I'm not someone who's wanted my belly-button pierced since I was twelve. Though I always thought they could look cute I never considered one for myself. Actually, I wasn't much into piercings in general, I have 6 lobe piercings altogether and a cartilage piercing, all done by the evil gun but like most people who get their ears pierced in childhood how the hell was I going to know that that was bad. Anyway, I rarely wear earrings in any of them.
At A Glance Author mlt Contact mlt@bme.anon When N/A Artist don't remember Studio Defiance Location British Columbia While I may not have been into piercings my whole life, I've been fascinated by tattoos for a long time. I remember my first two encounters with tattooed people, the first was my uncle's best friend who has a very very small tattoo on his arm. The second was an elder at my church who has a half sleeve. Neither fit with the stereotypical image of the tattooed biker. Now you may wonder what this has to do with a navel piercings but bear with me because that's how it all got started.
After many years of contemplating what I would get for a tattoo, my best friend said she was going to get a tattoo and since she knew I'd always wanted one too suggested we go together. So we did. That was my first encounter with an actual tattoo/piercing studio and while we were waiting for our artist to finish someone's tattoo I checked out the case of piercing jewelery. I was amazed at the assortment of navel jewelery and began to consider getting one myself. I might have gotten it then and there if I hadn't been getting a tattoo on my lower back and concerned that one would interfere with the healing of another. Besides, I prefer to do some research before I get holes poked into my skin.
I thought about it off and on after that, frequently saying I wanted one and combing through many experiences on BME but never taking the initiative. I wasn't worried about pain or anything like that, the moment was just never right. You see, my tattoo was a deeply emotional thing for me. I'd come off of a really bad year and had made some important life decisions, my tattoo was for me a way of marking that and for that reason both the tattoo itself and the procedure are of tremendous importance to me. Maybe it's stupid but I didn't want to just go into a piercing studio and get my navel pierced. I wanted it to mean something to me.
Fast forward nearly two years. A close friend was having a serious personal crisis that I'd found myself in the middle of and I was feeling very overwhelmed by that and my classes at school. In the midst of this my friend's mother decided she wanted to get her ear lobes re-pierced and since they'd already healed closed twice my friend suggested she go to a professional piercer instead of getting it done with a gun. Her mom wanted us to go with her so we did. We get to the studio and my friend's mom fills out the necessary forms and picks some jewelery. Meanwhile, my friend and I take a look at the price list of other piercings. That's when it hit me. This was the moment I'd been waiting for for my piercing. I was feeling the need to purge myself of bad energy and what better way to do that than by getting a needle shoved through your skin. I suggested to my friend that she get her eyebrow re-pierced since it had been torn out a year earlier and said that if she did I would g et my navel done. She agreed. So her mom comes out and jokingly asks us what we're getting pierced so we tell her. She's horrified. We fill out the forms then go into the back room. My friend's a wimp and has to have someone with her. Her mom and I watch while she gets her eyebrow done. It was kind of cool to see and looked really good when it was done. Then it was my turn. I got the usual nervous feeling most people get in these situations. I stood on a stool so she could mark me. Then laid down on the table. She put the clamps on and I was expecting that to hurt since a lot of people have said that that's the first part but I could feel them. Then she told me to take a deep breath in and then exhale. And ta-da the needle was through. Next she put the jewelery in. All in all the whole procedure took about seven minutes. She went over aftercare with all three of us and we were on our way. I left the studio feeling the sense of release I'd sought and even had a piercing to s how for it.
Aftercare has been simple, sea salt soaks have worked wonders. I haven't been as diligent about it as I should be however so it's probably lucky that I haven't had any problems. It was sore for the first week and I do a lot of bending at work so that didn't help but since then it hasn't bothered me. There's now almost no red left. I'm looking forward to changing the ring to a curved barbell in a few months but I'll wait until it's good and healed. It's actually given me way less trouble than my ear piercings which still get angry when I first put jewelery in though I've had the first one since I was three. Goes to show why needles are better than guns.
As with my tattoo, people who see it ask if it hurt and I can honestly say it didn't but before you run out and get one expecting a pain-free experience, keep in mind that I was a dancer for sixteen years, often performing with injuries so I have a high pain tolerance, particularly if it's acute pain. As others have said, everyone's pain threshold is different and if you really want the piercing, that shouldn't be the factor.
My advice to anyone considering this piercing is don't shy away from it because you're afraid of a little temporary pain. However, don't get it because everyone else has one. Piercings, like tattoos, should be a personal thing. And make sure you're old enough and mature enough to take care of it afterwards.