I have wanted to get my belly button pierced ever since I was about ten years old. One of my baby sitters had hers done, and I thought it was the coolest thing, and I loved to play with it. Of course my parents would NEVER let me get it done at that age, so I waited and waited, but eventually got bored with nagging my rents, and forgot about it.
At A Glance Author Beach Bum Contact beachbumparis@hotmail.com When N/A Artist I forget (maybe Megan?) Studio Tribal Ways Location Boston MA I got my ears pierced for the first time when I was in eighth grade (two years ago). I was 13. About a month after I got them done, I began nagging my parents again to let me get my belly button pierced (particularly my mother, my father would never approve!). She said it was completely out of the question, and that I would have to wait until I was 18. I was so mad, and tried everything from crying to screaming to making up stories about how all my friends had it done, jus to try to convince her - nothing worked.
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went to the sketchiest places I could find in Boston, to see if any of them would pierce me without having an ID. Not one place would pierce me. I was so bummed, and went back to trying to convince my mother. I went on to many different sites (including this one) to find out everything I could about navel piercings. I showed her I was educated about the topic, knew that I was making the right decision in wanting to get one done, that this was something I had thoroughly thought out, and told her that I accepted any of the negative consequences this piercing could produce.
She finally said yes! So off to The Garage we went. But when we got there, the man said that he could not pierce me because I was only 13 years old (even with parental consent, the piercee needed to be at least 16). His reasoning was that I was not yet old enough to be able to take care of my piercing. Hearing the man say this made my mom change her mind completely.
I was so mad, needless to say. So for my entire freshman year of high school, my three other best friends and I tried desperately to convince our mothers. None of us had ours done, but it was our goal to be the only three girls in our freshman class to have them done by the end of the year. The other two got theirs pierced, and my mom finally agreed to letting me get mine done after I got out of school.
So, on June 14, my mother, my best friend and I drove to Tribal Ways in Boston. When we got there, the place looked so fucking sketchy, that even I, after waiting SO long, seriously considered getting it done elsewhere. But all of my other friends who had their navels pierced swore by this place, so I decided that this was the place to get it.
A man with many piercings and tattoos (I think his name was Pedro), handed my mother and I a leaflet with all the information about the process I was about to undergo. He talked about the aftercare process, and how I "need to treat my piercing like an open wound".
My mom signed a bunch of papers, verifying that I was her daughter, that if anything went wrong it wouldn't be Tribal Ways' fault, etc. I then had to select a piece of jewelry that would have to be in the belly button for a minimum of three months. I chose a silver ring with a metallic blue bead, and then Most places will not pierce you with a barbell, because it is more likely to get infected, and infections are disgusting. My friend's is right now, and it smells SO rank, but then again she got it pierced at this other really dingy looking place.
It is a policy of Tribal Way's that only one other person (excluding any of the staff), can be in the piercing room with the person getting pierced. This is because they only want to have to catch one person, if he/she passes out. So my mom sat in the waiting room. Pedro lead me to the actual piercing room. It was so clean, unlike the waiting room. It smelled like chlorine and soap and a bunch of other clean, sterile stuff. He told me to lift up my tank top and tuck it in underneath my bra, and roll my pants down (even though they were low to begin with). He cleaned my belly button with some Ivory soap, and told me that it doesn't hurt, and that even he had his pierced 6 times! That made me feel a lot better, but I wasn't too nervous to begin with.
I laid back in a chair that looks like the kind that you have to sit in when you go to the dentist's office. Then a lady with bleach blonde hair came in, put rubber gloves on and clamped my belly button (this doesn't hurt one bit. I think people thinks it hurts because they are so nervous). She marked my belly button with a pen and asked if it looked like a good place to me. I was so happy to be getting it done that anything would have looked great to me! She took what looked like a wine cork, and balanced it inside my belly button. She explained that this is what the needle would go into so it wouldn't pierce the skin in my belly button. Then she took the needle out of a sterilized package.
I think that is when I began getting really nervous. I was fine up until I saw the needle. It was only about two inches long, but what really scared me is that it was hollow. She told me to take a few deep breaths, which I did. Then she pierced me. Ok yeah, it hurt. Obviously it is going to hurt, I mean you are getting a sharp, hollow needle shoved through your skin. But as soon as the pain started, it stopped. Literally it hurts for one second.
She slid the ring through the hollow part of the needle, took some cotton swabs that had antibacterial shit on them, cleaned it some more, and I was completely done. I went over to the mirror to admire it. It looked great! I was so happy! Then I went out to the waiting room, where about 6 other people were sitting. They all asked to see it and said that it looked great. Even my mother said so :)
So there's my piercing story. The cleaning can get annoying sometimes, but hey it's something that you just have to do to have a pleasurable piercing experience. The staff at Tribal Ways is great, and if you live in the Boston area, I definitely recommend getting anything pierced there (even if it's just your ears). I am going back there when I work up the balls to get my tongue pierced.
Guys love playing with it, and it looks great cause I have a flat stomach. If you are thinking about getting it done, just get it done. Do some research about it, and find a clean place where you like the staff. The little pain that I went through, was definitely worth it in the end! If you want any tips on how to convince your parents, E-Mail them to me.
~~Beach Bum~~