I pierced both of my ears myself when I was 16. Uhh that would be 27 years ago
My hair was also down to mid back. (yeah my folks loved me...)
I used a large safety pin for the poke, 2 cubes of ice for a minute to numb, and a cut slab of a raw potato to rest against the backside of my lobe for sturdiness. It freekin' hurt like hell and the sound of the popping through that flesh I'll never forget. I ended up piercing 4 of my friends ears afterwards using the same method. We were in a band so we were super cool. You have to remember (if you can) this was in the mid 80's so it was certainly frowned upon in the South. (just misunderstood really)
I stopped wearing earrings in the late 90's guess it just got old and was too trendy at the time. I tried my sisters on the other day and the holes are still good
A little jbdan history for your viewing pleasure =)