Before I start my experience I would like to say that I am not mentioning the name of the studio where I got this done or the name of the piercer as although my piercing was not up to scratch I do not intend to bad mouth the piercer as he is a really nice guy and very capable when doing standard piercings. However, anyone who is familiar with the area will know from little details who I am talking about.
At A Glance Author Laura Contact lordoftheshortpeople@hotmail.com When Five years ago Artist will remain anonamous Studio will remain anonamous Location Edinburgh, Scotland After getting the mandatory belly button piercing when I was 14 (a few years later than I had hoped) I thought I would try my luck at a surface piercing. A friend of mine had already had one done on the side of her belly and wanted one on the other to match. At first I thought I would get my parents permission, but as it was in the days before the strict parental consent forms, and I knew my parents did not want me getting any more, I thought I would get one done secretly. I decided on a horizontal bar across the top of my belly button bar, which when it was in looked really cute – like a little face on my belly :).
I went to the piercer who had done my belly button a few months before and thought I could trust him. His studio was purpose built and really clean and the guy was really friendly, though thinking back, maybe a bit too friendly for two young girls. All the way to the train station my stomach was acting as a temporary home to the entire British population of butterflies. My friend had said that it wouldn't hurt, but I didn't really believe her because she doesn't feel pain the way us mere mortals do – when getting her first tattoo, the tattoo artist had to keep telling her to stop laughing because it tickled! As we walked the million or so steps of the Flesh Market (cool name for an alleyway of stairs) I started to get a bit nervous and almost chickened out. Luckily my friend dragged me (almost) kicking and screaming into the shop where we were greeting by the piercer and told to wait in line. In front of us were a few N.E.DS waiting to get their belly buttons done – a drawback of our piercer being the most commonly known in Edinburgh. After listening to their annoying comments about the stock in the shop (the piercing studio was inside an alternative clothes shop) and how much their piercing was going to hurt I totally relaxed thinking about how childish they sounded and determined that I wasn't going to be in any way like them. This, I must say, is a very effective way to calm your nerves.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour (really only 20 min) my friend and I were called into the room. I jumped at the chance to get done first as I knew if I watched my friend being done I wouldn't get mine done. I sat up on the bench and lifted my top enough to expose the area that I wanted pierced. The most important thing about getting pierced, except of course the cleanliness and capability of the piercer, is if they make you feel comfortable, which I must say was definitely this guy's strong point. While the piercer froze the area and lined up the dots he had my friend and I laughing our heads off at a story about an ex-soldier who had gotten his nipple pierced and had passed out.
Anyway, it didn't hurt – much the opposite, it made me want to get pierced again straight away (which didn't happen due to lack of funds, damn child labour laws!). Unfortunately, the piercer didn't use P.D.F.E for the piercing and it rejected before it healed. At first I though it was maybe my fault, although I did keep my scab picking to an absolute minimum (I have to admit, I love nothing better than to pick at a good scab). It wasn't until after I acquiescented and took the bar out and let it heal and went to get it done again at a really good studio 5 minutes walk away – it's quite hard to walk for more than 5 minutes in the Old Town of Edinburgh (pronounced ED IN BUH RAH for those of you west of the Atlantic)- that I learnt how stupid and short lasting the kind of bars that the previous piercer had used. But, surface piercings will be surface piercings and it only lasted 6 months (3 months longer than it's predecessor). Five years down the line I would not recommend surface piercing to anyone who is looking for a long term piercing and also that when you pick your piercer please make sure that they use the right equipment. Although I must admit, the scar is a good conversation starter.