The very first piercing I did with a needle and not a gun would have been my navel. At that point in time when I did it (end of 2004), the craze was just starting to hype up - with Britney Spears and her killer abs, as well as the Japanese craze that hit my country. Magazines featured it. Magazines featured it as a sex symbol. Everyone wanted it. So did I. It took me a year to finally get my arse down to get my piercing done -- with the encouragement of a friend.
At A Glance Author vanessa Contact vanessa@bme.anon IAM golded When A year ago Studio Primitive Art Location Singapore
It was late in the evening; I was supposed to head home for dinner with my family. But I made a detour. First stop to the "money dispenser", where I withdrew money, and strutted down to the shop. "I want a navel piercing.". Then, I was in my school uniform, I must have looked young, innocent, angsty, wannabe and everything associated with teenage. Hah. But thank god, here in Singapore, there isn't an explicit age limit for piercings (but you do get stares and glares). I filled up the form, made payment, and took a 20-minute walk for them to sterilize the jewelry -- which I took sometime to choose as the lady at the shop was showing me an entire collection of navel jewelry, and telling me which will go nice with my complexion.
The walk was agonizing. I was looking at other dangling navel jewelry from other shops. And imagining how they would look like on my skin. My heart was at my throat. The days before That Day was filled with me pinching my navel with my nails to get a feel of what the pain would be like.
The time came. We went into this room that resembled a dentist room. The piercer was busy arranging his stuff (I think), and then he marked me. Two dots and a "YES". Then he took out The Clamps. It was a nasty pinch. Almost like a painful tickle. Then I walked to the chair with The Clamps dangling by my navel. I laid on the chair with my friend by my side. I think she was as excited as I was. She just did her's just two weeks ago and desperately wanted to know how the process looked like.
Five seconds. Five seconds was all it took. And I felt no pain at all. I think I was high and adrenaline-rushed such that I could not feel anything except excitement. When my friend said "Done!", she was highly amused, and so was I. It was over. And I was endowed.
The days after were pretty alright. I had this wide grin on my face that could not be wiped off, for days. The aftercare was pretty simple. I used saline wash only for the first two days and left it alone. No sit ups. No laughing to hard. No swimming. No violent actions that could possibly lead to ripping out of piercing. No swimming. No water sports. If necessary, wear a waterproof plaster, but not for too long as the piercing still needs to "breathe".
Months passed. And a few months back, my piercing started to hurt. There was this little pain at the back of the piercing. Sometimes mild, sometimes acute. It was not the kind of pain where I can put a finger on it and say "There, this is where it hurts." It was almost like a surrounding pain. And it was only up till then, that I realized how far out my piercing has got. It's rejecting, it sunk in to me finally.
I put the blame on my tummy. Sitting down or being in any bending position caused my tummy to press against my navel, hence inducing rejection. Constant pushing and rubbing - the devil to all surface piercings. Also, I put the blame on the heavy dangling jewelries I wore. I spent a bomb on those jewelries, but they only served to add pressure to the small flap of skin of the piercing. But I suppose I don't exactly regret, as they were gorgeous, though short-lived.
I changed the stud to a (much) shorter one after coming to terms with the fact. And the pain disappeared for good. I was hoping that it will stop rejecting. But it didn't. The only good thing was that it was rejecting at a much slower rate. About 5 months later, the piercing obviously moved outwards a lot more. I decided, it's time to go. Many comments have been made that, the sooner you take out a rejecting piercing, the less scar it will leave. But how true, I do not know. All I know is that there is a scar. Not exactly very pleasant. But I like it, as a gentle reminder of how my adventures started. And in replacement of my 21 month old navel, I just pierced my conch with a gold barbell. But that's another story all together. From then on, I have a collection of 11 piercings to date. I just made an appointment for my tattoo tomorrow. Cheers. Pictures can be found on my IAM page. :)
Piercings are here to stay.