Where to begin? For the past year or so I've become more and more interested in large gauge piercings. I began the slow process of stretching my ears, but I had a piercing in mind. Up until this point all my of my piercings are facial, and though I like the look of large gauge facial piercings, they're just not for me. There was also the fact that the biggest I had ever been pierced at was a 14g.
At A Glance Author apryl dawn Contact ultra-violet@glamrocker.co.uk IAM glam*rockstar When A week ago Artist Eric Studio Soul Survivors Location winnipeg, manitoba, canada After much thought and some research, I decided that I was time to actually get a 'body' piercing. The final decision was to get my navel pierced at an 8g. I made my decision on the gauge of the piercing by considering my body size and my pain tolerance. I'm not a small girl and I didn't want a small piercing, but I also didn't want to get too ambitious with the size of the needle.
With my decision in mind, I still had one small problem: I had just recently moved to Edmonton and didn't trust anyone but Eric to pierce me. This meant that I would have to wait until January to get the piercing [which was roughly two months away]. I'm normally a very impatient person, but when I comes to mods, I don't mind waiting for quality.
So it was set, I would get pierced on my trip home to Winnipeg. I made the appointment for the 10th of January and got on with my life.
The night before my appointment I started to become extremely nervous about the whole procedure. I had never had a navel piercing or a large gauge piercing, so I had nothing to compare it to. How much was it going to hurt? Thankfully my boyfriend was there to calm me down with reassurances that it wouldn't be anything I couldn't handle. I also managed to find a well-written experience on BME that helped me put things into perspective.
The next day I made my way down to the shop with a brave heart. The first thing I did when I got there was interrogate Jason, fellow iam member and soul survivors counter guy, about the pain factor. As I gave him my id and signed all the forms he told me about his experience with 6g nipple piercings. I believe his words were "it's a bit of a pinch, but I'm sure you'll be fine."
Finally it was time for the piercing...
As soon as I got into the room, I told Eric that I was more than a little nervous. He told me to relax and that we'd take it slow. It great to have a really understanding piercer that you can communicate with.
The first thing he did was put on a pair of gloves, grab his marker and ask me to come stand in front of him. I held my shirt up a bit and we talked while he spent the better part of twenty minutes marking my stomach. As I mentioned before, I'm not a small girl and normally I would be too insecure to stand in front of someone with my stomach hanging out, but Eric made me feel so comfortable that I didn't even think twice about it.
After he was satisfied with his markings, he told me to lie down in the chair so he could clamp the piercing. He explained that he would clamp the area fairly tightly so that it would numb a bit. He was very courteous the whole time making sure that the clamps weren't too tight and that I wasn't uncomfortable.
I laid back to wait for clamps to do their work and my eyes wandered to the surgical tray holding the equipment for my piercing. Eric immediately blocked my view of the needle saying that I probably didn't want to see it. I explained that I wasn't afraid of the needle so much as the pain it was going to cause me.
A few minutes later Eric changed his gloves and told me that he was going to prick the area with the tip of the needle and that I was to tell him how much I could feel. I couldn't feel much more than a little pressure and he seemed satisfied with that. It was time for the actual piercing...
He told me to inhale deeply and that he was going to pierce on the exhale. I took a deep breath and as I let it out I felt the first pop of the needle entering. I felt the needle pass through some flesh and waited for the second pop that comes along with the exit. There was a problem, that second pop was taking a while. Eric explained that he was having trouble getting through the skin on the inside of my navel. I was to take another deep breath, he was going to put more pressure on it and it might hurt.
I believe the next word out of my mouth was "gah!" It didn't hurt so much as feel bizarre. He put a considerable amount of pressure on the needle and it seemed to take forever for it to finally pass through the other side. Just as he was explaining that he was concerned about nicking my stomach when the needle exited, that's exactly what happened. I didn't actually feel the little nick, but Eric was sure upset about it.
Before he replaced the needle with some jewelry, he handed me a mirror so I could take a look at this big needle currently residing in my navel. I must admit, I was impressed and proud of myself. He changed his gloves once again and the jewelry went through.
I stood up and looked at my new adornment in the mirror. I was hyped and ready to go, but Eric insisted that I sit down and let some of the adrenaline wear off. He took a look at my navel and was really impressed with his work, as was I. It suited me perfectly. He handed me a stack of pictures of his forehead implant procedure by Steve Haworth to peruse while I calmed down.
I brought up the subject of cleaning with him because I have never had to deal with a piercing on my body before and also because through past experience I have discovered that my piercings don't react well to being cleaned with any form of agent [and I've tried everything from antibacterial soap to betadine]. We agreed that I would mostly leave the piercing alone and let my body do its work. He said that soaking off the dried white blood cells and doing a salt water soak once a week should be fine.
Finally, the highlight of my day: Eric decided that I should have a memento of my first large gauge piercing and what he had in mind was that big scary needle that laid on the tray not fifteen minutes before. Before I continue I must say that this is not something Eric does often. He has been piercing me since I was 14 and also knows that he can trust me not to run home and try and pierce my friends with it. He sealed up the needle in a lovely glass tube and handed it over to me. I must say, that is one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me. It even had a tiny bit of my blood still on it.
I also had the distinction of being the first navel that Eric has photographed for his portfolio in ten years. It seems that he was REALLY impressed with his work.
So, that's my story. My navel is healing quite well despite some hits in my sleep. I now show my stomach to anyone and everyone who will give me the time of day. It's doing wonderful things for my self-confidence.
My only advice to people interested in this piercing is to not wear white shirts for a few days afterwards. Big holes in your navel seem to like to ooze blood, at least mine did.
Anyways, goodnight and happy piercing!