I had originally had my navel pierced almost 5 years ago, which you can read about in my previous experience: A navel perspective. I had still never changed the jewelry from the original, plain stainless steel barbell that I was pierced with. I'd been quite contented to leave it as is and just think it a hair more towards the permanent side.
At A Glance Author snowmellen Contact snowmellen@bme.anon IAM snowmellen When A month ago Location Guelph, Ontario, Canada 14 to 12
However, about 2 months ago, one of my courses included some work with a 3 Tesla MRI at a research hospital nearby. Something I was really looking forwards to; but working with a magnet of that magnitude I definitely wanted to have no metal in me whatsoever. So the night before I found myself replacing every piece of stainless steel in my body with homemade plastic retainers. After a good half an our of straining with a pair of rubber-band-wrapped needle nose pliers and that curved barbell, I felt the telltale "give" on the top ball signaling that it was actually able to be unscrewed.
I slowly unscrewed the ball from the barbell and removed it from the hole. It was a little shocking; it had been years since I'd seen my navel naked. As I went to place the barbell into a little plastic baggie for later replacement, I spied one of the 12 gauge acrylic CBRs I'd used in my ears almost 3 years ago.
I have always loved the look of larger navels and had always loosely planned on making mine bigger, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. A quick trip to the bathroom and now navel, hands and CBR were scrubbed as clean as antibacterial soap could make them.
I lubed the CBR up with a bit of J&B aftercare ointment on a q-tip and threaded it gently against the inner part of the hole. I pushed without much force and it slid most of the way in, and I could actually see the rounded end peeking through. A little more pressure and I could see the fistula elevated and exposed. I'd always been able to do this with my navel piercing. I suspect that the scar and skin tissue tube isn't adhered firmly to the loose connective tissue below and so is easily movable. Never caused me any trouble though, just needs to be "arranged" sometimes.
Anyways, just another slight increase in pressure, a quick feeling of mild heat and it was through. Not much effort at all and it felt pretty damned happy. I cleaned up the area, finished replacing the rest of my metal, and went to bed.
I scrubbed it the next morning in the shower with my antibacterial soap and it was happy, but over the next few days it got a little angrier. I just kept up with the antibacterial cleaning and application of tiny amounts of J&B and within a week the inflammation was gone.
12 to ....
A month later I was getting a little frustrated with the acrylic CBR. The light blue was far less visible against my skin than the barbell had been; and I was really missing metal in my midriff. That, and I was concerned about the flimsy acrylic breaking or flexing and having the ball fall out. So, in the interests of getting to my goal of "big", I tried to work in the 8 gauge taper. I figured I'd go halfway, and then wear it there with o-rings as I gradually worked it through over the next week or two.
I've had this same bright idea before with my lobes, and it's never worked. Skipping gauges and me just never works. I need to learn that.
I was freshly showered from the gym, so I gave the (already cleaned and only ever used for my ears) taper and lubed it with J&B, removed the CBR and threaded in the taper. Slid about 1/3 of the way in without opposition, and then met resistance. Substantial resistance. I applied a bit of pressure and it hurt slightly, but not in a burning, tissue-that's-going-to-stretch kind of way. More like an obstinate no-way-won't-budge manner. My navel was definitely not having any of this.
I didn't even bother applying any more pressure, just cleaned up and put everything away. I think the biggest problem with trying the halfies approach is that a) there's no real concrete goal for me to achieve by the stretch, so I don't know how much is too much or too little to push my body, and b) the damned taper itself, I end up almost at an 8 gauge at one side of the hole, while still only at 12 gauge on the other.
So I ordered a nice, excellently-priced 10 gauge curved barbell from BodyArtForms.com. And spending even a little bit of money on some jewelry will induce me to wear it longer to "get my money's worth". And that's always a good thing when it comes to stretching.
12 to 10
Just under 2 weeks later my 10 gauge barbell arrived in an exciting little brown envelope a day before I left town for the Christmas holidays. I carried around the package all day at work, and then immediately when I got home I beelined for the bathroom.
I removed the little 12 gauge acrylic CBR I'd replaced after the unfortunate taper incident and scrubbed down my navel, the new jewelry and my hands. Not that the new jewelry needed a scrub, or that antibacterial soap could do anything anyways, but it made me feel good.
I unscrewed the ball from the barbell end and lubed the rounded shaft with a bit of J&B on a q-tip. I opted to start from the inside of my navel and go up, so I could clearly see what I was doing and the status of the hole, since it had only been 6 weeks since I had gone to 12 and I usually like to take things much slower.
Applying a little bit of pressure got the shaft of the barbell about halfway through and elevated the fistula again. I could clearly see the metal peeking through, with only a small ring around the perimeter obscured by taught skin. I applied a bit more pressure and the area reddened. I applied just a touch more, thinking: "if this doesn't go I'll put everything away and wait". And then there was a sudden, small popping sensation and the jewelry slid in smoothly.
I cleaned the excess J&B from the area, washed my hands and left it alone. It was feeling quite nice, not painful at all. Later that night as I was packing, it was feeling a little warm so I gave it a warm salt soak by vacuum sealing a glass to my stomach; that made it feel immensely better.
I cleaned it in the shower with Spectro-Jel the next day, the barbell moved and turned freely without discomfort. I continued this specific cleaning for the next week or so, I was very active during that time and I knew that had always irritated my navel in the past.
Interestingly, the original barbell (3/4") had always been too long for the hole and the shaft had been visible. I'd always planned on getting a shorter one, but got used to it after awhile. When I bought the 10 gauge barbell, I felt that I was so used to seeing the shaft that I opted for the 3/4" shaft instead of a 1/2". I'm really glad I did, since what I didn't think of at the time was that length for curved barbell is measured independent from the curvature. So the 3/4" shaft is just the right size, with a bit of room for play; but the 1/2" would have likely been far too small.
For now, I'm really enjoying the 10 gauge barbell. It's chunky and metal and just thick enough that it's obviously different than it was before. Eventually I'm panning on going larger, likely a 2 or 0 gauge, for which I may have to scalpel if I don't have the tissue for it. But for now, I'm quite contented to sit back and enjoy this stage in the journey.