I know many girls out there have had a very good experience in piercing, including mine, but it is the aftercare that usually gets to you. Your belly button is one of the dirtiest places, and if you are thinking about getting it pierced, I would suggest you be ready to "baby" it. With that said, here is my experience.
At A Glance Author Angie Contact Angie@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Jennifer Studio Unknown Location Arizona
My mother dislikes piercing of all kinds. She was even a little squeamish about letting me get my ears pierced. But I had bugged her long enough, and finally one day when we were coming home from Wal-Mart she decided to stop by the local piercing shop. We pulled off the road, and walked upstairs. The sign on the door said "Open", and we rang the doorbell, but no one answered the door *The door was locked, and we couldn't enter*. So my mom and I got back into the car, I was broken hearted, and we went home. I would say it was about a week after that, I was still bugging her, that she finally had enough. She has stopped by the piercing shop a while back and gotten a business card, and told me to call them and set up and appointment. I am afraid of calling people I don't know so obviously, I really didn't want to call the place to set up an appointment. Thinking on the sneaky side, I called up one of my friends and asked her to call the shop. She agreed and we were al most off the phone when my mom heard my plan. She was like "I don't think so...if you want this piercing bad enough, you have to call the shop." I was busted. "Okay...I can do this" I thought as I started dialing the number. My stomach tied in knots as I heard the ringing. A man answered the phone, and I very shyly told him what I wanted. We set up an appointment date *3:00 that day* and I hung up the phone with a big sigh. My mother on the other hand decided to go off on me. She ripped me a new ass, and finally yelled out "Fine, if you want to mutilate your own body, go right on ahead." And I did. That is exactly what I did.
My mother drove me down to the piercing shop, and as I got out of the car, my stomach wrenched into a big knot. I realized, this was going to happen. As I walked up the stairs I felt my feet getting heavier. But I kept my cool in front of my mom. Or at least tried to. The man came out and handed my mom a piece of paper. He had to verify that my mother was really "my mother" and that I was her daughter, because I was underage. After my mom filled out the paper, this lady *Jennifer* walked out and asked me what gauge I wanted. She told me that 14G was the most popular, and that is what I decided to get.
She walked me back into the piercing room, and told me to lift up my shirt. After she cleaned my stomach, and dotted where the piercing was going to go, she asked me to lay down. I hesitated for a minute, looked my mom in the eyes, and sat down on the bed. "Okay now lay back and get comfy while I prepare." Jennifer said. My mom watched her pull all of the stuff out of sterile bags, and I think my mom was a little relived. As she leaned over and put the clam on, which really didn't hurt unlike everyone says, I started to freak out. "Mom come hold my hand...please." I pleaded. My mom couldn't because she would get in Jennifer's way, so she just stood as close as possible. "Okay, close your eyes and take three deep breaths. At the end of the third breath, I will slide the needle through." "Yeah right, slide " I thought. One....Two....Three. And it was through. Honestly, it didn't even hurt. It just felt kind of odd. Like a little pinch, not even, and that was it. She p ut the hoop in, and told me to sit up. As I sat up I started to feel REALLY faint. "Do you want some water?" she asked. "No, I am just going to sit here for a minute." I said back, admiring my new piercing in the mirror. I stood up and looked at it. It was a little red, but wow it looked good. I was proud of myself. Finally something I can show off.
Now, a couple of months after I had my piercing done, I want to say 4 months, it got really infected. I didn't "baby" it enough. Yes, I cleaned it every time I thought about it, which was a lot, but I also picked up the habit of playing with. So I would be sitting in class, moving my barbell up and down, which really isn't a good thing with dirty hands. Before I knew it, I had a really bad infection around my piercing. To give you some details, trying not to make you sick, it started out hard around the hole at first. I thought it was healing, so when I took out my hoop, in exchange for my barbell, and when I was trying to get my barbell through, it wouldn't slide in. I panicked and decided to try to put the barbell in from the topside. Not a smart idea. I ended up poking a hole in the very delicate scar tissue, which very quickly became infected.
All my friends told me to take it out, after they saw the really really yellow puss that was oozing out of it, but I was stubborn. My last resort was to do what everyone told me NOT to do. Pour Peroxide on it. Now, from what I have heard, hydrogen peroxide is the WORSE thing you could put on a piercing, but I did it anyway. That was my last resort. And it worked.
My infection cleared up within a month, and I am very pleased with my piercing. I don't show it off as much as I want to, but the people who do see it, are very happy with it . If you are planning on getting a belly button piercing, just be prepared to clean it A LOT. And try not to play with it. I know that sometimes that can be hard, especially when you are bored, but trust me, it is worth it.