When I was sixteen, I went on a ski trip with a bunch of my friends in Canada. Since none of us were old enough to get it done in the states, we all decided to pierce our bellybuttons at a studio in the little ski town. The day before we left (so we wouldn't injure our new piercings snowboarding) we went to the place. Luckily for us, he did not check for ID since none of us were 18. I don't even know what the legal age for piercings and tattoos is in Canada. All I do know is that most people from my high school went over to Windsor for their tattoos and piercings. Although a bellybutton piercing isn't especially original, I still liked it.
At A Glance Author Kat Contact sunfish90@aol.com When Six months ago Location Ann Arbor, MI The bad thing was that I had done it against my mother's orders. She found out about it so I had to take it out. Now, there is a tiny white dot where the piercing used to be. Looking at it now, it was not nearly deep enough and crooked. Perhaps I should have checked into who I was getting the piercing from! You do stupid things when you are young.
At the end of my first year of college, I decided to get my bellybutton pierced again. My good guy friend from home was visiting me that weekend, so he and my boyfriend and I went to the piercing place, and of course had our ritual pizza dinner first. My guy friend had gotten his tongue pierced at that very place a few weeks before. I am proud to say that in addition to the tongue piercing, he also has an industrial piercing in his year and his nipple pierced. And an awesome shamrock tattoo on his shoulder.
But I digress.
After our pizza dinner, we headed up the stairs. The tattoo place is next to a head shop, so we stopped in there first and checked out the lovely glassware. Then, we headed into the place for the piercing.
After he thoroughly checked my ID, copied it, I filled out the paperwork. While I was doing that, he made fun of my guy friend for a while.
Then we headed into the piercing room. There was a big television inside for people to watch while they were getting their tattoos. The other side had a chair and a counter with a sink and all of his supplies.
He set out the clamp, a new needle, opened up a new ring and smeared it with some goo so it would slide in more easily. I tucked my shirt up into my bra and undid the top of my pants so the clothes wouldn't get away of him working. He put on a pair of gloves after washing his hands and had me stand up so I would get a straight piercing. He sat on a chair in front of me and put on the clamp on my bellybutton. The clamp didn't hurt because your bellybutton is just made of skin. Pinch it, go ahead. You can barely feel it.
I sat back on a chair and leaned back. He didn't mark the spot he was going to pierce with a marker or anything. He took the needle and pushed it through my skin. Something I remember from when I got my bellybutton pierced for the first time is that my skin is really thick and it was hard to push the needle through. The same thing happened this time, he had to use some muscle to get it through. After it was over, my friends told me that they had heard a pop when he finally got it through. After the needle was through, he left it in there for a minute, then switched it for the jewelry. The whole thing only took a couple of seconds and really didn't hurt at all. I had a great looking ring in my bellybutton, pierced straight and a good depth.
That night, my friends and I went to a foam party. Perhaps that wasn't the best idea because I had the new piercing, but I washed it in the shower when I got home and everything was fine. I continued to clean it once or twice a day in the shower with Dial complete foaming soap. I really liked the foaming soap because I didn't have to lather it. It was much easier to clean this way. I also did salt soaks sometimes.
The one setback in the healing process was when my dog jumped up onto me once and hooked the ring with her paw. The skin ripped a little and bled, so i had to take extra special care of it after that. It has been five months since I have gotten it pierced and I am careful to clean it daily still. If I don't, it starts to ooze a little. I changed the ring after two months. The was a little too early, you are supposed to wait longer than that, but I wanted a sparkly jewel instead of just a plain ring. Now my bellybutton is looking super sexy with an awesome curved barbell with a blue jewel on it.