Cartilage piercing in the ear is a painful process, and requires preparation and care when performed. Even if you can afford a professional piercer, doing it yourself at home will be cheaper, especially if you have a high pain tolerance and don't get stressed easily. Professional piercers usually lack adequate medical training to handle this kind of medical process. Even if your experience is minimal, seeking professional help doesn't yield much different results. Piercing wounds must be kept clean, and must be kept away from irritation and exposure to corrosive substances.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Preparing for Your Piercing
Step 1. Buy a piercing material and choose a place to pierce the body carefully
There are various health risks associated with ear cartilage piercing so minor complications are common. Oftentimes, there is no minimum qualification for body piercing, creating serious health risks. The health risks associated with a cartilage ear piercing are not significantly higher than piercing a fatty part of the body.
Step 2. Sterilize your ears and equipment
Purchasing a piercing needle that is sterile and still sealed is the key to body piercing. Jewelry that is placed must not be made of nickel or metal that can trigger an allergic reaction, and should be smaller than the needle used to punch holes in the piercing.
Step 3. Use an autoclave to make sure your equipment is sterile
You can use a pressure cooker to sterilize your piercing. Just add water and set the high pressure setting to allow the steam to escape to sterilize the piercing. You can also wash the equipment with a disinfectant, such as alcohol or bleach, but this method is not as effective as the previous method.
Step 4. Arrange sterile equipment
Prepare gloves, disinfectant liquid to clean the piercing (preferably iodine clothing), special markers to mark the area to be pierced, and a stopper to prevent the needle from piercing other skin. Prepare a sterile table to put piercing equipment, as well as an area to put used equipment. Do not mix sterile and non-sterile equipment.
Step 5. Clean your ears with antibacterial soap
The location of the piercing is quite difficult to clean. So, take a shower. Warm water for bathing also helps relax the skin so that the piercing is less painful. Clean the area thoroughly and make sure the area to be pierced is marked with a marker and a special pen for the skin.
Method 2 of 3: Body Piercing
Step 1. Avoid using topical anesthetics or skin numbing medications
They will not significantly reduce pain because the topical agents do not affect the avascularity of the ear cartilage. The use of ice is also not recommended because it can make the skin contract. Contact with ice packs or ice cubes can damage the skin tissue making it more difficult to target the area to be pierced or to keep the skin sterile.
This procedure will be painful. If you don't want to feel pain, don't stick the needle into any part of your body and don't pay someone else to do it for you so you don't hurt your ear
Step 2. Apply a topical antiseptic such as iodine to your ear
Apply as much antiseptic as possible to the area behind the ear. Preventing infection is the best way to avoid infection in your piercing, which often requires draining, surgery, and removing your piercing. The symptoms include fever and unbearable pain.
Step 3. Place a stopper such as sterile cotton behind the ear so that the needle does not puncture the scalp
Avoiding discomfort or contact with needles in areas of the skin that have not been sterile or have not been the target of the piercing is very important to prevent infection. The help of a friend can come in handy during this process as placing and holding the stopper on the piercing requires some dexterity.
Step 4. Push the needle through the ear
After penetrating the first layer of skin, make sure the needle is tilted right so that it can be pressed all the way through. The skin will feel a bit hard to penetrate and the needle will have to pass through 3 layers – skin, ear cartilage, and skin again.
Step 5. Prepare and sterilize the jewelry to be installed, then place it on the back of the perforated needle
Make sure the needle is one level larger than the jewelry for easy insertion. Again, avoid using metals that can trigger allergic or sensitive reactions on your skin because contact with these materials on wounds can eventually lead to infection.
Step 6. Pull the needle out of the ear
This method will make the jewelry fit in your ear. Twist the ball cap or jewelry holder to hold the piercing. Do it as soon as possible because this process is quite painful and the process will have to be repeated at another point if you make a mistake. Do not let your ear cartilage open too wide because it can increase the risk of infection.
Method 3 of 3: Treating Piercings
Step 1. Wash the piercing with a sterile saline solution twice a day
Do not scratch scabs or dry skin that forms around the wound. Wounds to the ear cartilage can take up to a year to heal. Poor blood flow in the area above the ear cartilage will increase the risk of infection and slow down the healing process.
Step 2. Pay attention to the area to be pierced
Although keloids, skin deposits, and scab malformations of the ear cartilage may form, watch out for a red rash, swelling, burning, or discharge from the wound that lasts for days. Call your doctor if these symptoms last for more than a week because antibiotics and surgery may be required, whereas the average hospitalization process takes 2 days.
Step 3. Avoid using antimicrobial solutions or sterile fluids such as rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound
These fluids can kill living cells and damage the capillaries and new tissue in the ear. Keeping the wound area clear of foreign material and cleaning it regularly can help reduce the risk of infection significantly.
Step 4. Avoid cracking the ear cartilage, whether using a piercing gun or a regular piercing needle
However, you won't be able to find a piercing gun for some types of piercing that is in the cartilage area of the ear because they are designed to pierce the area below the ear canal. Seek immediate medical attention if there is a change in the shape of the ear.
Tips
- Needles for body piercing are much sharper than ordinary needles. In other words, the piercing won't hurt too much. These needles are also individually packaged in sterile kits and arranged according to thickness thereby reducing the risk of infection and unnecessary irritation.
- Chlorine in swimming pools can dry out your piercing, making it easy to injure. So make sure you keep it moist.
- Wash your hands before handling anything that you want to put in your ear or place near it. Sterilize everything you will use.
- Asking a friend for help can be very beneficial. Make sure your friend understands how to use sterile tools, can maintain cleanliness, and, if possible, has experience helping with the piercing.
- Be careful and careful when doing post-piercing care: infection is very dangerous, expensive, and can cause permanent scars that must be treated with plastic surgery.
- Piercing your own body can be risky. Infection, rejection from the body, and poor placement can occur. For the best and safest results, go to a professional body piercer. Look for information about accreditation or training obtained by professional piercers near where you live.
- If you have several piercings in the cartilage of the ear, allow more space if you want to install earrings that are large enough.
- Choose high-quality stainless/surgical metal or titanium jewelry to reduce the risk of allergies. Don't wear silver as it can stain and discolor your piercing. Basically, if a metal cannot be used in a surgical procedure, the material is not suitable for piercing jewelry.
- Don't put your piercing on top of it while you sleep.
- After piercing your ear cartilage, do not twist the attached piercing.
Warning
- Do not wash piercing needles with any type of bleach. Bleach liquid can damage human skin.
- You can become infected if you don't use sharp, sterile needles, don't practice standard piercing equipment sterilization, or are just unlucky. Be prepared to see a doctor sooner if you notice any signs of infection.
- Make sure you're not allergic to metal jewelry or risk mental contact with your skin.
