While most of my friends had gotten cute belly button piercings around ages fourteen or fifteen, I never really considered it until now. My mom is a strict Catholic and believes that the body is a temple and therefore should not be pierced. She let me get my earlobes done when I was little, but nothing else was even considered until I became an adult. On my eighteenth birthday, however, I went out and got my nostril pierced. I explained that body mods were my way of decorating the temple of my body, and she gradually accepted it. I went on to get my second lobes and tragus pierced. This got me thinking about getting my bellybutton pierced like all the cute ones I'd seen. After browsing BME, I was inspired by a cool navel project. My boyfriend wanted to get his lip pierced, so we decided to go get some pain together. We picked a free day and, after I'd gotten out of school for the day, went in to get pierced.
At A Glance Author crast Contact crast@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Kathy Winbourne Studio Studio 24 Location Delaware, OH I went to Studio 24 in town, where I'd gotten all my previous piercings. I love Kathy to death and she seemed really into my project when I showed her a picture I brought. She drew out where the piercings would be placed, explained what would and would not be hard to heal, and told me about how much it would cost. She also explained that I would have to wait about 4-5 months between piercings. This was due to migration and getting both pierced at once would leave a pretty bad mess to deal with. I was very relieved to know that no one was going to randomly be jabbing at my stomach with a needle and that Kathy is so professional. She also picked out jewelry that I could use again to save money for the next time.
My boyfriend went first, getting a 16g loop in the center of his lip. He was a little bit nervous but very excited about his new piercing (I was pretty excited about it too). After he was cleaned up, it was my turn, the moment of truth. I had heart all sorts of stories from my friends about immense pain and bleeding and screaming bloody murder, but I'm not exactly a piercing virgin so I wasn't particularly bothered. Kathy had me pull up my shirt and tuck it into my bra (in front of Boyfriend and another friend, it was a little embarrassing) and marked the spots where the piercing would go.
Now, here I have to add that I am not a skinny girl. I like my body and am not medically overweight or obese, but I'm not rail-thin and I'm not really used to showing off my body. I'm also very pale and do not take a tan. This caused probably the biggest worry I had about getting my navel pierced ... would it look bad? Would it not heal perfectly because I don't have a board flat stomach? Would I ever bother showing it off when it was healed? I thought about this a lot before I went in and even as I sat there waiting to be pierced.
Well, I ended up biting the bullet and going for it. I lay down and Kathy put on the clamp. I was told many times that the clamp is worse than the piercing, but this is just NOT true. I barely noticed it. My friend held my hand and as I breathed in and out, she put through the needle. It hurt a little bit more than my nostril or tragus, but a LOT less than my second lobes. (This is probably because I got them done at the mall by some teenager who probably didn't even know what a gauge is). Before I could really think, she had popped in a little 16g curved barbell, screwed on the end balls, and I was done. I paid, got my care instructions, and walked out happy, but sore.
It's been about a month now. Because the piercing lies at exactly the same level as the counters at the place where I work, it's gotten irritated from my leaning over to help customers. I soak it in sea salt twice a day, however, and it's starting to feel a little better. The best thing about it, to me, is that it's different from most belly piercings. I feel awesome about myself and my body and am not so afraid to show off. I can't wait until August, when I can get the second part of my project done, a horizontal across the original with corkscrew jewelry. If you are thinking about getting a regular navel piercing, look at some of the other ideas. Consider doing something different than everything else. It is fun and well worth the little bit of pain!