My family just bought a bar and grill, and I've been working there as a barmaid. Naturally, I got close to the two barmaids we kept on, and we talked a great deal about piercings and tattoos. Both professed to want their navels pierced. Christa had hers done before, but had to take it out due to childbirth. Maggie had never had any piercing besides her ears, which were gunned.
At A Glance Author cuthalcoven Contact cuthalcoven@bme.anon IAM cuthalcoven When A week ago Artist Me Location Toledo, OH I told them I had the things to pierce, and would be willing to do it for them if they signed a waiver stating that they knew there were risks and that I wasn't a professional. With mom's permission, we decided to come to work early one day and do it at the bar, because I could use the office which I keep in sterile conditions due to me doing all of my prep work back there.
Once I got home, I realized piercing at the bar might not be a good idea, so I went ahead and had my dad call our lawyer who had done such a good job in securing us the place. He told me not to give them a receipt for the piercings, because I couldn't get in trouble if it was a gift and not a service. He did say that the waivers were a good idea though, just to list it as a gift instead of them actually paying me for the piercing.
So that Friday I went to the studio and had my tools all autoclaved, and bought a second set of clamps to be autoclaved as well, so each girl could see her tools come out of their own sterile packet. We met at the bar at 5pm, because we didn't start working until 6 so I knew I had plenty of time.
I had asked my mom to rescrub the office before we got there, and I was extremely happy to see that she'd had time to do it, because it was sparkly clean! I laid out a tray and covered it with paper towels, then used gloves to open my tools, the needle, and the curved barbell.
Christa was going first, as she had been pierced previously. Using a toothpick dipped in food coloring, I matched up the new lines with the old scar tissue so the piercing would essentially encompass the scar brace technique, giving the jewelry less risk of rejection.= by using the previous scars to hold it in.
Clamps were on, breathing done, and the lubricated needle slid right though and was replaced with the curved barbell. She was nervous, and jumped a little as the needle came out of the exit mark, but overall she did really well, and I was steady enough that the slight jump didn't make it come out crooked or anything. I wiped up the blood that trickled down, and gave her a printed aftercare sheet and a bag of sea salt to use. I had to explain sea salt solutions to her though, because she was never told proper aftercare the first time since it was so long ago and she went to a crappy studio.
Next came Maggie. She was a lot more nervous, but kind of started calming down after she saw that Christa made it through alive. I changed gloves to dispose of everything I had used on Christa, then got a new pair of gloves on to open everything for Maggie. Marking took a little longer, as she is SUPIER skinny and I was afraid that there wasn't going to be enough skin left to ensure it didn't get tugged or pulled often. I eventually settled for a piercing that was a little higher up and more of a surface piercing, right on the lip of the top navel edge. This was where she had the most "play" in her skin, and where it looked like the piercing would have the most viable chance of survival.
Once she was clamped and ready, she shut her eyes tight and told me to count to three instead of breathing with her. I counted, but pierced on 2 and a half, which caused her to inhale sharply for a second. The clamps were taken off and the jewelry was slid in, and it was a perfect fit. I'm glad I took the extra time to measure and mark her up perfectly, because I noticed that if the jewelry had sat just the tiniest bit lower, it would have gotten seriously irritated from movement and rubbing.
After everyone was cleaned up, told aftercare and taken care of, the girls ran out of the back to show all the customers what they'd done. I just smiled. I love seeing people happy with the piercings I do...that's why I'm willing to do them for friends of mine. It gives me great pleasure to know that they trust me enough to poke them with sharp pointy things, and not yell at me for hurting them! Heh.
This was my first time piercing two people in one sitting, and it definitely made for an interesting experience, as cross-contamination was a huge issue and I had to be certain to keep everything sterile and clean in between piercings. Also- make sure you have extra jewelry and tools on hand, because you never know if you might need a spare due to dropping one or something stupid like that! (I've been known to do it, because I'm clumsy, so I've learned from experience!)
DIY piercing is NEVER a safe route, and piercing others is even riskier. I always suggest going to a professional no matter what. I don't know if either of these piercings will make it, simply because again, I'm no piercer. Please do your research and behave responsibly! Also note that because of the specific legalities, I did have to contact a lawyer and everything to be able to do this. It's not a game, and not something you should enter into lightly.