Ever since I was 15 I had been constantly asking my parents to let me get my navel pierced. Whether it was a birthday coming up, hopeful Christmas present or just out of the blue in the hopes that they'd say yes.
At A Glance Author Frozen_Princess Contact Frozen_Princess@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Jo Studio The Body Piercing Place Location Perth Naturally as most parents would say, their response was always "What would you want that for", followed by "When you are eighteen you can do what you like." I patiently waited and now after 3 years and 1 day of patience the day has come.
Over the last 2 years I had walked around town to compare prices and studios and had settled on going to The Body Piercing Place.
I took Friday afternoon off work so I would have all weekend to start healing my dear piercing. When I got to the studio I sat and waited for them to finish off the previous person. While I waited I looked around and picked out my barbell. A simple looking silver, curved barbell with silvery gems set in each ball.
The fun was about to begin.
Jo got me to stand with my arms at my sides, wiped my navel with an antibacterial swab and then marked me up. Next came the clamping, now I haven't been professionally pierced before, but had read a lot of experiences here on Bmezine, and some talked about how painful the clamps were, I didn't believe it then, but after this I can quite easily say that clamps hurt a fair bit. I moved from sitting on the edge of the piercing bed (I don't know what to call it, bit like a massage table with no face hole), to lying down holding the clamps.
I didn't watch the needle go through so I'm not quite sure how that bit went, but the next thing I know, the curved barbell I had chosen was in, and I was being told it was all done. I didn't expect it to bleed as much as it did
Unfortunately I made the mistake of not eating lunch before going to get this done and consequently became quite light headed and had to lie down again for about 5 minutes. To get my sugar levels back up I was given some odd flavored jelly-beans to eat. I then followed the jelly-beans with a hearty lunch of Coke (for more sugar), and Chips (for carbohydrates).
I have had it pierced for about 6hrs now and am still very pleased with it, although I don't have all the things I need for cleaning. I have been given a sachet of saline solution that I can use for the first day or two, I already have some at home, but tomorrow I'll go and buy some Sapoderm soap and some more 0.9% saline solution.
Healing and Aftercare
One week after piercing- There is a little bit of redness around the top ball, and can get a little bit itchy at times (I make sure that I scratch around it and that I don't touch the piercing).
Two weeks-It has started to secrete lymph and dead cells. The redness has gone away. I am still cleaning it religiously twice a day after showering, and giving it sea salt soaks on Saturdays when I have a bit more time to tend to it.
One Month – Unfortunately I have knocked my poor navel piercing a few too many times during sleep, the result seems to be a fair amount of liquid goo (lymph and dead cells...I hope) that dries and fuses my skin to the lower ball. Trying not to knock it while sleeping and sea salt soaks each night seem to have rectified the problem. Other than the minor knocks it seems to be healing fine. There are no signs of rejection at this point.
Six months – I changed it to a much more decorative barbell for one night, needles to say that appeared to upset the healing process. There is a purple mark around the top of the piercing, a small blister looking thing where the top ball rests and the base of the piercing is a bit flaky, and is red where the barbell lies under the skin (I hope that makes sense).
Seven Months - I have dropped back to cleaning it only once a day after a shower, its doing very well. The blister, purple mark, and flakiness are all cleared up now.
I didn't realize how much it swelled up until I looked at the picture taken 3hrs afterwards. All you could see is the balls, these days you can see both balls and about 4mm of the bar. So far there is no sign of it rejecting, which I am quite pleased about. I'm trying hard not to knock it, although this is sometimes easier said than done. But all in all it's looking very healthy and happy.