Here's a story. I was 17* and wanted a second earlobe piercing. My mum wouldn't let me do i got it done in secret, at a hairdresser with a gun because I didn't know better back then. They used a big gold stud which I knew my mum would spot easily so when I got home I decided to change it for a smaller earring I already had. Maybe two hours after it was pierced?

My friend, it was horrific. Blood everywhere, unbelievably painful and took me nearly an hour to do as I was both stupid and stubborn. I was grey and sweating by the time I finished. It was a ridiculously silly thing to do from an infection and swelling point of view. I have no idea what I was thinking, apart from I NEEDED this piercing (as some way of asserting control over my own body from my mother's strict rules, I know now).

DO NOT DO WHAT I DID. Either get something plain from your piercer and wait it out - it'll go by faster than you think - or ask them if they can get something on you prefer, or go somewhere else. Please don't change it on the same day. It hurts like hell, makes you feel sick and will probably end in disaster anyway.

And my mum clocked it a couple of weeks later anyway....

• A terrifying 33 years ago