02/21/2026
Please DO NOT pierce yourself or others at home!
I know that piercing yourself at home may seem like something fun to do, or someone you know did it and the piercing turned out fine, but overall it is very risky and many things can go wrong.
There are a lot of things that you must take into consideration when piercing (some things you may not even think of), and overall it is just safer and better to go to a reputable piercer. Here at Moonlit Grove education is very important, and I want to provide you with good information to make an informed decision.
There are a lot of risks involved when piercing at home:
🏠Your home is not as sanitary as a piercing studio. Piercing studios have very high regulations and standards of sterilization/cleanliness. Cleaners, air flow, surface materials, sterilization processes/procedures, and more must be considered.
🦠You likely aren’t taking the same precautions to keep the process as sterile as possible, such as nitrile gloves, sterilized jewelry, sterilized tools, and sterilized needles. (Alcohol doesn’t count as a sterilizer for new piercings)
💍You may use improper jewelry. With initial piercings the jewelry gauge, length, material, and type needs to be correct for the type of piercing that is being done. Using the wrong material can cause a reaction, using too short of a bar can cause embedding, not downsizing at the right time can cause irritation, the wrong gauge compared to the needle will make it a painful process, and piercing with a hoop can increase the risk of infection (aside from septum and daith).
🪡Is the correct piercing tool being used and handled of properly? If you are piercing at home chances are you are using a sewing needle or thumb tack and not a body piercing needle. Sewing needles/thumb tacks are not designed to pierce people. They are not as sharp and don’t glide as smoothly as a piercing needle. Sewing needles/thumb tacks only make the process more painful, and if you are doing a cartilage piercing it can damage the cartilage. Also, are you disposing of used sharps or are you reusing them? Reusing needles on yourself or your friends can transfer bacteria and/or bloodborne pathogens. Additionally, each time you use a needle it dulls it. A piercing needle should only be used once. All sharps must be disposed of in a sharps container. It is biohazardous waste and you don’t want whoever is taking out the trash to get pricked with a used needle.
✍️Placement of a piercing is very important. At home you may incorrectly place the piercing or make it crooked. An incorrectly placed piercing can increase the risk of rejection, infection, and it likely won’t look as good. If you are getting a piercing you want it to look nice!