I am 14 years old and I was dying to get my belly button pierced. A couple of my friends had got it done and I was in love with it. But my mum unfortunately didn't agree with my love of a navel piercing. After about six months of pleading my dad eventually gave me permission to do it.
At A Glance Author anonymous When A month ago After making an appointment at "The Piercing Shop" I went on a Monday afternoon to get it done. since mum and dad really didn't want me to have it I had to go all alone for my first ever piercing (apart from my ears which I had done when I was 3 weeks old) I was so scared. I had listened to my friends' stories, researched it on the web, read a lot of stories about when it had gone wrong and I was shaking with fear when I got there.
After choosing out the jewelry I wanted and paying for it (it made a huge dent in my meager savings) I had to wait while the jewelry went through the sterilizer. I was really happy that they did not have any of my preferred jewelry already sterilized because it gave me some time to calm down and also this way I knew it was being sterilized. So once that was done I was lead into a little room set up with a sink, a cupboard and a dentist chair.
My piercer washed her hands put on gloves and showed me that everything was in sealed packs with the autoclave sticker on it. This relieved me a lot. She opened all the packs in front of me then changed the gloves again. While I was standing up she marked out where she thought the piercing should go and asked me if I agreed with it. After making my modifications she asked me to sit in the chair while she measured it to make sure it was in the center of my navel. Oh and she also gave me a stress ball because I was extremely scared.
After that she told me exactly what she was doing step by step. I was shown the clamps, told what she was going to do with it and told that I would feel a bit of pressure. It was great she told me exactly what was happened which actually helped to make me less nervous. I did feel pain when the needle went in. it was actually quite painful for me and also very uncomfortable and a bit painful when the jewelry was put in as well. But the feelings of pain and discomfort only lasted a few seconds. after that I had bled a little bit so after looking at my piercing she put a patch on it and told me to leave the patch on for a couple of hours and to ice the piercing if I wanted. For about an hour and a half afterwards it quietly stung ( a bit like when u get a small ant bite) and then I was surprised to notice that I didn't feel any pain anymore. It hurt while I was cleaning it, most probably coz I was trying to get all bits of blood out from underneath the top ball. But after that it only hurt when I would accidentally bump it or hit it while playing sport.
I was told that you are able to swim as long as you are swimming in a clean place (e.g. not a public pool) and you cleaned it very well afterwards as chlorine and salt were actually good for it as they kill bacteria.
I do not regret getting my navel pierced at all. I love it so much and think that 10 seconds of pain was completely worth it for it. I was so scared and was extremely close to backing out just before it was done but I'm really glad I went through with it. But if you're getting it done and your piercer does not show you that everything is sterilized and sealed and does not wash their hands and wear gloves leave straight away. if you don't feel comfortable with anything (e.g. them not telling you what's going on or not asking your opinion as to wear your piercing should go) just leave. There's no substitute for a good piercer and piercing.
As for the pain, everyone is different. I have a very low pain tolerance and it hurt me but it's only for like 5 seconds and I think it was worth it. Numbing patches and creams I do believe work. I used one but I think I put it on too early and it wore off. One of my friends said she used a patch and she could feel it happening but no pain whatsoever.
I love my piercing and wouldn't give it up for the world. So if you live in Brisbane, Australia I fully recommend "The Piercing Shop" which is in the city in Queen Street Mall. It's so good.
Hope this helps