My wife and I decided that we would like to both be pierced together. She had taken her navel piercing out because she didn't have the time to care for it with our new son, and because he kept hooking his little toes in the ring, it slowed the healing down. When we were ready we went back to Big Daddy's and had the procedure done together.
At A Glance Author Magus Contact Magus@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Ian Studio Big Daddy's Location Lomita, CA We went to the back of Big Daddy's where they have their Piercer stationed (a guy named Ian, who seemed more upset we were interrupting his PS2 time than grateful for the business) and told him what we wanted done. We filled out the forms and looked over the aftercare instructions, then he led us to his piercing area. It was clean enough although the bed has seen better centuries.
He had me raise my shirt and checked over my navel, had me stand with my feet together and told me to look down at my markings. Since I have a 48 inch chest and a 35 inch waist, this is a difficult proposal while my feet are together, so I put my arms out slightly to balance. "Arms at your sides!" he snapped at me. Well hell, who does he think I am, Gumby? I looked down as best I could and looked in the mirror too. I couldn't see the inner marking at all without moving my hands, so I didn't. I didn't want him barking at me for nothing again, after all, what do I know about the intricacies of piercings? I have a tattoo that a guy who works there named Mark did for me about 7 years ago, and that is true pain. I figured a piercing was nothing. So I laid down on the bed with my feet dangling and he placed the clamp, removed it, clamped again, removed it and clamped harder than ever. My skin is very strong, and I knew from past experience that wounding my skin is fairly tough. And since my navel is small, this would be a bit more difficult for him, but for $50 a throw for a crummy little 14 gauge CBR and piercing he is definitely pricey.
"Ok, on three breathe in and then exhale. It'll pinch a bit." On two he pushed and it didn't pinch, it BURNED! He was going deep and after 5 seconds he still wasn't through. His flabby arms were shaking with the effort as he tried to point the needle toward the other mark and get through, but my skin wasn't having any of it! I closed my eyes and continued to count as he paused, reoriented and and thrust once more, breathing evenly and with acute annoyance at how long it was taking. I have not read one single account here at BMEzine.com like mine.Finally the needle went through and the pinch did happen. He put the ring through, crimped the bead in place and told me to get up and look it over. It was crooked. I pointed that out and he said it was because of the size of the ring. Then why didn't he think to use a bigger ring? "I only use 14 Gauge Captive Bead Rings for starters. I won't use anything else." Ah, inflexible, I get it.
Well my wife had hers done, with a crooked result also du to the size of the ring. He went over the aftercare in a rushed fashion once more, in a hurry to get to the PS2 apparently, took our cash and off we went.
Months later the ring was very uncomfortable and always pulling to the left, so I decided to get a barbell for my wife and myself. We went back to him to change them and he told us we weren't healed enough yet. He wouldn't handle the change and couldn't be bothered to stop strumming his guitar. Screw it, we'll change it ourselves.The instant the tiny rings were out and the barbells in our tummies felt like someone had taken a constant abdominal cramp out, and the real healing began. 3 months following the change we are still doing our dial soap washing, but not the salt water soaks unless they feel irritated. The piercings are still crooked but we'll live with it now that the barbells are in.
One piece of advice, if you are a normal sized girl between the ages of 16 and 30 wearing a dress size no greater than 8, he is gracious and capable. I have personally seen him be so, so don't let this story turn you away from Big Daddy's. With normal customers he does an excellent job, and his lax manner was a defense mechanism for escaping from a situation he wasn't sure about. Just to show I have no ill will towards him, I am taking a friend this thursday to have her navel pierced. She falls into the size 4 category with a nice trim waist and thin skin.
But if you are outside the "normal" parameters, you might want to talk to older more experienced piercers in the area. I have done so since and found that my wife and I should have been started off with barbells. Oh well, live and learn. By the way, we both love our piercings and if we had to do it all again, we would in an instant!