Why on earth would any sane woman with lots of experience in body mods and a great piercer decide to do something as idiotic as piercing her own navel at 8 gauge for no real reason, you might ask. Well, I'll tell you...because I could. And because I'd never done it before. Sorry, that's the best reason I could come up with. While what I did probably isn't the stupidest thing in the world (I did take more care, I feel, than the average DIY), certainly don't take this advice to follow in my footsteps by any means. If you want any mod, it's always best to see a professional.
At A Glance Author destroyed Contact destroyed@bme.anon IAM destroyed When A year ago That said, I had never even wanted a navel piercing. It hadn't crossed my mind. Now, I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this as all different types of people get all different types of mods for all different reasons, but when I personally think "navel piercing" I think of a teen or pre-teen girl who either wants to look like a celeb, is emulating her friends, or just wants to get it done, well, because. And I'm not a teenage girl, I'm 26, and I'm not the bubblegum pop star kind of person at all. As I said, those aren't the only people who get navel piercings so no one come and lynch me, OK?
Anyway, I had read all sorts of DIY navel experience, and somehow the idea crept into my brain that if I wanted to pierce something myself, my navel would probably be my best bet. I'm not sure exactly why I wanted to do it, probably just for the experience. But I had heard the navel isn't that painful at all, and it's in easy reach and view if you're going to attempt it yourself.
I had some brand new jewelry lying around for my anticipated earlobe stretch to 8 gauge soon (yes, I know I said I was stopping at 10...I lied:) and I ordered myself an 8 gauge needle. I figured if I were going to do it, I'd do something at least a little non-standard, and I generally like the look of larger gauge piercings anyway. For another thing, it's not like an 8 gauge needle is going to hurt any worse than a 14 gauge needle.
I work at a university in the biology building, so I'm fortunate enough to have access to an autoclave. I took my steel, 5/8" CBR to work one night, popped it in an autoclave envelope, and ran it a cycle. Now, the autoclave isn't spore tested regularly so this wasn't the smartest thing in the world, but none of the batches of anything I have ever seen come out of there have been contaminated, so I figured I was pretty safe. The odds were better than for alcohol and boiling, anyway. My needle came presterilized, so that wasn't too much of a concern. I'm well aware there can be an invisible hole in the package and that it may no longer be sterile, but again, I figured mostly sterile was better than a safety pin or something of the like.
I went home that night and prepared to pierce. I cleaned my navel with Betadine and marked it with a brand new marker. I had no clamps so I donned gloves, also "borrowed" from work, and used my non-needle hand to hold the skin taught so I could pierce it. I got the needle up against my skin and thought the people who said it didn't hurt was lying. It's one thing to pay someone to inflice pain on you, it's another to do it yourself. You know it's coming, and it's going to hurt. I finally decided to bite the bullet and just gave it a good shove. Damn...it was a little off. Nothing huge though, and I figured it was pretty good for a DIY and barely noticable. I've seen so called professional piercings that looked worse. It bled a small bit, but I wouldn't even call it bleeding so much as I'd call it seeping. Once the needle was through it only hurt for a second.
So there I sat, with a needle in my navel, and that's when I realized it...the autoclaved ring was still in my bag. So I had to get up, careful not to put a hole where I hadn't planned and got the ring. I didn't have another pair of gloves, so I washed my hands extra well and proceeded the follow through from the needle to the ring. I thought that would be the hardest part when in fact, it was the easiest. I clipped the bead on the ring and cleaned up the little bit of blood with a tissue and went to bed.
All was well the next morning and I actually liked the look of it, and I proceeded with my usual aftercare of Satin or Provon soap in the shower. It never got infected, and probably would have healed if I didn't 1) have a physical job that involves a lot of bending and lifting 2) didn't have a navel that sits rather low on my torst and 3) would have used a smaller ring or a curved barbell. It didn't reject, but it was horribly irritated and painful all the time. I wasn't attatched to the piercing and it was done more for the experience anyway, so a month or so after I pierced it, I retired it. I only have small scar where it was and there were no complications.
While I did this as safely as I could, there were definitely flaws in my plan. I don't suggest anyone assume they can substitute the cleanliness of a professional environment at home, even if you have access to an autoclave and a sterile needle (both of which may not even be sterile). If there is a reason that you either want to or feel you must pierce yourself, however, at least try to do it in a manner that is as close to a professional procedure as you can get. While it's not a substitute for a skilled professional, remember it's your body and you should treat it with respect, and it wil respect you.