I had been wanting a body piercing other than my ears for a long time. I had always been fascinated by them and would occasionally poke a few on my own in my ears and such but never keep them in. But unfortunatly for me my mom has something against them on me and wont let my get anything facial done. She's worried about me scarring my face...meh.
At A Glance Author *Alexis* Contact cattykittie13@gurlmail.com Artist I forgot =( Studio Annapolis Fun City Location Annapolis, MD I kept asking for something, and eventually convinced my mom to let me get my navel pierced (I wasnt that interested in it because it was beginning to become a trend, but I thought what the hell, its something) So a few months later while we were at the beach a friend and I walked into one of the many stores we kept seeing. Even though at the time I didnt know alot about piercings and wasnt sure what to expect as far as cleanliness and other issues went I ended up asking alot of questions. Most of them about the whole responsability and pain issue, but the lady ended up telling me alot about how they sterilize and what materials they use. I was pretty sure I wanted to do this so I dragged my mom down there with me only to find that you had to be 14 even with a parent. So a disappointed yet slightly relieved me walked out with out a new hole.
Home I went after about a week and I found BME. Doing alot of research I was totally ready to be pierced. So my long awaited 14th birthday finally came so I began to look for a local piercing shop. Eventually we ended up driving to Annapolis Fun City in Maryland considering it had been recommended to us. (and Im glad I didnt get it done at the beach, Ive since heard many horror storied although I do think the shop I was going to go to was decent...at least they didnt use piercing guns)
We finally got there and they were expecting us since we had called in earlier. I choose a plain 14G barbel. I was alittle worried about the shop at first because they had a few kids running around and the piercing chair was right out in the open rather than in a private closed off room. I sat on the chair anyways. My piercer (her name escapes me)began steralizing everything and made sure to show me that everything came in a sealed packet and had never been used. She kept me calm by talking and making me laugh while she cleaned. She then opened anything that would be dirty, washed her hands, and finally put on her gloves.
She marked my navel and made sure I liked it...which I did. She placed the clamp on which to me didnt hurt at all. I looked away and felt an extremely sharp pinch...no worse that getting your ears done. SO I stood up feeling perfectly normal and the piercing looked great. She went through the after care, telling me to cleanse it with liquid anti-bacterial soap and follow that with betadine. Although a few months later when I went to get my ears stretched at a different place I was told that betadine dries it out and makes your piercing look like crap as its healing (which is true) so you should actually use the yellow sea breeze astringent...which works well although it isnt very friendly the first few times you use it.
Its almost been three months and my piercing has so far healed beautifully just in time for summer. The wait is worth it, (dont try to this this by yourself) and when it comes down to it waiting for about a year before getting anything (especially something permanent like a tattoo) is good because then you'll know that you really want it. Also make sure you check up on the place before you go. Be sure that they single use and sterilize everything and can answer all of your other questions you may have. And of course dont be afraid to ask people about their piercings (although "Did that hurt?" gets alittle old) it's a good way to meet people and learn to make sure that you get a safe piercing.
I do have to warn you though, the "piercing addiction" people talk about isnt a lie. Im now working on a way to convince my mom to let me get my eyebrow pierced. If not Ill go for another navel.
Ok, so if your thinking about this I say go for it...but only because you want it. Not because your friends think its cool. Happy piercing, and feel free to e-mail me with any questions and stuff.