I was a veteran to piercings when I decided that I wanted to have my navel pierced. By that time, I had 5 facial piercings and every single girl over the age of 16 had their navel pierced. I decided I would pierce my navel under the circumstance that I pierce it in a way that I hadn't seen before. I started shopping around bme for ideas. I came across a few things I liked. I especially favored the star, 5 piercings all around my navel so it would look like, well, a star. I waited for about a month till I had the massive amount of money it would cost to pierce myself 5 times in one sitting and then went to talk to my piercer, Stokey. Stokey works at Hardware in Albuquerque and he's done all but two of my piercings. I highly recommend him to anyone and I do on repeated occasion.
At A Glance Author CatNap Contact CatNap@bme.anon IAM CatNap When Three months ago Artist Stokey Studio Hardware Location Albuquerque NM I took my friend Matt with me, since I don't like to get pierced alone. I told Stokey about my plans and he asked me to lift up my shirt, so he could look at the area we were working with. He said a star wouldn't work because I didn't have a decent fold of skin under my belly button and the bottom two would reject. That bummed me out. He said that he could do 3 bars straight across the top, since I have a big navel. It's not freakishly huge or anything, but he said he'd never seen it before and thought it would look cool. I told him I would think about it.
I was pretty sad about not being able to get the star I wanted done. I almost considered going somewhere else and seeing if they would do it. But, I trust Stokey and he knows what he's talking about. Matt and I went to the mall and walked around as I thought about what Stokey has suggested. I hadn't ever seen it before, this was true. It kinda sounded cool, so I decided to go for it.
Matt and I returned to Hardware about 2 hours later and I told Stokey that I wanted to go ahead and do it. He went and got set up as I filled out paper work and paid. It ended up costing me $176 and stands as the most expensive mod I've ever had.
I went into the piercing room, Matt in tow. I gave Matt my camera and asked him to take pictures. Stokey went over the procedure and dotted me. He told me to take vitamins after having work this major done because it's a really big strain on your immune system. We got the ink where I wanted it and I lied down, ready to go.
He pierced the middle first. I've heard that it wasn't bad at all and it wasn't. It just felt like a little pinch. Stokey got the jewelry in and started clamping the right side of my belly button. About this time, I hear some yelling in the lobby. It doesn't seem to faze Stokey, he calmly continues to clamp. It was starting to hurt because the area was a little irritated from the first piercing. He stuck the needle in and I felt a small stinging sensation.
"Hold on, don't move," he said. He darted out of the room throwing his gloves on the floor. Apparently, a homeless man had wondered into Hardware and was trying to start a fight with the receptionist. Stokey, being the only guy there at the time, had to go throw him out. I sat awkwardly, with the needle in me as Matt filled me in about the events outside.
Stokey came back in, apologized, and put the jewelry in. It hurt surprisingly, because the area was pretty inflamed by now. He asked if I was ready for piercing #3 and I asked if I could have a few minutes to relax. Big Mistake. Let me stress that, huge mistake. By the time I thought I was ready to go again, the area around my navel was really red and irritated. Clamping the area that was getting pierced hurt almost as much as the second piercing. The actual piercing was pretty painful, I won't lie. I let up a little yelp. It felt like getting a shot in an area that was bruised. Stokey got the jewelry on and told me that when he pierced the last one, the other two started bleeding like crazy.
Stokey cleaned me up and took a picture for his portfolio (my second appearance in his). I tipped Stokey $20 for his excellent work and tried to learn to walk without moving my stomach. I was pretty cool about the whole thing while it was happening and while I was in the store. As soon as I walked out, Matt asked how bad it was. "It fucking hurt!" I complained.
Sitting and standing was fun for the next few days. The area was very tender and bruised. It bled more than any other piercing I've had. After about 48 hours, the blood was gone, though. I did actually get sick after the piercing; I got a cold, even though I took vitamins and such. I kept a bottle of saline solution with me at all times and cleaned it constantly. I took two showers a day and washed it with Dial, along with always wearing low cut jeans. It's 2 months later and I still clean it twice a day with soap and try not to wear any clothes that will sit over it. It healed pretty well.
As for getting multiple piercings at the same time, I don't advice such an experience for someone who hasn't gotten pierced before and doesn't know how to take care of one. However, it is nice to get everything done in one sitting, if you're impatient like me. I paid for that with pain, but I think it's worth it.