So here I am again. I think by now that you should know who I am, but just in case, I have VCH, tragus, labia, tongue, nipple, and tattoo experiences on this site, all under the same name. So check them out! After acquiring 15 other piercings (and retiring one) I figured it was finally time to get my navel pierced, to complete the collection. Also, I've recently lost 15 pounds, so now that my tummy is all nice, I figure I might as well have something done to celebrate that! Hey, any excuse to get a piercing is acceptable to me at this point.
At A Glance Author Mini Kittie Contact Mini Kittie@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Craig Studio Passage Location Church St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada After piercing my own labia and letting that one heal, and trying desperately to heal my tragus (which has yet to stop hurting), I was down to only one healing hole, and therefore I thought that I could handle two at the same time. So off I go to the wonderful Passage (yet again) and hand in a CBR to get autoclaved (saves me $20 and is well worth it). Friday morning, I wake up and for some reason I'm all jittery, even though I've read countless navel piercing stories on the wonderful BME and therefore have no reason to be afraid. So I get to the shop with my boyfriend and we sit around talking to the very talented Blair about the current NIX tattoo convention in Toronto (which I missed due to work), and waited for the jewelry to finish cooling.
We then followed Craig, who I had just met that day, into his very cool green private piercing room, and start to rehash all the aftercare (which I've only heard a million times now). I filled out the standard I'm-over-16-and-aren't-on-drugs sheet, read over the contract and signed my life away.
He started by getting all the tools out and putting them in a steel bowl lined with sterile cloth, pulling them out of the autoclave packages one by one with gloved hands. Then he changed gloves and took out a toothpick and the violet marking ink, and asked me to stand up while he marked the spot. I said it looked fine, and lay down on the padded table.
Craig proceeded to explain the clamps, put on the clamps, and change his gloves again. As I heard him open the needle package, I suddenly remembered that one night when I was bored I had pierced my navel but let it close up. Which means that Craig would be piercing scar tissue! Ouch. Too late though, and he shoved the needle through. Let me tell you folks, don't pierce scar tissue. As someone who just got her 15th piercing, this one HURT. A lot. I was fine after my labia, I was fine after my tragus, but damn was I dizzy after this one!
Anyways, in the end I have a nice little 14 gauge CBR with the standard black bead in my navel, and I'm quite happy with it. However, the next day (Saturday) I had to work at my outdoor job for 10 and a half hours straight, in the heat. By the end of the day, my navel was not happy with me, having been sweated on and crunched up for 10 hours. One salt soak that night calmed some of the pain though, and I slept with no problems. Until I rolled onto my stomach and woke up the next morning covered in blood!
Today is Sunday, and I've had my piercing for 3 days now. While I'm still happy with it, it doesn't really thrill me as much as it did when I got it. I suppose it's because it's been a pain in the ass to take care of, and the CBR is really ugly. I'm still trying to heal my stubborn tragus, and I'm sure that that infection is not helping this new piercing heal any faster.
Some tips, I suppose, for anyone that wants their navel pierced. Number 1: take good care of it, especially if you're a slow healer like me. I know that's standard advice but it really helps on a surface piercing such as a navel. Number 2: try not to wear tight pants and then sit down all day in the heat and sweat on it. Sweat is salty but it's not the good kind of salt!! (That would be sea salt by the way). And number 3: keep it out of the sun! I let mine get sun today and it's very red and very unhappy with me. Hopefully it'll calm down by morning with some tender salty care, but for now I type this with a very straight back, trying to keep pressure off the ring.
And for all those people out there who say that navels are for teenybopper little girls, I'm the farthest you could ever be from that description, and yet I have a navel piercing. I got mine because it celebrates me feeling good about a troublesome part of my body, and now is that just a trend?
Good luck and happy piercing.