Ever since I was a little girl, I've had an intense fear of needles. I broke one in my arm once while getting a vaccination. I work on an ambulance with paramedics, and I hate to watch them stick an IV into someones wrist/arm (I'll watch, because eventually I'll be the one sticking people with needles to draw blood, but I don't have to like it).
At A Glance Author Ari Contact Ari@bme.anon When A month ago Artist John Studio Big Joe's and Sons tattoos Location White Plains, NY Needless to say, deciding to get a piercing was a very odd and out of place decision for me (As is getting a tattoo (next week) and any other piercings). Being a very fickle and impetuous person, I decided one day that I was going to ignore my fear of needles and get a piercing. I debated between tattoos and piercings for a while, but decided to start small and build up.
Now I had to make a decision. What kind of piercing did I want? I thought about a nostril piercing for a long time. My parents kind of killed that one when they told me they would rip it out if they saw it. Next I thought about a lip piercing, but once again my parents ripped those dreams apart. I went through a bunch of different piercings (mostly facial, such as eyebrow, and labret, but also a tragus and other ear piercings).
We argued about it for over a year. I had no idea how to convince my parents to let me get a piercing (I felt like I really NEEDED it). My mind never changed once. My dad suggested a navel piercing, but at the time I felt it was cliche and overdone and I was in some stupid pretentious stage where anything popular was below me or something like that. I talked it over with friends, family, and almost everyone else. People told me that I shouldn't want to do it because it's permanent, and I would regret it, and I wouldn't be buried in a jewish cemetary, and a plethora of other reasons (a very popular one being, I don't like it, so neither should you. (Supplied by all of my uncles)).
I finally decided to get a navel piercing, and set about trying to find a place to go, and someone to take with me. My mother wasn't happy, but knew she couldn't stop me once I turned 18, so she set down the rule that I was not allowed to mutilate my body without her explicit permission until I turned 18.
Finally, the wednesday after my 18th birthday, my dad took me to go get it done. I picked the place (I've seen their work and I've gone their with friends. I trusted the guys), and off we went. I told the piercer, John, that I was insanely nervous. He explained the after-care instructions, told me where I could buy what I needed, and had me sign the forms. We went into the piercings room, and John lined up the dots on my navel, and starting cleaning his hands and pulling everything out (it was all sterile and he changed his gloves about 239872876423 times). I sat down on the chair, and had my dad hold my hands to make sure I didn't spaz out. I asked John not to tell me when the needle was going through, and he said "Sorry, but I need you to take a deep breathe and let it out slowly". I did as I was told, and the needle went through with little difficulty. He pushed the needle in a little more, and I asked my dad if it was done. He said yes, so I looked, and the needle was still in my stomach. Plus one for my dad. John joked about how that wasn't nice, because I meant was the jewelery through. My dad blushed and on we went. I watched John push the jewelery through, and sighed. I refused to get up for a minute, I just wanted to admire the fact that I finally did this. I had finally overcome my fear of needles (I still don't like them, but I can deal). John was worried, and asked if I felt light-headed or sick or any other such bad feeling. I said no, and finally got up. Then John went over the after-care instructions, and we left to go get food.
The entire time, we were all joking around, and I had a great time. That was a much bigger needle than I'm used to, and I don't regret it at all. My piercing is still healing, but it stopped hurting about five minutes after I did it. I would do it again, and it definitely helped with my fear of needles. I am planning on getting another piercing done in the near future, and I'm very excited.