well. i love belly button piercings. theyre so pretty and feminine and look really sexy on the right person. i dont have the flattest belly but i'm not a total heifer; they look a lot nicer on a toned stomach. but anyway, i figured that having my navel pierced would be a great incentive to get thinner.
At A Glance Author emma Contact emma@bme.anon Artist some bloke Studio adorn Location bristol, uk so, i was 16 when i had it done. my mummy came with me to have it done, cos the place is kinda strict on ages. i picked out a really cute bar, stainless steel with a purple gemstone. i was so scared before i had it done! this was the only piercing i had apart from my ears... the first "proper" one, the first with a needle anyway!
the studio was located sort of within a hairdressers... the room and the company were seperate but there was the same waiting room and the piercing room was a little seperate room next door. when the piercing was done i had no idea about what was going to happen, so i just got a bit scared. but it was quick, easy and pain-free and the place seemed sterile enough. i had a patch thingy put on top of it afterwards - all good stuff. i was given some aftercare stuff, aromatherapy one with tea tree oil. apparantly it heals it up just great.
anyway, my piercing was so cute to begin with. it didnt get infected exactly, it just started going a big sore. within a week the whole area was completely red. i kept using the aromatherapy oil but it didnt seem to help. i figured this was a normal thing, and that it would go down soon, but it didnt... it kept bleeding and there was a huge scab on the top of it that wouldnt go. gross, huh.
well, i kept trying with it for a while. i went back to the place a few months later and had the bottom of my belly button pierced too. the piercer commented that my top one looked kinda red but just said to keep using the oil. i had a little ring with a diamondy type jewel in the closure in it. it looked really really gorgeous, if you ignored the swelling and the redness.
but, it didnt seem to be working. the gap between the two holes of the top piercing seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, so i ended up taking it out. at this point, the holes were about 2mm apart! it was really sad, cos i really wanted it to work. then the middle bit that was left between the holes actually fell out... my belly button looked disgusting... there was loads of blood and just a couple of bumps either side of where the piercing used to be.
and me being the clever girl i am, decided to do a bit of home surgery. i didnt want a bumpy navel! so i set about fixing it with a blade i nicked from my mum (she works in a hospital). i numbed it with some vodka, which stung to buggery but worked eventually, then i basically flattened it out... i dont know if this was a good idea, but the areas kinda smooth now its healed. it bled so much when i did this. ugh.
anyway, that one healed. i had a horrid scar for ages afterwards, which is beginning to fade now. i've got some pinky scar tissue.
but that was not the end. the bottom piercing never really healed either... it didnt get inflamed and sore like the top one, it just grew out. so now i have two scars. the bottom one came out a couple of months after the top one, but the scar is much darker for some reason. its also a lot smaller. im hoping that one day they'll both heal completely and fade and i can get it repierced.
so, why didnt it work?? several reasons, i think.
firstly, i later learned that if the crease in your belly when you sit down goes across your navel, a piercing is less likely to work because it gets moved around more. and mine does :(
secondly, i bought some tea tree oil face stuff when i got a sudden breakout of horrible spots :( and i came out in a dodgy rash... i've tried it a couple of times now and it seems that i'm allergic to tea tree oil. so putting it in a fresh piercing probably didnt help!!
thirdly, i admit that when my piercing refused to heal i did start to play with it to try and help it. bad idea!!! it just made it hurt more.
i dont think i'll be going back to adorn - i've had all my piercings since done at holey skin, and they've all healed no problemo. next time i'm down there (which will be next week to have my tongue pierced!) i'll ask the piercer lady about having it repierced and whether it will take or not. i'll have to tone up my beer gut first though... he he he.
so, if you're thinking of getting ur belly button pierced... please dont let my story put you off, most heal fine and look gorgeous! but be careful with the aftercare. if something seems to be making it worse, go back to the piercer or your doctor and get it checked out before its too late! and if a piercing seems to be migrating, your best bet is probably to take it out rather than letting it grow out - much less chance of scarring that way. and keep yer hands off until its healed perfectly!