I'd been begging my mum for a navel piercing since my cousin got hers done when I was 11. She originally told me I had to wait until I was 16, but that changed when she got her own navel pierced shortly before I was 13. After that, she told me I could get it done at 15, however I had to get it pierced at the beginning of the summer holidays so it was healed up in time for school. This caused a bit of a problem as my birthday is at the end of the summer! So, much negotiating later, she agreed I could have it done in the summer of my 15th birthday, when I was 14. My dad wasn't too happy about it and constantly telling me it would go septic.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Ryan Studio Beehive Location Canterbury, UK Nevertheless, at the start of the summer holidays I was thrilled at the prospect if getting my navel pierced. The only flaw in the plan was that my mum was working and couldn't take me down to the studio, and being under 16, I needed an adult with me. The problem was soon solved, with the sister of one of my friends coming to my rescue! She even said she would get hers redone at the same time (she had been waiting for the scar tissue to break down after her last one got ripped out). She had quite a few piercings, so I was happy to be going with her as she put me at ease and knew the people who worked there.
When I met up with her, she told me to go buy some chocolate to make sure I didn't pass out (which was very likely, as I was almost shaking with nerves at this point!). My navel was my first body piercing, I only had a pair or lobe piercings at the time, which I couldn't even remember having done, it was so long ago!
Anyway, we arrived at the studio, and I was asked what kind of jewellery I wanted, I chose a bar rather than a ring, as my friend said it would be best. I had to sign a consent form and was given a sheet of aftercare instructions. Before I knew it, I was up in the studio picking out the bar I wanted. I chose plain silver with a silver jewel, as I would be wearing it for a while. My friend offered to go first so I could watch, which I was more than happy about! I watched her being cleaned out, measured, marked up and pierced. She had to get hers deep to go behind the scar tissue and advised me to do the same for a better result. I watched as she was instructed to take deep breaths and then, the piercing. I saw her counting 1, 2, 3, as she was being pierced, which showed me how quickly it was all over. A pad was put over her brand new navel and she was ready to go.
Then it was my turn. I was shaking as I he called me over, this being my fist and only time to date in a piercing studio. He cleaned me out and told me to stand up straight as he measured it out. He marked on two little dots and showed me in a mirror asking if that was okay. I didn't have much of an idea what I was looking for, so I just said yes. I was told to sit down on the bed/chair thing as he showed me he was opening the single use needle for the first time. Then he told me to lay back, on went the clamps (which I barely felt) and I was instructed to breathe deeply.
On the third breath, he pierced me. And it hurt. At that moment, I stopped breathing and wanted to kill everyone who had told me it didn't hurt. Because it did. But the pain (which was an intense, burning sort of pain) was over in a few seconds and I didn't really feel the jewellery going in, I was just numb! He put a clean pad over the top and then went through the aftercare instructions. He made it very clear, which I was grateful for, and I also had thorough instructions on the sheet I had been given. He told me to avoid waistbands and tight clothes and sent me on my way with a bottle of saline solution and a brand new navel piercing (all for only £22)!
I followed the after care instructions perfectly, determined to prove my pessimistic father wrong! It all went well until I got back to school about a month later. The piercing was doing fine, but still not totally healed. The problem was, my school skirt has a waistband that irritates the navel piercing. A couple of days later, I noticed a slight tear on the bottom hole. It was sore to clean the piercing and hurt when it caught on the skirt. I ended up having to pull my skirt down so it sat on my hips, which was a little uncomfortable, but my navel had come so far so well, and I was determined to heal it well!
It took about 2 weeks for the tear under the piercing to heal up and I thought the piercing was totally healed, but I was taking no chances, so I keep up the cleaning regime as I had been. About 2 and a after the initial piercing, I changed the bar. To my relief, it was okay, and was perfectly healed!
Now, almost 6 months on, I have a beautiful navel piercing that I had been waiting for since I was 11. I love it some much and I smile everytime I see it! This piercing has opened up a world of possibilities to me and I'm carefully considering future piercings – although, this time I will do a lot more research before hand!