My first experience with body modification was when I was 9 years old. I went to Florida with my family and saw all of the "beautiful" people with their bellies showing with bright shining rings and beautiful/colorful tattoos on them. Ever since then, I have wanted to pierce some part of my body, but I never could decide what to do.
At A Glance Author Niabm103 When A year ago Artist Bobby Studio City Limits Tattoo and Piercing Location Colonial Heights, VA I have always had this lingering sensation to get my navel pierced. I always thought it was very sexy and a little bit sensual for a woman to have a ring in her navel. The only thing is to have a stomach and a nice set of abs to go along with it. For a while, I asked my parents if I could get it done. They would always shoot me down saying "it wasn't right to defile the holy/sacred temple that is your body". So, for a few years, the thought left my subconscious.
I went a way for college when I was 17 years old. There, I saw many girls with navel rings, some fat, and some skinny, some in between. My insatiable lust for a piece of metal to be shoved into my flesh was once again released. I decided that I was going to get my navel pierced whether my parents liked it or not. I mean, hey I'm in college now; they should expect me to get a little wild and crazy right? After my 18th birthday, my line sisters and I went to a few tattoo/piercing parlors in the Petersburg area. Some were clean, some dirty, some expensive, and some just right. I decided that I would go to City Limits Tattoo & Piercing in Colonial Heights. This place had a warm friendly atmosphere, the employees were all eager to greet my friends and me at the door. It had a kind of bikeresque feel to it but it was clean nonetheless. After surveying my surroundings for a while, I decided that I would go ahead with the procedure.
The manager Bobby greeted me at the counter and asked if I was sure I wanted to get my navel pierced. After I assured him and reassured myself, I paid him the $25 for the piercing, handed him my I.D., "read", and signed the consent forms. I was then lead to a waiting room, so that Bobby could clean the room and all the equipment he was going to use and set up for me. He then called me to the back of the shop where he asked me to lift up my shirt and tuck it into my bra. He cleaned my navel with a bit of alcohol and marked it with a Venetian purple pen. Before I laid down on the table, Bobby asked me if I had any question about the procedure, healing time, the jewelry, and that sort of thing. I asked him a million and one questions, but he was more than eager to answer them all. I asked him how long he had been in business, how long my healing time would be, what I needed to do to clean my new piercing, what supplies he used, and what kind of starter jewelry would I be using. I then asked him to explain in detail the steps he would be using to carry out the procedure. After all of my questions, I felt comfortable enough so I laid down on the table. After talking with Bobby throughout the duration of the actual piercing process, I noticed my navel had been pierced for about a minute. I didn't feel a thing. Bobby gave me a cleaning sheet, and I purchased some H2Ocean cleaning spray and I was on my merry way.
A few days later, I noticed that my navel really hurt and that it was red and had a liquid discharge of something other than what was normal discharge for a new piercing. I thought nothing of it and continued to clean my piercing as directed. It's been a year now, and I'm still having trouble with my navel. This little devil is the worst. I have a series of relapses with it. One week it will be feeling just fine then the next it will hurt like hell. No matter what I do, my navel has a tendency to get hurt. After about a year and two months after having my piercing, I decided it was time to get it changed. I bought a cute pink butterfly for my next choice (a step up from the plain CBR). I went back to City Limits and had Scott change my ring. Oh it looked cute when I got it in but then I realized that my navel piercing was crooked. I mean, what exactly happened from when I got it pierced to now? How could I have not noticed my navel piercing being crooked? But it was!!!! I was heated, not only that but I was also in excruciating pain, because my navel ring was pushing upwards as a result of my new found belly bulge. It was the absolute pits. Here I am a year and some change after having this "marvelous" modification done and I am not happy. I was before because it was super cute but now, I find myself wishing I had never done it in the first place.