ear piercing with a heated needle

in the past, you did not have to go to the professional ear piercer or to the jewellery shop to have your ears pierced. your mom or somebody who had steady hands and nerves of steel could do it for you, for free. those days, only girls had their ear lobes pierced and only one hole on each lobe. if a boy had his ear pierced, usually on the left ear, it was done to correct some 'imbalance'. i remember one of my secondary teachers who wore a ring on his left ear.

most girls in those days would have had their ears pierced by the time they reach puberty. the only tool needed for doing this job was a sewing needle. a length of red thread and a small piece of ginger played a supporting role. in place of the ginger, a piece of potato would do the same job.

the needle would first be heated. i suppose this was to prevent infection. next, the piece of ginger would be pressed against the back of the ear lobe before the needle, with the red string attached, was pushed into the soft skin and pulled out through the other side. the thread would be left in the hole for a while, until and after the end of a toothpick was pushed into the hole.

my elder girl had her ears pierced when she was in primary six but my younger girl had hers pierced when she was in primary three or four. no, the mother did not it for them; they went to a 'professional'.

actually, the new way of doing it with the piercing gun is no less painful than the old way of using a needle. the only improvement is that the pain inflicted by the gun is shorter whereas in the case of the needle, it depended very much on the skill of the person wielding the needle. whether old or new, there is still the risk of infection.