About two and a half weeks ago I went to get my navel pierced. This was my gift for passing the 11th grade and my early eighteenth birthday present.
At A Glance Author Tiffinator When N/A Artist Kati Studio Advanced Tattoo Studio Location Tallahassee Florida I had and appointment at Advanced Tattoo studio at 2:30pm to go and get it done. My mom had to meet me and my boyfriend there because she had to sign the papers. I was really nervous all the way to the studio. When I walked in, Kati was the first one to greet me. Kati was really nice and informative. She helped calm me down a bit by talking to me first. Then I found out my boyfriend used to go to school with her which helped calm me down because he said she knew what she was doing. Then she asked me what kind of jewelery I wanted. I decided to mix a pink opal bottom with a green opal top. It was a fourteen gauge. It looked so cool. They also have a neat thing about their jewelry where the threading is on the ball not the bar so it does not damage the hole. After picking out my jewelry, she took me into a room with a chair that kind of looked like a dentist chair and made me sit down. She took out gloves put them on and took out the marker, made me stand up and marked it with two little dots. I let my boyfriend and mom see if it was straight, and it was. Well, step one is over. She told me to lie down/ sit down on the dentist looking chair.
At that point I was so nervous I was shaking. My mom came and held my hand, and my boyfriend stood up at my face, where I could see him, and had his hand on my head. She changed her gloves like a thousand times, which was totally awesome. I could hear her getting out all the stuff. I saw her get the pack with the lance and I was scared. I felt safe knowing they were so clean though. She put the clamp on, there was a slight pinch, but it did not hurt like a lot of people said the clamp would. Then she told me to breathe and my boyfriend said, she's about to do it. At that point I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best. When she put the lance through it did not hurt. It was more of a shocking feeling. I mean come on, I just had a piece of metal poked through my navel for crying out loud! It felt so weird and she kept wiping it, which hurt really bad. So I cried for about a minute. I got a little dizzy so she gave me a glucose tablet that tasted like kool-aid in pill form. Then I looked and it was so awesome! I was proud of myself that I had actually went through with it. I didn't think I would, and my mom felt the need to say that she didn't think so either which made me feel like crap. So I went to sit on the couch on the other side of the little room, while my mom got her tragus pierced, to settle down and get a careful hug from my boyfriend. Then it hit me. I started feeling faint. Kati gave me a honey stick to get some sugar in me so I wouldn't faint. I pretty much felt fine after that. So we left with our aftercare kits and headed home. It hurt to bend over the first day. The second day I was fine, which was odd because they told me it would most likely hurt more the second day.
Well, after two weeks it's starting to get crusties, NOT pus, which is good. I've been taking care of with the soap they gave me and with sea salt soaks, which they also gave me the sea salt. It says on my aftercare book that they gave me that it will take eight to ten weeks or longer to heal. It also says my earliest time I can change it is three to six weeks. I would not change it though. I like the bar I got.
I have also recently started using emu oil and it seems to be working well. It takes away some of the redness and helps it heal faster. It feels better too when you put it on it. I had trouble finding it though. I had to go to a local organic grocery and products store to finally get some. It is not cheap let me tell you that, but a small bottle will last a long time.
If you are ever in the Tallahassee area and looking for a good piercer see Kati at Advanced Tattoo Studio. She is such an awesome person and she does really, really good work. They are also APP certified. (Association of Professional Piercers)