I remember wanting my navel pierced for a good few years now. I actually have proof; I was cleaning up a couple of weeks ago and found something that I had printed off BME in 2001. When I first wanted my navel pierced, I didn't have a reason that I could explain to myself let alone to others curious as to why I wanted it. I did know for sure that I didn't want it because of pop sensations of the time such as Britney Spears and the like. But, now that I'm older, I have come to the realization that I use my modifications as a release or to symbolize important events. Each of my piercings came at a time when I was going through a landmark in my life. My navel just happened to signify a big landmark in most teens' lives- their sweet sixteen.
At A Glance Author Jazz Contact jasminevc@hotmail.com IAM brand-new When Six months ago Artist Pierre Black Studio Black Sun Studio Location Montreal My birthday was on a Friday this year, which made planning when to get pierced very easy. Also it was carnival day at my school on that same Friday so we could have everything take place during the day since my friends and I would not be in attendance. My best friend's birthday so happens to be on the same day as mine so we had been planning for a while to get pierced together, she would be getting her nose pierced.
However, my mother threatened to ruin all my plans by pretending to not allow me get my navel pierced. But, she had an appointment scheduled for me at 2:30 p.m. January 20th. That was perfect since my friend's appointment was for 2 o'clock.
The troops, a good five of us, gathered for a snack before heading towards Black Sun Studio. We waited in the little lobby at the back of the studio, sucking on the Werther's candies from the dish at the front desk. I felt bad since after having taken two plus candies, we ended up eating their candy stock.
In any case, my friend and I filled out our forms and looked at jewelry. Not too long after, Pierre came to greet us. We chose our jewelry; my friend chose a small pink-gemmed nostril screw and I chose a 12g navel barbell with a citrine gem at the bottom. Once our decisions were final, both pieces of jewelry were sent to get autoclaved. After my friend got her nose pierced, it was my turn.
-Piercing-
I still wasn't nervous at this point. He gave me a quick run through on things since I wasn't new to any of this and we got to work. I wanted to get my inverse navel done but alas, my anatomy wasn't suited for it so I settled for a standard navel. Pierre marked me up and made sure I liked the placement. Since there weren't any 10g barbells in stock, he marked my navel so that I'd be able to stretch in the future if the piercing didn't migrate too much. After all the preparations had been made, my other friend Jess sat down in the chair next to me and I stretched out on the dentist office-like chair. The needle was lubed and Pierre instructed me to take a couple deep breaths and that on the third one he'd pierce.
And that's when the nerves kicked in. They always come when I'm at the point of no return.
Anyway, after the first breath I could feel him line up the needle. Then with the second breath he pierced me. I wouldn't say it was painful, just a bit uncomfortable. Without missing a beat, he made the jewelry transfer and then I was done.
I was given an aftercare sheet and since I was something like a regular there I didn't really need the aftercare explained to me. After the whole thing was done, I sat in the chair to just gather myself before rejoining the girls. Once everyone had seen my new addition, I went to go pay for piercing. 140 dollars well spent if I do say so myself.
-Healing-
My track record isn't the greatest when it comes to healing piercings. Usually before they heal, I develop hypertrophic scarring that takes forever to go away. I have also had a few piercings and miscellaneous cuts that keloid so I was making it my goal for this piercing to be the different one.
The first couple of weeks were all right. I thought it looked a bit crooked but that's only because my navel's a bit crooked in comparison to the rest of my body. I followed my aftercare which entailed rotating between baxedin soaks at night and salt soaks in the morning. Then after about a month, I developed some hypertrophic scarring around the top hole- my goal was shot to hell. I religiously kept up the aftercare and around four months, my navel was looking pretty good. It was more or less healed.
Just when I thought my navel was safe, something else came along and started sabotaging my healing. I believe my navel started to migrate forward and in the process was causing me extreme pain. It was making me stand unusually because standing erect meant stretching out the piercing and that meant pain. After about a week and a half it stopped and it seemed perfectly healed. I gave it another week and took out the jewelry to inspect the hole. My navel looked great. One of the best and quickest piercings I had healed in a long time. The thing that surprised me was that at 12g light was passing through it.
Curiosity struck and I managed to find my 10g taper and passed it through. There was no resistance whatsoever. I later bought some 10g jewelry for it and that's how it's been for a couple of months now.
-Last Words-
After all the years of waiting and whining and begging, finally something meaningful came along and made the piercing that much more special. Now when people ask me what's the reason behind it, I can give them a solid answer. I don't think I'll ever regret it and I'm glad that it took five years to get it because it will always remind me of my sweet sixteen and everything that led up.
For those of you reading this wondering about pain, it's very minimal. The pain that you feel is quick- literally it's gone in roughly two seconds.
Be diligent with your aftercare, because if you are not, things will almost certainly become complicated.