A few of us girls got into a discussion on Facebook the other night, comparing which methods we’d used when we pierced our ears many years ago.
Back
then, if you wanted the piercing done in a safe, sterile way, your only option
was to have a doctor do it. There were no malls or shops that offered ear
piercing. Most parents, however, weren’t keen on making appointments and paying
doctors’ fees for something that wasn’t life-threatening, so we had to resort
to more barbaric and creative (i.e. “dangerous”) ways to pierce our ears.
The
most popular method at the time seemed to be the needle, thread, ice cube and
bar of soap method. Basically, it involved convincing a friend to ram a sewing
needle through your earlobe. The procedure was fairly simple: first use a pen
to mark a dot (hopefully evenly) on each earlobe, then numb the earlobe with an
ice cube, put a bar of soap behind the lobe and quickly stab a threaded needle
through the dot. Remove the needle, leaving the thread in the newly made hole
to keep it open, and then tie a knot in the thread to form a loop. Voila! Pierced ears!
My
mother had her ears pierced that way – by our neighbor. After I witnessed the
procedure, there was no way I wanted to try it. Not that there were any screams
of pain or gushing blood, but the dots on my mom’s ears hadn’t been drawn too
accurately, so she spent the rest of her life wearing earrings that looked
lopsided. They weren’t too noticeable
when she wore studs, but when she wore dangly earrings, one always hung down
much lower than the other and made her look as if she had a crooked head.
But
as luck would have it, when I was in high school, an invention that drastically
changed piercing methods was introduced…sleepers. Sleepers were tiny torture
devices - 14K gold spring-loaded hoops.
On one end of the hoop was a sharp point. On the other end was a hollow
opening. When placed on the earlobe, the
hoop, because it was spring-loaded, would tightly dig into the flesh. The pointed
end then would gradually work its way through the lobe until it eventually met
the other end of the hoop, the hollow part, to form a complete circle. When it
did, that meant the ear was pierced all the way through. The process, however,
was a slow one. It could take over a week for the sleeper to work its way
through.
When
one of the girls at school showed me her pair of sleepers and told me where
she’d bought them, I couldn’t wait to rush to the store and buy a pair for
myself. I’d noticed that her earlobes were a little pinker and puffier than
usual, but that didn’t bother me. That was because something happened that
caused me to dismiss anything negative about ear piercing…I was invited to the
prom. The thought of being able to buy some sparkly pierced earrings to match
my gown excited me. Not only was I convinced the earrings would make me look
more glamorous and fashionable, they also would prevent the pain and pinching
I’d be forced to endure if I had to wear clip-on earrings all night. So, suddenly
I actually was eager to add two more holes to my head.
I have to admit that
after I bought the sleepers and was able to get a closer look at the sharp
points on them, I was a little apprehensive about sticking them onto my
earlobes. Still, all I had to do was think about how stunning I’d look at the
prom, and I was inspired to proceed. I carefully measured each lobe, then
marked dots on them. Taking a deep breath, I placed the first sleeper on the
dot. To my relief, I didn’t feel a thing. I then positioned the second sleeper
on my other earlobe. After that, all I had to do was wait.
By
the third day, my earlobes were so tender, I had to lie flat on my back in bed.
If I fell asleep and rolled over on my side, which put pressure on my ear, the
throbbing pain immediately woke me up. With each sleepless night, I became more
and more impatient for the sleepers to work their way through.
A
couple days later, I was complaining to my friend Janet about how I felt like a
human dartboard and didn’t know how much longer I could stand the discomfort of
waiting for the sleepers to pierce through.
“Then
why don’t you do something to speed them along?” Janet said matter-of-factly.
“Squeeze the hoop together with a lot of pressure…like use pliers on it.”
Fool
that I was, I actually thought her suggestion was a good one. I dug the pliers
out of the catch-all drawer, gripped the left sleeper with them and then gave
it a mighty squeeze. I heard a popping sound and then felt relief. The sleeper
finally was through to the other side.
At
that point, I thought Janet was a genius. So I used the pliers on my other ear.
“It
worked!” I cried to her. “My ears are officially pierced! Come on, Let’s go
shopping for earrings!”
By
the next week, even though I’d diligently swabbed both earlobes with alcohol to
keep them from getting infected, my left earlobe began to swell. It also felt
hot and sore…very sore.
“Your
ear looks painful,” my mother commented over breakfast one morning. “It’s
really red and inflamed. I think it’s infected.”
I
silently cursed myself for being so careless. Up until then, I’d been careful
to keep my hair over my ears to hide any incriminating evidence.
I
vigorously shook my head – an action that caused the pain to shoot from my
earlobes up to my eyeballs. “No, my ears are fine, I assured her. They’re just
healing.”
But
when I began to look as if I had a piece of pepperoni for a left earlobe, I
couldn’t deny it any longer. Something definitely was wrong. I couldn’t even
touch my ear, never mind shove a different earring into it. But I was stubborn
and determined. After all, there was the prom to consider. I’d already bought a
pair of long rhinestone earrings and I was determined to wear them with my gown
– infection or no infection.
What
I remember most about my prom was the constant, painful throbbing of my left
earlobe all night. Even worse, all of my friends at the prom hugged me when
they greeted me. Every hug, especially when someone’s cheek or long hair rubbed
against my bad ear, made me grit my teeth to keep from crying out.
It
took ages for the ear to finally heal, but luckily, it did. To this day, I’m
still grateful I didn’t end up looking like Van Gogh.
Nowadays,
people who want their ears pierced don’t have to resort to such barbaric
methods as the ones my friends and I used. No, they can walk into a store, get
their earlobes shot with a piercing gun and be out of there, sporting a pair of
shiny new gold studs, in only 10 minutes.
I
can remember, back when I worked at the Mall of NH, the first time one of the
shops actually offered ear piercing. The sign in the window made me burst out
laughing. It said, “Ear Piercing While You Wait” (What was the alternative?
Drop off your ears and pick them up later?).
Believe
it or not, I actually found my old pair of sleepers in the back of my jewelry
box the other day. I’m thinking that if they also work for nose piercing, I
just might be able to get some good money for them on eBay.
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