery to invest in stering silver or gold jewellery. I clean my silver jewellery (piercings and other jewellery) every few months as it tends to discolour, with a silver jewellery cleaner that was purchased from a jewellery store. This helps keep your jewellery in good condition and keeps it looking shiny.

MY PIERCING PROCESS

My first two lobe piercings were done while I was still quite young and I had them done at a pharmacy with a piercing gun. When I was 13 and I had finished primary school, I had decided I really wanted a helix/cartilage piercing, so I went and had one done at Ralo (an old jewellery store that closed down) and it was pierced with a gun as well. Over the years and up until recently I carried on doing more lobe piercings and the rest (my third lobe piercings to my fifth piercings) were all done with a gun at home (we purchased our own Studex piercing gun). I had my tragus done when I was 17 at Body Architects, which was pierced using a needle. Lastly I had my industrial done at Queen of Steel and my nose ring pierced at Body Architects in 2019 and both were done with a piercing needle.

Many people have asked me if a piercing gun or needle is better and I highly recommend having your piercings done with a needle. Everyone thinks that a gun is better when it is in fact not as it uses blunt force to pierce through the skin - causing more bruising and takes slightly longer to heal as well. The piercing needle however, is more precise and no blunt force is used when piercing with a needle. Majority of my piercings were done using a gun, but those are only the piercings in my lobes (which is only skin), but I don't recommend having any other parts of your ear or your body other than your ear lobes pierced with a gun as it can complicate or prolong the healing process of your piercing.

My piercings take a while to heal depending on where they are - cartilage takes longer to heal than lobe piercings do. It is also important to take good care of your piercings after they have been done to ensure that they do not become infected. You can use saline solution (salt water) on a cotton bud to clean the hole at least once or twice a day for about 3 weeks, but don't over clean it or soak/drench your piercing in the solution. I have always used saline solution and it works perfectly - it is the method that is always recommended to me after I have gotten my piercings done. I don't really recommend using surgical spirits (rubbing alcohol) to clean your piercing holes as it is strong and it cleans the piercing so well that it becomes open to anything that can cause an infection. I only recommend using surgical spirits to clean your piercing jewellery if you are changing it so that it is clean when you put it in. All of my lobe piercings took about 2-4 weeks to heal, and once they had healed I would remove the studs and change them to my silver sleepers. My helix piercing took about 6 weeks to heal and I kept the barbell in for a while before I changed it to a hoop. My tragus piercing took about 3 months to heal as it formed a keloid (a ball of scar tissue) around the piercing but once it cleared up my piercing was perfectly healed. My nose piercing healed surprisingly quickly and I only had a small, and barely noticeable keloid (which I was also told would most likely happen) for a few weeks and after about a month and a half my nose ring was fully healed. My industrial piercing took the longest to heal (up to a year) as it always causes keloids, which I was told was unavoidable when having this piercing done. I am considering changing my tragus and industrial piercings as the jewellery I currently have in is too long and gets caught to my hair (the extra room accommodated for swelling during the healing process). I am also far from done when it comes to getting piercings done as I still have a few more I want to have done in my ears and I want to have my belly ring redone. Having piercings done feels different to everyone as everyone experiences pain differently. I personally have quite a high pain threshold because I really don't find the piercing process painful at all. I get asked all the time if certain of my piercings were painful and I usually tell people that I can't tell them if they will find it painful or not because we all have different pain thresholds. I highly recommend going to The Body Architects tattoo and piercing studio in Kenilworth, as Liezle (who has done a few of mine and my friend's piercings) is really skilled in what she does and I trust her. I am always pleased when I walk out of Body Architects and they are also really affordable.

TIPS:

Make sure you have eaten before going - some people feel light headed after having piercings done because you feel a slight rush of adrenaline while doing it.
Make sure you have thought it through, if you don't feel ready just wait until you do feel ready.
When doing the placement of your piercing make sure it is exactly where you want it because once the piercing is done it will be a waste to remove it and have it redone.
If you are unsure about anything ask the person doing your piercing any questions that you need answered
Don't change your piercings too soon before you are meant to as it can affect the healing process or cause an infection. Ask how long the piercing will take to heal so that you know.
If you have a piercing that does become infected just keep it clean and don't fiddle with it too much and keeping it clean should help clear the infection. If it continues to keep becoming infected or doesn't heal then speak to a piercing professional or remove it.