I got my belly button when I was 15 years of age, in the summer holidays, waiting for my final year of school. I had been an ardent reader of BME for two years now and yearned for my first modification. My parents however, are strongly against the idea of the son and modifications. So naturally I have to go for something I can hide. I considered getting my nipples done but thought myself to chubby so chose not to (I've since had them done twice each). I considered my genitals but was too scared. And my tongue wasn't an option, I knew I'd get caught. So navel it was.
At A Glance Author Timfy Contact Timfy@bme.anon IAM Dreamsofstars When Five years ago Location Bishop, NE England About two weeks into the holiday I was given £20 payment for looking after a friend's dog while they were away. This, along with a little bit of savings I had would be enough for my navel piercing. I phoned a friend and told him of my plans and we arranged to go the next day.
The next day at around noon I found myself in a piercing parlour (I can hardly call it that, it was attached to a hair salon). I told the lady that I would like my navel pierced. She said sure and gave me some forms to fill out, which was no problem. I filled them out and went with the lady to chose which jewellery I would like her to place in my navel. I chose a plain silver ball closure for two reasons. One, I liked it. Two, it was cheap.
After about ten minutes the lady (I never did get her name) took me to the piercing room and instructed for me to lie down on the bed. I did so while she sprayed my navel with numbing spray, and rubbed me down with alcohol wipes. Once she had done that she took her pen and marked my navel up ready for piercing. Taking the clamps in the hand she secured me, ready to pierce. In her other hand she lifted the needle and popped the protective sheath from it.
After asking me if I was ready (I said yes) she lined the needle up to my clamped navel and announced she was going to pierce me on the count of three. Fair enough. One. Two. Three. Bang, needle through. It hardly hurt as much as I expected it to, wasn't worth the build up I'd given it.
I watched as she slid the needle from the catheter and placed the end of the ball closure ring into it. She then pulled the ring into my navel and the catheter out of my navel in one movement, at which point blood started to flow. Not a lot, but enough to warrant a tissue and a change of gloves. After I had finished bleeding the lady clipped the ball into my ring and put a clean dressing onto my navel. She let me sit for a few minutes to gather myself, my endorphins were rushing and my heart pounding.
She also gave me a sheet explaining my aftercare and went through it with me, before I paid her and left. If memory serves well she sold me a bottle of tea tree oil, which I was to massage into my piercing, twice a day, and rotate the ring.
My navel never really healed properly for over a year. It often had a lump on it which would puss, and ooze and bleed when ever I aggravated it. Even bending over hurt as I moved the ring.
Eventually I tried to use dettol on my navel, to see if that would help. I put five full bottle caps of dettol in my bath every night and abandoned bubbles in a bid to help clean me. After a week of doing this, this lump had shrunk, dried up and lost its redness. After another week, it dropped off and never came back.
However my navel was still sore, until I decided to change my jewellery into a barbell. Once I had done this my navel healed up within weeks and stopped crusting. I would defiantly recommend being pierced with a barbell, to reduce all the movement. And if you haven't tried using dettol to clean your piercings, maybe you should. But make sure you dilute it, as it will make your skin peel off if you don't... trust me.
I actually managed to hide my navel from my parents for the best part of two years, during which time I had it pierced again, and both of my nipples done, until one day when my mum and I were wrestling, my shirt came up. My mum wasn't altogether bothered, telling me she knew I had something done, as I hadn't taken my shirt off in front of her for years. I took the opportunity to show her my nipples and get everything out in the open. It was a good choice to come out about them, now I have nothing to hide.