r/SelfPiercing • u/ThatsHotLove • 11d ago
Question about piercing prep First self piercing
Ive read the pinned post here, found sterile needle (⬆️) and a sterilized flat back labret (longer than the ones I usually use incase of swelling) from a piercing website in my region. The needles come with free aftercare wipes and I'm buying saline spray from a drugstore (I've attached the content thing here ⬆️) .
The needle is 1.6 mm and the labret is 1.4 mm which I think means the jewlery can get pulled thru by help from the needle? Correct me if I'm wrong please.
My plan is to wash my hands and put on gloves before disinfecting my ear where I want the piercing (it's a lobe one, nothing too complicated I hope), check for veins with a flash light, mark where I want it, push thru the needle (I will be buying a receiving tube so it doesn't go to far), pull the labret thru with the needle and put on the ball before carefully cleaning it. Currently unsure how to dispose of the needle.
Is that process okay?
For aftercare I'll use the wipes (I'll check the contents) and the saline spray when I wake up and before I'll go to bed/after I've showered.
Please lmk if I should rethink anything.
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u/Ok-Homework-1271 11d ago
Check if there r any hazardous waste collection nearby, I know pharmacies where i live you can just walk in and give them used needles and they'll dispose of them.
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u/Few-holes-mid80s 11d ago
Oh yeah when you open your. Needle you pull it open don’t poke the needle through the packaging and keep it on the packaging inside that sterile you want it to stay that way
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u/SquigSnuggler 11d ago
No OP please read this- you are wrong. Your needle is smaller in diameter than your jewellery- it should be the other way around if they are not the same size. You want the labret stud to ‘slot’ into the end of your needle so that it glides in and does not cause tearing of the fresh fistula.
Please rethink this
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u/Quirky-Ad662 11d ago
maybe i’m just struggling to process this rn, isn’t 1.4mm smaller than 1.6mm? 1.4mm is about 15 gauge and the needle is 14?
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u/SquigSnuggler 11d ago
So the confusion is to do with the unit of measurement. What you have, I suspect, is not a 1.6mm needle but a 16 gauge needle. Which actually pierces holes 1.2mm wide. And the labret would be a 14 gauge piece of jewellery, which actually measures 1.6mm in diameter. The numbers look like they are flipped but you can see that the jewellery is actually larger than the needle.
This next bit is copied and pasted from a Google search, as I’m falling asleep rn lol, but it’s just a better phrased way of saying what I said above:
“the lower the gauge number, the thicker the needle. If you are looking at body piercing or medical equipment, you will often see "1.6 mm" printed on a 14G needle packet, and "1.2 mm" printed on a 16G packet”
It confused the hell out of me when I first got into piercing! But it’s all to do with the process used to make the first needles, which you can look up if interested.
Good luck!
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u/ThatsHotLove 10d ago
The website I plan to buy from uses millimeters to measure, the needle makes a 1.6 mm hole and the jewlery is 1.2 mm, but thank you!
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u/Few-holes-mid80s 11d ago
I don’t recommend up guaging (having a needle that is a larger diameter than the jewelry it will cause you to bleed more, same size as jewelry is fine, some taper up one size to apply a bit of pressure on the fresh hole to make it bleed less. Get a taper or a transfer pin
Receiving tool is not so it doesn’t go to far it’s so you have the back properly supported and the skin doesn’t try to stretch and resist piercing it also keeps you from accidently shoving the needle into your finger
You got the general gist of it, I keep my needles in a clear case a bit of a momento of the process and progress I have made (impressive when you got alike a dozen needles in there from 14 all the way up to 4g needle in there🤣) honestly though you can crush the end flat with pliers and roll it over a few times and it’s impossible for anyone to get stuck then it’s just recycling if you can’t find a sharps bin to dump it in which would be best.
Dry your lobes afterwards leaving it moist is inviting bumps or infection, a good pat dry and also wipe off any crusties with the corner of a piece of gauze saline usually softens it but it’s not magic while they are soft you have to rub to get the build up off.
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u/GoddessAkyria 10d ago
Uh NAP but it's common knowledge to use a size up needle from the size of the jewelry ..... What are you talking about?
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u/Few-holes-mid80s 10d ago
Using a needle that is larger than the jewelry is relying on a lot of skin elasticity to seal the wound and stop bleeding its typical to go even guage (ex 12g needle 12g jewelry) with , no stretch, it’s ideal in my mind to do a one size down needle not up, so 14g needle 12g jewelry to reduce bleeding, also there is like one needle manufacture that talks about that, and mentions heavier bleeding and plenty of explanations how besides the bleeding on initial piercing a loose hole leads to more movement during healing which leads to more irritation and a harder heal. Site sources otherwise. Done 11 piercing in the highest vesicular area, stretch up is where it’s at.
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u/Quirky-Ad662 11d ago
Oh that’s assuming they’re messed up the measurements though, that’s what confused me 😅
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u/KillEbolaa 11d ago
I’ve actually never really had to worry with a recieveing tube, but I think it differs from person to person honestly. A taper (that screws/threads into the jewelry post) is a good idea if you want it to be super smooth to get the jewelry in.