well i was looking around on bme one day, and came across a picture of a navel piercing! and it looked really neat and unique...and since not very many people in my school had it, i thought why not? so i asked my dad if i can have my belly pierced, and he said i can but i have pay for it and to take care of it properly. so i made an appointment on a sunday evening on a friday. two more days to wait! :P well, *fast foward to sunday*
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact crazyness_17@hotmail.com Artist Jeff Studio Aware (Ah-wah-re) Location ....... the day of my appointment: i was excited and wasn't nervous at all for some reason. i still coudln't believe that i was gonna get it done and i also couldn't wait to show it off. :) the day flew by and before i knew it, it was 5 pm - time to go! so my dad and i drove off to aware (a tattoo/piercing parlor) and the whoel ride there i was nervous and thinking things like what if something goes wrong? what if the piercer goes too deep and punctures my stomach? how bad will this hurt? (even though i read all kinds of stuff in bme about how people said that navel piercings don't hurt that much at all.) i finally arrived at aware, went in, confirmed my appointment, signed forms, paid and picked out my jewelry. (a silver and shiny bluish barbell) then comes the main part (DUN DUN DUN...^^)
then i went to one of the back rooms where Jeff pulled the curtain across (my dad came too by the way). while the piercer was getting ready, she explain to me how she will pierce my belly. (put clamps on..breathe in...and she'll pierce me when i breathe out.) she got everything out of the packages, put on some latex gloves on, and then the clamps. i have heard that the clamps was the most disliked part of the piercing. i would have to agree. and then after changing gloves again, she was ready. fortuantely i coudln't see the needle, otherwise, as dad said later, i probably would have chickened out at the size of the needle. he also thought it would have hurt much more...but he was wrong. :) anyways...i breathed in, then out, and in went the needle! i was suprised since it didn't hurt AT ALL. just a tiny pinch. then Jeff put the jewelry in (which hurt a little bit), and then i was done! yeah! :) after admiring my new piercing in the mirror, getting the aftercare instructions, the saline solution and sea salt, i went on home. i was one happy girl that night let me tell you. hehehe. :D i couldn't stop looking and playing with it!!
the next day, i showed it off to everyone in school, and everyone was like "awesome!" and "i can't believe you did it!"or the typical and annoying question "did it hurt?" that day was a happy day too. hehe. and i'm glad that i still have the piercing, and it's doing fine. even though every now and then it's been sore. i remember during the first months i got it pierced i was cleaning it religiously with the saline solution. and every once in a while with sea salt water soaks. the only bad thing was that it almost swimming season, and i don't think i was allowed in the pool full of chlorine. but my piercing was fine after swimming so i was hapy and relieved. i have to admit that i'm not cleaning it as much, but i clean it every time i'm in the shower. i'm hoping that whenever i would have enough money i can change my jewely to something a little better maybe sometime before school starts. i dunno, though. i'll see.
Q & A:
Q: How bad did the piercing hurt?
A: The piercing didn't hurt that much at all. It was only a sharp and little pinch, but soon went away. But I think people are different; some people might feel more pain than others.
Q: How long is the healing period?
A: The healing period can take anywhere from a month to even an year (or so) depending on the person, and how he/she cleans the piercing.
Q: How often do you have to take care of your piercing?
A: It would have to be cleaned with once or twice daily with saline solution. Or do a 5 minute sea salt water soak (mix sea salt with warm water, put into small cup, hold over piercing).
Q: How do you take care of the piercing?
A: Wash your hands first. And then apply saline solution to your clean hand, and cleanse the area of piercing and jewelry. also gently rotate jewelry so that the solution will go into the piericing. (and no it's not harmful.) then rinse the area with water, and again rotating jewerly so that solution will be rinsed out as well.
ps: to those who live in the santa fe area, i reccommend Aware which is on 1430 Cerrillos road, and also reccommend the person who pierced me, who is Jeff. She's professional, nice, and will answer all your questions - just like the other peple who work there. so it's all good. :)