Let's introduce myself before I tell you all about my navel piercing-experience. I'm 23 years old and I'm a student at the university of Delft, The Netherlands. The story I am going to tell took place about two years ago.
At A Glance Author rat_xxx Contact rat_xxx@hotmail.com When Two years ago Studio Blue Tattoo Location Delft, The Netherlands
I had been thinking of getting a piercing for quite some time, I just wasn't sure whether I wanted a navel ring or a nostril piercing. Also a tongue piercing was one of my options, but because I permanently got a wire behind my teeth (a leftover of my braces) this already fell of and I also wasn't really thrilled with the idea of a tongue the size of a tomato for about a week! Because I wanted the piercing just for myself and not especially for the world to see I finally decided on a navel piercing. My decision to take one fell about the same date as the first anniversary of me and my (now ex-) boyfriend. Therefore he said he would pay half of it as an anniversary present. This was very welcome because I (like probably most students over the world) haven't got very much money to spent.So one day we made the trip to the only tattoo and piercing studio in Delft to get my navel piercing! The first time we got there it was closed (of course), so I got excited for nothing that day. Happily the next time we went it was open. Because this would be my first piercing (I got my lobes pierced when I was 4 years old; just kept bothering my mom until she let me, but because I can't remember this I think it doesn't really count) I was very excited when I went to the studio. I didn't really know what to expect since I hadn't done research about the subject. All I knew was that it would probably hurt and that it would take about two to three months to heal.
When I got there I picked out a nice black surgical steel CBR, it looked very classy and different from all other jewellery. I don't exactly know the size, but I think it is a 14 or 12 ga. The reason for me to pick a CBR instead of a barbell was that the available barbells were so big. Also I thought that they get more easily stuck in your cloths because of the typical barbell-shape. And I must say that I have never seen someone with a black CBR like mine J. While the ring was being sterilised, my belly was cleaned and marked. After that the clamps were put on and voila: a few seconds later I got a wonderful decorated navel! It didn't hurt very much; I had imagined that I would be much worse. After that I received the after-care instructions, paid and went home, being very happy with that steel new piece of my body. The total costs of this piercing were 120 guilders, which is about $ 45.
The first few days my belly was very sensitive and it wasn't comfortable at all to were pants: the top button irritated the skin exactly at the spot where the piercing was. Because I wanted it to heal very nicely I followed the after-care instructions pretty strict: I washed the piercing and surrounding area once a day with anti-bacterial soap while taking a shower and made sure to rinse it thoroughly. I also turned the ring twice a day with clean hands (washed with that same soap) to prevent the ring getting "stuck" in the healed tissue. Despite the precautions I took, it got a little infected after a few weeks, which was most unpleasant and hurt more than getting the piercing itself. But persistent as I am: I just kept cleaning according to instructions and finally after 3 months it was fully healed.
As I write this, it is 2 years later and I still got my beautiful black CBR; just haven't found jewellery yet that I like more! I don't show it around a lot because I think I haven't got the right belly to do that, but that wasn't my intention with it to begin with. This piercing really makes me feel more happy with myself; I like very much that people don' t know what I am wearing beneath my clothes. (This is also known as the Rumplestiltskin–feeling: no one knows, no one knows that...) And now I'm ready for more body mods: I'm busy making a design for a lower back tribal and planning for a vertical Madison after that. The Madison has to wait a little bit because my boyfriend isn't really thrilled about me poking holes in my body, and this way he can get used to the idea ;-) Got to save some money first though... When I got them I'll write about it!