I got my first piercings, in my ears, when I was 9. My dad didn’t want me to get them done, but I really wanted it so he let me for my birthday. They were fine, looked after properly, never went bad! A few years later (well 5) I decided I wanted to get the top bit pierced, so I did it myself. I stuck a needle in a flame and slowly went about piercing it. It took 2 hours, but I felt absolutely no pain at all. That happened one day; a hole appeared next to my old one the next, and one to match that on the other side the next! My third holes I got done properly, as I couldn’t be bothered sitting there for another 4 hours!

I decided I wanted something more exotic, but my mum wouldn’t let me, because its “self mutilation”. I was told I could get my tongue pierced when I was 18, still got to get there!! I got my belly button done, and she never found out!! I went to Scotland for the summer holiday by myself, and whilst I was there my mum said I could get my nose and eyebrow pierced, but it meant I couldn’t get my tongue done. Fair enough I thought, two instead of one! Not a hard choice. I had them both done properly, and didn’t realise that the nose would hurt, as it takes a while to pierce (and also, they cannot numb the inside of the nose). It was all over though in a flash, and there I was, walking around Glasgow with my brand new piercings.

My mate (a bloke – of course) said I should get my nipple done. Now, I want to breast feed when I’m older, and piercing those bits can cause problems in later life. He said if I showed him it, he would pay for it…so I did it. I thought, that if I wasn’t paying for it, it would be ok as I could take it out if it got infected. It didn’t, and I had £25 worth of free piercing!!

Next thing I got done was my tattoo on my lower back! 45 minutes of sheer pain!! I thought, you know, I’ve had piercings, a tattoo wont hurt – WRONG!!

It hurt, and it hurt a lot, but 45 minutes passed and there it was, my panther surrounded with Celtic knots! Beautiful!! It hurt a little when it rubbed on my jeans, but soon got better. I also had to get my nose re-pierced as I had taken it out to change it and it wouldn’t go back in. I had the other side done.

My next piercing was the latest: I got my lip pierced. It hurts, because the lip is quite thick, and the stuff they use to numb it only numbs the surface. I had it pierced with a ring, the first thing I had pierced with a ring, because you can’t easily get the balls out. I wanted to change it once it had healed, and found that the place where you got it pierced will happily take it out for free! Anyway, yeah, like your lip also swells up, and you cant eat or drink properly. Also, if you get the ring, I found that I kept dribbling when drinking from cans.

Aftercare is important. I have a lot of piercings but I have looked after them well. I would not use salt and water, as that is meant for clearing up infections, and piercings are not infections. You need an antibacterial. I have used Claire’s ear care solution on all my piercings, but I have heard that tea tree oil works well as well. If not, diluted Dettol has also worked for me.

I dont get them done because it is a fashion thing, I get them because I believe that they look nice, same as people wear clothes. People say that if we were meant to have bits of metal stuck through us, we would have been born with holes already in us - I say, if we were meant to wear clothes, we would have been born wearing them. That is not a good enough arguement against them. The body is a temple, heard that one? Well, how many temples do you see without precious jewellery and pretty pictures adorning them??

My eyebrow piercing, as they tend to do, has started to grow out, so I might get it re-pierced soon, and get another one next to it to keep it company. I would
like
to get my other nipple done, and I might still get my tongue pierced, but I’m not brave enough for that one yet!!

...Sine then I have had another tattoo on my sholder. I have now had my belly button pierced twice, my nose pierced twice, my lip pierces, my eyebrow pierces 3 times, my tongue pierced (its not that bad) my my ears pierced 8 times and my nipple pierced.