The very first piercing I ever got was my bellybutton. I was 16 years old at the time, and had wanted it pierced for a while. Being 16 presented a problem, I needed a parent to sign papers for me. So, after months and months of begging my dad, he finally gave in. He pretty much just wanted to to shut up about it. We went to Living Art Studios in Huntington, where all my friends get pierced. I had ask them about it, and they said it was a really clean and nice place. I remember his exacted words as we got out of the car, "Don't come crying to me when you get AIDS." Yeah, right. That's not going to happen if you pay attention to whats going on.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Two years ago Artist Jason Studio Living Art Studios Location Huntington, WV We walked inside the shop and I was really surprised. It was a really awesome place. They have swords and axes on the walls, which I thought was pretty cool. The people waiting to get pierced was sitting in chair watching Lord of the Rings. I sat down in a seat and tried to watch the movie, to take my mind off of being nervous and the pain which was about to happen. I kept going over and over how bad it was going to hurt, which looking back now, was really stupid. I shouldn't have worried so much about it. Pain is only temporary anyways.
My dad had to show his Identification to Jason, who is the main piercer there, and sign a few papers, saying that Living Art Studios was not responsible if I got an infection or something like that. He gave the papers back and then it felt like we waited forever. People ahead of me would go back and come out twenty minutes later with a new hole in their body. It kind of worried my more, when a girl walked out with tears in her eyes, but I had no time to think about that cause it was now my turn.
Finally it was time to go back and get pierced. Jason told me to come on back and I walked into this small room that had a doctor-like bed and what looked like a dentist chair. He had me lay down on my back, on the table. Then he went to a small sink and washed his hands, and put on a pair of rubber gloves. He told me he was going to disinfect my navel and then mark it. He got a cotton ball and rubbed this orange colored disinfected on it, then got a blue marker and put a small dot on my bellybutton. I looked down and made sure it looked okay. Then he opened a package with a needle and clamp.
It was now the moment of truth, he clamped my bellybutton, which wasn't too bad. Until he moved the clamp, making sure it was right on the dot he had done. Then he told me he was going to count to three and for me to take a deep breath, at three he shoved he needle through my skin. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt really bad and I jumped, but in a few seconds it was over. I didn't bleed or anything. He put in a Captive bead ring which didn't feel too good either, and asked me to stand up and look in the mirror, to make sure I liked the placement. I stood up and looked in the full length mirror. Everything looked fine and even though it was still hurting really bad, I couldn't help but smile.
I sat back down and he went over how to take care of my new piercing. Just to make sure I got everything right, he gave me a paper with everything you can do to make sure not to get an infection. What surprised me, is on the paper it had his home phone number, and he told me if I had any problems I shouldn't hesitate to call him. I thanked him and my dad paid, I think $40, and we left.
It was really sore for a few days after that, but nothing too bad. A few months later it did get infected but bellybutton piercings are usually hard to heal, so I wasn't worried. Just make sure you wash it every day and do sea salt soaks. Don't play with your jewelry at all. I had that problem too. I couldn't leave it alone. And be really careful not to get it caught on anything. It had its problems but I would defiantly do it all over again. Anyone who wants to get a new piercing, I totally suggest going to Living Art Studios to get it done. Since then I've gotten all my piercings there.