I'm sure that my experience will be condemned by BME, which I agree with totally, basically because I was stupid and did it without the correct equipment which I was too cheap to buy from this site. These guys sell all the right equipment if you simply must do your piercing yourself.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact matt_ress2000@yahoo.co.uk When Two years ago Artist Stupidly Self Done Studio Home Location England I should have gone to a professional, but I was too embaressed. I am a male. There's nothing wrong with that, lots of males get their bellybuttons pierced, but I am slightly different. I have always had a fascination for bellybuttons since a very young age and have always had an obsession for outies.
My bellybutton would be an outie if I were to be able to lose a few pounds from my middle, although I am just too lazy and have tried it before just to gain those pounds. Right now, it's just a regular innie that has a small protrusion in the centre.
One night, I got home from work and sat in front of my computer. The internet is a great source of pictures of my obsession, although hard to find. I did come across this site and saw some pictures of 'true' navel piercings and thought I must have one.
So I gathered some cotton wool, antiseptic, a sewing needle and some pliers. I thoroughly cleaned everything in boiling salty water. I took off my shirt, loosened the skin inside my bellybutton by pulling at it and pushing it and basically making it pliable.
This was the moment of truth. I took a pen and marked the entry and exit points and then took my pliers and 'clamped' my outie in the pliers. In my other hand, a needle clamped tightly with a second pair of pliers.
My heart began to race and adrenalin filled my body and began to shake. Not because I was scared, but because it felt so erotic. Never before had I ever done anything like this, but with one good push, the needle got stuck. I wanted to let go of everything and stop, but I wanted my bellybutton pierced as an outie so much that I had to keep going.
The needle kept having a mind of it's own and wanted to bend, but with all my will, I managed, about an hour later, to get the needle right through the base of my bellybutton.
So there I was, standing with a spike through my bellybutton. I took five minutes for a smoke, washed my hands again, thoroughly and thought about how the heck I was going to get my bar through it. I already have my tongue pierced and have a spare barbell which, again stupidly, thought this would be of use to put through my bellybutton. Bad idea.
Of course, sewing needles are far too small to put a 14gauge barbell through, so I had to open the hole. I found a metal barbeque skewer which had a pointed end and rammed it eventually through my bellybutton which opened the hole up very well. Eventually, I managed to thread my barbell through my hole and tighten it shut.
Although the bar was far too long to go in my bellybutton, it did look great to me. a long line of metal through my outie. It would have been better if it hadn't rejected.
This whole experience caused me a lot of pain in my bellybutton. The bar was far too big and eventually pushed itself out and rejected. The skin inside my bellybutton actually disintegrated and looked a mess for such a long time after. There was a lot of aftercare involved and luckily, no long term damage was done.
I actually made a very big error. I was using tcp as an antiseptic throughout this process and thought it would be good for me as it is a strong antiseptic. It was surely going to be good because it'll kill all bacteria. Well, I diluted a few caps full in some boiling water to wash everything before I started. The morning after, I didn't want my new piercing to become infected, so I thought ahead. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to soak a cotton wool ball in some tcp and stick it over my bellybutton with a patch. Neat TCP.
Half way through my day, my bellybutton was stinging uncontrollably. I decided I must go to the washrooms and see what the hell was happening. I didn't want to take the patch off because of airbourne particles in the bathroom, so I rubbed my belly and it seemed to ease the pain slightly.
By about 5 in the evening, it was that painful, I had to take off the patch and wash my bellybutton with some water. I did this and it seemed to relieve the stinging for a while. I must have stank of TCP that day! So I got home that evening and decided to air my bellybutton, I had no top on and fell asleep on the couch.
The next morning when I woke, I headed to the bathroom for a shower. I then realised that my bellybutton had stopped stinging as much. I looked down and to my absolute horror, there was a big brown ring around my bellybutton. The TCP was burning my skin. There's a good bit of advice for you, never use neat TCP on your skin!
The moral to my story is that I still would like to have this piercing re-done, but this time by a professional. I shall be booking myself into a good piercer when I start my new life in the US very shortly.