Numbing cream vs. just sucking it up for a home piercing - guess which one I picked

I was dead set on piercing my own helix about 3 months ago and had to choose between buying good numbing cream or just going for it raw. I went with the numbing cream because I'm a chicken, but I didn't let it sit long enough and it barely worked. The needle went through fine but holy crap the ache afterward was way worse than the actual poke. Ended up having to ice it for like an hour while my roommate laughed at me. Has anyone else had numbing cream backfire or was I just using it wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollyg591d ago

I actually had a totally different experience with the same thing, @margaret_jackson73. I left the numbing cream on for a full 45 minutes under a piece of saran wrap and the helix piercing happened so clean I barely felt the needle go through. The real problem was the aftercare, because I got so cocky I forgot to ice it and my ear swelled up like a balloon for three days. The ache you got probably would have been way worse without the cream, even if it didn't work perfect. Sometimes the preparation matters more than the actual act. Plus your roommate got a good story out of it, so that's a win in my book.

margaret_jackson731d agoTop Commenter

Oof, that sounds rough. Same thing happened to me with a belly piercing, the numbing cream just made the area feel weird and it still hurt like a beast. At least you had a buddy to laugh with you through it.