I got my ears pierced (with a gun, at Claire's) when I was thirteen. The pain of the procedure was terrible and there were months of redness and irritation. I was advised to clean my ears and jewelry with hydrogen peroxide – I was thirteen and didn't know better, and my mom had been given the same advice years ago. Needless to say, after that experience I never entertained the idea of more piercings.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Dave Studio Urge Studios Location Victoria, BC That changed a couple weeks ago. I don't remember what triggered it, but suddenly I decided I wanted a navel piercing. I looked at pictures, I read stories, and I decided to do it. I had thought about tongue piercings but my job won't allow for it, and tattoos were too permanent (and I am too indecisive). So a not-usually-visible piercing was the perfect idea.
Yesterday I met my boyfriend downtown, while he was on his lunch break at work. We had agreed to stop by Urge just to check it out, and get some of my questions answered. I spoke with Dave, and he was great. He really knew his stuff, and answered all of my questions confidently. When I had asked them all, I looked at my boyfriend who piped up for me, "So, are you free now?" Dave said I was his only customer at the moment, so that was it! I was going to do it!
We sat down and he went over all the cleaning procedures very thoroughly. It definitely put me at ease – these guys are clearly professionals! He told me the cost of piercing included me coming back whenever I had questions, or just wanted someone to check up on my piercing and make sure it was healing okay. I was happy to hear it, since I definitely plan to go back every now and then.
So then I had to go get some cash, and we came back and looked around the shop for a bit, waiting for Dave to get ready. I was a little nervous, but nowhere near as bad as I thought I'd be. When we went back into the room, he told me to hop up on the table, while he showed me how everything was single use and sterile, the autoclave right there on the counter, and he also cleaned the area on my stomach. I picked out a bead (pink, haha) and then I lay down. Dave was fun; he was making jokes and putting me at ease.
He also told me that he was in fact going to tell me when he was going to pierce. That made me pretty nervous; I would have preferred not to know! However, he said he does that so people don't freak out at every movement he makes, as if each one meant PIERCE! That made sense, I could appreciate it. So I lay down and didn't look anywhere near my stomach. I had heard of people fainting at the sight of the needle, and I knew that could be me. He put on the clamps, which really didn't hurt at all. I just looked at the ceiling, while he told me to breathe in and then out for eight seconds. It was then that he pierced. I have a very low pain tolerance, and it barely hurt at all. It was more of a pinch and a very gross feeling, sort of like "eww, that thing should not be going through my stomach". It certainly hurt less than my gunned ears.
I sat up slowly, I hadn't even looked at it yet – I was a little afraid to! But now it had already stopped hurting completely. I checked it out and it looked fantastic – I was totally in love with it. My boyfriend was there and he liked it too.
It was great! I paid, left a tip, and then we set out since my boyfriend was due back at work. I was walking around downtown and couldn't feel a thing – it was amazing. No pain at all.
When I got home, I inspected it – there was just a tiny little bit of blood which I cleaned off, and it didn't bleed again. There was no redness or swelling or anything! I couldn't believe it; I expected it to look terrible until it healed.
The first time I rotated it to clean it hurt a lot, so I just tapped it with a q-tip slowly instead of pulling it. I don't sleep on my stomach so the first night was good. It felt a little odd on my side, as it was pulling on it weird, but not painful. I woke up and it still looked perfect. I've already cleaned it several times and there has never been any crusties or discharge at all, so maybe I am lucky and it will heal very easily!
And since it was pierced so well (Dave was great) I think it will! I would definitely recommend this piercing, it's almost painless! Sure, it's a long time to heal and a lot of upkeep, but it's definitely worth it.