I decided I wanted my navel scalpelled quite a while ago. Smaller gauged rings tended to migrate quite a bit on me, not to mention it was crooked. I decided I didn't want another tiny little piercing, and asked my friend Pierre if he wanted to scalpel my navel. He said he would, and he had just ordered scalpels! I dug up a 4ga 5/8" plug with slightly rounded ends and o-rings. I took the top ring out and waited a bit. I didn't hear from him, so I figured it was off. He messaged me one day to say the scalpels were in, and to drop off the jewelry, and pick up some sterile gauze that weekend. We agreed to do it Wednesday the 28th.
At A Glance Author San Contact sandraglover@cogeco.ca IAM BlueStar When A week ago Artist Pierre Location Ontario, Canada. On the weekend, we made sure we could do it at that size, with that plug. We could. I wanted to do it then, but we had other arrangements. So I waited it out until Wednesday. Finally, it came. I was slightly anxious all day, which turned into nervousness at night. I called him at about 5:30 and he said to come at 6:30. I rarely get nervous, and when I do, I get really irritable and can't find anything to do. So I watched some TV, and drove over at 6:30. We were doing it in his house, for a comfort level. He set up everything: A mattress with plastic over where my navel would be, and sterile and packaged clamps, surgical marker (which I kept) needle drivers, jewelry, and taper. Sterile lube and sterile gauze were sitting beside them. He unpackaged everything. I'll put a note here that he continuously changed his gloves through the entire procedure.
Pierre cleaned off my navel with iodine and rubbing alcohol first. He surveyed my navel for a few, and marked where it would be straight, saying my old piercing was crooked. I said, "Of course not, I got it done at a crappy shop". He asked if I was nervous, I laughed and said, "Yes". He asked if I minded music, and I said that I didn't. I like having music playing. He didn't have the best choice, but it was decent. After scrutinizing the marks with me lying down and standing up, he drew lines while I was standing. He also used calipers because he's picky. It looked a fair bit deeper than the old piercing, which was good. I lay down on the mattress. He explained that the clamps would be fairly tight and "a pain in the ass". I said that was fine with me.
He put the clamps on, and said it'd take a minute or two to adjust them to the marks. It didn't take that long, and they were not that tight. He asked if the clamps were ok, and I said that they were, "Nothing at all!" Clamp-wise, I've gone through a lot worse, they were tight enough that I knew they were tight, but there was no discomfort. He told me to tell him when I was ready and I lay back with my hands over my chest and said I was ready. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes partially and listened to the music.
I felt him moving towards me, and exhaled as he touched the scalpel to my skin. It pierced through with no problem. He warned me earlier that it would be fairly slow, compared to a navel piercing. I felt the first bit being cut and relaxed completely: It was hardly anything worth getting nervous about. The pain was fairly sharp, and burned. The navel didn't have that extra "edge" that a needle has, especially larger gauge needles, with the bevel exiting. After a minute (more like a few seconds) of the sharp, burning pain he said the scalpel was through and asked how I was. I said I was "Really good". It was amazing, actually. I was completely relaxed, and moments before he did it I had been pondering using EMLA (he offered before) but decided against it. I'm glad I didn't. It was absolutely great. I was on an endorphin high and adrenaline rush for quite a while afterwards.
He tapered it, and told me the taper was through. This is the part most people say hurts the most. I didn't feel it. I thought that he was just moving the scalpel to prepare for the taper. He surveyed it and decided that the plug was too small and grabbed a 4ga ½" ring with a bead that screws on, to save the hassle of openers and closers. I looked at the taper, it was very interesting looking, and there was blood pooling around it. He told me he was putting the ring in, and I exhaled and braced myself a bit. I just felt something moving through the new hole, there was no pain. He screwed the bead on and asked how I was, and how it felt. I said I was "Great, and it was so much less than you'd think." A bit of an anticlimax!
I lay down for a few as he used gauze (held by needle drivers) to mop up some of the blood. Fortunately, I hadn't been drinking any caffeine, or taken any blood thinners any time that week. (Alcohol thins the blood too, but I don't drink alcohol.) It bled fairly constantly for a while, and I put paper towels under it, tucked into my pants, so they didn't get covered in blood. He took a picture of it bleeding, and told me just to let it bleed, and soak it the next day. It started to throb a bit later, but nothing that bad. I very carefully got up, after he made sure I was ok, and helped him upload the pictures to his IAM page. (Digital cameras rule!)
The next day it was sore. Very sore. Tying my shoes was not fun at all. I soaked the blood off around 11'o clock the night before, and when I woke up it was caked in blood again. It bled on and off all day and night. I unscrewed the bead later and put O-rings on very loosely to keep the ring in place, recommended by Pierre. It helped a lot with the weight issue. I horseback rode that day, and it hurt a bit cantering because of the bouncing up and down, but I was wearing loose clothing and it didn't bother it at all. I soaked it with salt water when I got home. That's my only aftercare right now. Salt water soaks after I shower, twice a day, and then cupping warm water around it after to rinse any residue left over. Into the second day, it still bled a tiny bit, enough to crust around the top and bottom.
Loose pants that sit very, very low in any position are a MUST. I also wore baggy sweaters over t-shirts (baggy ones) because they are loose and put no pressure on the piercing. After a couple of days the pain from bending went away, and it was just sore if it got knocked, or hit my pants. That was bad when I went to lean forward and lay on my desk in class, since it would put pressure on it. It stopped bleeding completely Saturday night, and started getting crusties. I also sleep on my side, which bothered it the first two nights because the weight would pull it in that direction. I don't want to think about laying on it yet, and I will send updates when it's healed.
After almost a week, the soreness has gone down from "very sore" to that of a 'standard' navel ring. I have pictures on my IAM page here. Feel free to email me with any questions, or if you're part of IAM, message me.