The complete guide to wearing safety pins in your ears

Long time no write. I have been living life and enjoying myself quite a bit this month, and next thing you know Uni has started, my mind was still elswear and I had to force myself back to reality again. All planned posts will be made soon, which will include pictures of my new amazing diy jacket and my new haircolor which has been yet to be revealed on the internet (and that´s a huge step behind, of course...).
In the meantime I wanted to share the basically only punk thing I commit in this life, which is wearing safety pins in your ears.

 My left and right ears. The left pins might look like they are pressing on the skin, but they don´t.

I have been doing this since I was 16. It started with a purple office pin first, then I moved to safety pins. The reason I am so kewl is because I pretty much dislike how all earlobe jewelry look, aside from the most basic hoops. Plus, safety pins are soo punk 77 and you know I like that. Plus plus- I have saved quite a few people and their pants with my always handy safety pins.

First and foremost, I shall disclaim:
I can only give my regards considering wearing safety pins in your ear lobes. I have absolutely no idea about other body parts and how your piercings there might react. Also I do not nor wish to know what it is like to actually perform a piercing with a real safety pin.
And of course I am not a professional piercer, so blah blah blah...

So before you go all DIY on yourselves there are a couple of things to consider:

1. Higene and Health

• Safety pins is crappy metal, so if your skin is sensitive and you can wear only legit piercing jewelry, by all means do not do this to yourself. I am not, so this works for me.
•  If you have decided to poke the bastard through, make sure to disinfect it first, especially if you took it from the deeps of your drawers. Disinfect your earlobe too, just in case. I admit to have stopped doing it with time, but it´s always better to be safe.
• There are safety pin looking jewellry out there that you can buy if the real thing is not doing you skin good. I personally have no experience with this, but it looks like a good alternative and is probably a far less hassle than actual pins.

2. Comfort

• Make sure to try one safety pin first to see how this goes for you. Is it comfortable? Can you sleep with it? I personally sleep with my pins in, they do not bother me. I know people who like wearing them but find it uncomfortable to sleep with them.
• From my experience it is always better to take a large pin, so that after closing it it won´t be too tight around your lobe. That can deform your ear (so I´ve heard?) and basically just be uncomfortable to wear.

 If all is well, then you can...

Source

• All holes are differently made, some piercing made in such a way that the jewelry goes slightly sideways when worn (I don´t know if this means that the piercing is not done well, no idea). Know your holes!
• Make sure to pick a trustworthy hole. I would personally not wear a safety pin on a fresh piercing!! Take an old one, the one that has been through a lot that you can count on, be that the first one you´ve ever got.
• It does not suppose to hurt when you insert the pin!!! Please, if you are doing this first time be patient and do it slowly. Whenever the pin touches your hole it should never hurt! If it does, you are doing it wrong. Doing it through pain might and probably will cause infection. Maybe tilt the pin a bit and try to insert is slightly sideways, depending on your hole. If this does not go well pick a different hole, but don´t force the thing in. Eww...
  

This is an individual kind of thing, but what helps me pulling them through is stretching my ear lobe a bit sideways, so that the piercing will slightly open. This only goes for smaller holes, the ones that are located the highest on my lobe.

Source

3. After Care

•  As said before, safety pins are crap metal, so make sure to check on them every once in a while to see that they do not rust!! It they do, just take a new pin.
• I personally take out my pins whenever I wash my hair. I bathe every day and still keep them it, but when I have to wet my entire head (every 4-5 days) I would take them out, also to wash my piercings. It has worked well so far and I can wear them for a year or more without them getting rusty.
• If you feel this is getting too gross then by all means replace the pin to make sure it stays clean. You can disinfect as often as you wish. I personally can go with the same pins for years without getting any skin irritation, but you know yourself and your percings´ behavior better.

Source

There is another matter to consider, and it is the reaction of people around you. I literally get the question "have you pierced your ear with that safety pin and it got stuck in there?" too many times. People also like to ask if it hurts to wear them; yeah sure, I like having a daily amount of pain in my ears, no sweat... But you are a super duper diy all the way alternative person, aren´t you? So you are used to stupid comments by now.

Another thing is the wearability in your every day life, such as work appropriate etc. I personally had absolutely no problem with this. My hair is usually down but when it is up the only comments I would get from coworkers would be the ones above. In my previous jobs and the one I am working at now I had no really strict dresscode (aside from looking modest of course) and it only got to the point where my manager would ocassionaly joke about it, but it was all in good humour. After my current manager pointed out that "it was an unusual way of wearing things in my ears" I asked her if she wants them removed, but she said no. So all is well. 

But you are obviously a society non conforming beast, so you are probably unemployed drinking beer in a squat somewhere.

The most important thing would probably be: don´t do something you do not feel comfortable with, and wear whatever the hell you want. I just wrote this post for the sake of updaing the blog and I kind of felt badass.

Have a wonderful week/end everyone and stay true!

N. Finsternis