This is the story of my first surface piercing. If you had asked me a few weeks ago if I ever thought I would be the type of person to get a surface piercing, my answer would have been a definite no. I had seen pictures of them on bme before, but it just wasn't something that appealed to me. I had been searching through the different sections, and fell in love with the idea of starting some sort of navel project. So after looking around for a bit, I decided on getting a horizontal surface piercing right below my navel. I thought it looked really good, and it wasn't something I had ever actually seen on someone, just in pictures.
At A Glance Author sarah Contact sarah@bme.anon When A week ago Artist R.J. Studio New Tribe Location Toronto So I did my research on surface piercings, about the chances of rejection and whatnot, and decided that I still really wanted it, but I just had to wait to get a bit of cash, because I knew these weren't the cheapest piercings you could get. Luckily it was my birthday in a few days, so I didn't have to wait long. I made my way down to New Tribe on a Thursday afternoon, thinking that I would be able to just walk in, cause there's usually no one there in the middle of the day, but it was packed with a bunch of girls getting standard navels, so I had to wait for a bit. One girl apparently had some sort of allergic reaction to the metal, and she was in the back room for almost an hour. So I got to sit on the big comfy couches for a while, which would normally make me really nervous, but I was actually pretty ok. I didn't really know what to expect pain wise, reading the experiences here, some people said it hurt a lot, while others said it didn't hurt at all.
So finally R.J. called me into the back. I had been planning to get a 1inch surface bar, but decided at the last minute to get the 3/4inch instead, which was probably a good idea. R.J. was really great at taking his time to make sure that the markings were exactly centred, and that it line up nicely with my standard navel, and that everything was straight, and asking if everything looked ok, and if it was where I wanted it. Then he had me lie down, and he clamped my stomach (ow!) and poked the needle through. For those of you who are reading this to see how much it hurt, it was bearable. I think I was probably the most painful piercing I've had yet, but if I had to do it again, I would.
So this is when the weird stuff started to happen. He asked if I was feeling alright, and I was so I stood up so he could clean off the blood and markings and whatnot, so that it would look nice, and I started feeling really lightheaded, so he had me lay back down. I was feeling really hot, and a little nauseous, which had never happened to me before, and I've gotten my fair share of piercings. He said it was fairly common to feel this way after a surface piercing, because the needle is going through 20mm of skin, instead of 9mm for a naval and 2-3mm for a cartilage piercing, so your body can go into shock a little. He got me some water, and put a paper towel soaked with rubbing alcohol on the back of my neck, and I felt better almost instantly. He handed me the card on how to clean the piercing, and I noticed the part which says that you have to slide the jewelry 7-10 times to make sure that you get the soap inside, and I asked how I was supposed to do this because it doesn't seem like that should be able to happen with a surface bar, because of the 90degree angles, and he said to just push the balls one at a time, so the bar is moving like a teeter-totter, if that makes any sense. So I grabbed a can of coke to get some sugar into my system, and I was on my way.
It's been pretty much problem free since I got it. I've been doing my salt soaks twice a day for 10 minutes, and washing with tea tree soap. It took a little adjusting, because I normally sleep on my stomach, but otherwise, it's been great. There is a little bit of bruising around the exit hole, and a tiny bit of bleeding, the first few times I cleaned it, but that's stopped now. It's been a really gorgeous addition to my body, and I'm going to wait to make sure it doesn't reject before I get my next surface piercing... a cleavage bar. I can't wait!