When I was young I always felt I was different from my friends. I felt more of a need to stand up for my opinions and be unique than they seemed to. By the time I was eleven or twelve I knew I was different. I started looking for ways to make myself feel balanced by making my outside as different as my inside seemed. When I was about thirteen I went through a period where I quickly lost all the friends I had grown up with and found a tight knit group who I felt appreciated me. This was also about the time when I became fascinated with the idea of body modification. I thought they made people look so much more interesting. I knew immediately that this was one way I could display my differences. I began contemplating what I should have done. I figure a navel piercing would be an appropriate first step down what has proved to be a long, hard road.
At A Glance Author Whitney Contact fuzzybeast_inc@hotmail.com IAM Fuzzybeast When Two years ago Artist a guy with shaky hands Studio Agitprop Location it's long gone now When I brought up the idea of piercings my mom's only rule was "nothing on the face." My dad was a bit stricter. It took me about two or three months to convince him to let me get my navel done. But soon enough I found myself on my way to the piercer's with my sister and a friend. I chose a place that had been recommended by some friends.
When we arrived we were greeted by the piercer. Either I can't recall his name or he didn't tell me. I'm not too sure. Anyway, we went through the normal papers, questions about other piercings (I had none) and what I had eaten that day. I paid the $40 CND then headed to the backroom.
He took his time cleaning and marking my belly button. Then he'd have me stand up, check to see if it lined up, then clean and mark it again. It took about 20 minutes before he was satisfied with the placement. He had me lie down as he prepared the clamp and needle. While I waited I watched his hands shake as he handled the small rings. He assured that was just "his natural shake". That scared me even more than watching my nervous sister (who'd had her navel pierced twice before) bounce around the room.
He explained exactly what he was going to do, and then he clamped my belly button. (I had been told that the clamp hurt a lot, so I was really surprised when it didn't). He told me to breathe then counted to three before jabbing me. I felt the needle go through, but it wasn't really painful. He took out the needle, put in my ring (which hurt more than the piercing) and told me he was finished. I could barely believe it. I was even a little disappointed with the lack of pain. I still wish that I'd been allowed to watch. It stung for about half an hour and then it only hurt when I touched it, or bent over. It was really tender for the next few weeks.
I cleaned it twice a day with tea tree face wash from the body shop like I had been shown and did salt soaks every couple days. It healed nicely and I was really pleased with it.
The only time I ran into trouble was after I'd had it for about 6 months and I decided that the ring was too plain. I bought a pretty little barbell and stuck it in. That all went great until it started to swell. I got a huge red sore right on top of my piercing (not around the holes) that kind of looked like a blister. It was all pussy and really gross looking. I started to take out the barbell while I cleaned it and the ball of yuck went away after a week or two. When it cleared up I stopped taking out the bar to clean it (stupid me) and it got infected again. It got better really quickly when I took the bar out to clean it again though. Since then, I've had no problems with it. I'm still not sure what caused the infection. I know it wasn't an allergy to the jewelry because I wore that barbell for atleast a year (until I lost the beads and had to replace it).
It's been several years since my first piercing and it's still doing fine. Since then I've added many more to my collection and I plan to keep going. Sometimes, I almost hesitate to continue this path, although I know I need to. I have realized as I've developed that many people I love disapprove of what I am doing and are not strong enough to love me back because of my changes. Thankfully, I have found some who can support me in this. I hope that someday I can feel complete and know that my appearance matches my personality.