When I was 15 I wanted my navel pierced and my mother, like most mothers, said it was dangerous and I was scarring my body etc. after a lot of arguing "its my body"-me - "your not allowed to do anything without my permission yet"-mum - "its not mutilation its decoration"-me, we settled on the agreement that if i still wanted it done when i was 16 it was upto me. Which was just as well because legally I could have it done at 16 without adult consent whether she liked it or not. But I wouldn't have anything done if I really knew she would hate it. I knew her main worry was infection or pain rather than how it looked.
At A Glance Author Lauren Contact Lauren@bme.anon When Two years ago Studio Pure Location kings Lynn One Year later (having forgotten completely about the agreement a year before)
Around Christmas time I was out shopping for Christmas presents with a friend and went into your local piercer, Pure (now "Pure hocus Pocus" having merged with a local shop selling incense, clothing and general "smoking accessories" ;)) where they also sold cool jewellery and accessories, and While looking at the price list, started telling my friend Alex about how I wanted to get my navel pierced but that my mum had said I could have it done when I was 16 if I wanted it still.... until I realised I was 16 and had ID on me. So I rang my mum just to be on the safe side, she said she didn't think it was a good idea but didn't say no. So while I was umming and ahhing my friend thought it was a really cool idea and said she'd buy it for me as a Christmas present. The shop has a really good reputation in kings Lynn for piercing and tattoos, and all needles were sealed in plastic before use so you knew they were sterile, so I decided to have it done.
So they checked my ID I filled in a form and I paid, chose the belly bar I wanted (included in the price)(a multicoloured 12mm titanium bar with a clear set stone) and went into the waiting area. After a few minutes they called me into the cubicle and told me to sit down on the paper covered "bed". They then marked up where the piercing would be and gave me a mirror to check that I was happy with the positioning, after I said it was fine they clamped the top of my navel with a clamp that had a whole through the middle, making sure the felt tip dots were in the middle and then numbed it with a freezing cold numbing spray.
My friend had decided to come in and watch, at this point I just laid back and watched her face as they pierced it, I couldn't feel any pain just a "sensation" of the needle going through. Watching my friends face was more worrying that the actual piercing so I glanced down at what was being done. At this point there was a small tube, which I assume was on the needle originally, through my navel (luckily none of this bothered me). She slid the bar I had chosen through this and pulled out the tube before securing the ball on the other end.
After the actual piercing was over she wiped it with an antiseptic wipe and checked the position. Then I was given an instruction leaflet on keeping it clean and helping healing and sent away with a dressing over the piercing and the advice of getting something sugary to eat. So following her advice we went and found a cafe and had a big slice of chocolate cake... just to be on the safe side of course.
That was the first of my "spur of the moment piercings" and I'm still very happy with it 2 years later. Even my mum says it looks nice. It was a little bit sore for the first few days and there was a tiny amount of blood but then was just tender if knocked or pulled for the first 2-3 weeks. There wasn't much swelling at all, the bar used was 12mm in length and the swelling didn't cover more than 10mm at any time. It took about 4 weeks to heal properly and I bathed it with salt water and gently twisted the bar after cleaning and baths. I was worried about replacing the bar too soon but didn't have any problems. Pure will actual put in any jewellery you buy from them for you but I was able to do it myself from the start and still have no problems. I haven't left it without a bar for more than 2 days at a time but it's been fine for that length of time.