Title: Then why don't I have Hepatitis yet?
Arthor: Katie
Contact: [email protected]
Okay, I have had my ears pierced "professionally" four times(two sets of holes). I have personally pierced my ears six times, with sewing needles and piercing studs(bad idea, really). And of course, like most people with any sort of remote interest in body modification, I read BME almost obsessively(I've decided that I really want a tattoo, but I digress).
On BME, I believe that I have found exactly one person that even says self piercing is remotely safe. Now, obviously, it's not quite as safe as being pierced by a pro, but I still think it's safer than going under the gun. If you read any FAQs on self piercing, they stress just how horrible the diseases are if you don't clean everything. I will give them credit that they do appear to be concerned about health, but...
One thing I think that the completely anti-self-modders (did that make any sense?) seem to fail to take into account is the environment in which your tools are gotten. In my house, at least, we have sewing needles up the wazoo. My grandmother--who died several years ago, thus being how we have most of her sewing stuff--aunt, and mother, as well as myself, have all at some point in life done sewing/cross-stitching/embroidery, so sewing needles are abundant in our house. I was completely unafraid of sticking these through my ears. Why? No one in our home has a terminal disease. In the manufacturing process, you're talking about something that is machined, without any human contact most likely. If you worry about diseases after some reasonable disinfection/sterilization, I personally think you're beginning to panic.
And this brings me to another point. None of us who sew have freaked out about stabbing ourselves in the finger with a needle--or at least the fairly rational among us. I just say "Damn, that hurt. That's the fourth time in the last ten minutes" and suck on my finger for a few seconds. Even if you have a thimble, it happens. It's a fact of life. If you paint, even if you are careful, even if you wear gloves, you're going to get paint on your hands. You don't panic that you are going to get lead poisoning from the paint. When you sew and stab yourself in the finger, you don't worry that you just got Hepatitis C or AIDS. Not only that, I don't think anyone sterilizes needles for sewing. So, why should those of us who self pierce freak out about disinfected needles?
If you ever read self piercing FAQs, it seems that every sewing needle and safety pin (a bad idea, regardless) is covered in Hepatitis and AIDS. Well, if that's true, then every crafty person on the face of the planet should have a terminal disease. The truth is, that's idiotic. It's rather pointless to take no precautions, but you can start becoming paranoid(like being afraid a serial murderer is going to break into your home and murder your family because the telephone rang at 11:04 p.m. and no one answered--I'm not kidding, this *was* me last night/this morning). It just reaches a point when you have to realize that some of the reason that some individuals are against self-modding is not because it is risky, but because perhaps it is something that is even more different than mods themselves. It takes even more strength to shove a needle through your own skin than have someone else do it for you, and I think that some people are slightly envious of that strength. Some people simple prefer a pro, but I think that disease is not the only reason some despise self piercing. I hope I haven't bored y'all too much.
--Katie
Self Piercing Stories: Complete Total Boredom and I Don't Think I've Seen a Needle That Big
