At A Glance
Author	elly
Contact	elly@bme.anon
When	A year ago
Artist	Louise
Studio	Budd
Location	essex

Background

As with most girls, I first started toying with the idea of a navel piercing at roughly thirteen. At the time I had my ears pierced twice and that was all, not unusual for someone of that age and my parents' response of "definitely not" was not unusual either. Along with every other young teenager I knew, I was just starting to discover myself – piercing and tattoos being relatively alien ideas that I quickly learned were of great interest to me. After several years of waiting and researching (along with four more ear piercings to keep me occupied) my parents finally told me that I could get the piercing done once I left high school – I didn't mind the wait as I knew I would still want my navel pierced as much upon leaving school as I did at that moment and had at thirteen, contrary to my parent's beliefs that I would give up on the idea.

The Actual Piercing

On my first day of 'freedom' I awoke with the knowledge that I would finally be getting my long-awaited piercing and a massive grin on my face. My dad drove me and a friend into town and we headed straight for Louise's studio. She had only just opened so we stood talking to the guy who does tattoos (Gus) who I already knew pretty well through Louise. At one point I started shaking, my friend was worried and thought I was going to change my mind; Gus just laughed and told me that I'd be stupid to back out after wanting it for so long.

Louise called us back to one of the piercing rooms and, after putting on some gloves, she measured and cleaned my navel. I chose which jewellery I wanted – a single-jewelled, clear stone curved barbell – and then we were ready to mark me up. I checked the mark in the mirror and got my friend to have a look as well, just to make sure. While I laid down on the run of the mill piercing table she changed her gloves and then sprayed my navel with a freezing spray. For me personally, this was the worst part of the whole thing. It feels like pins and needles and the sensation gets stronger the longer you are sprayed for. However, having said that, I wouldn't have had it done without it.

I chose not to look at the rest of the procedure, so this next part is based on what I've been told happened by Louise and my friend. The clamps went on - I didn't feel this at all, not even a little bit – and Louise asked me if I was ok with everything so far. I told her I was fine, just excited and nervous. She laughed and at this point apparently pushed the needle through. I was looking at the ceiling so I didn't see her reach for the jewellery and put it through while talking to me about a band we both wanted to see at the local centre a few weeks later. I only knew she'd done it when she said 'Ok, all done" – to which I stupidly replied, "What? Really? That's it?"

Aftercare and Initial Healing

I felt no pain with this piercing, both during and after the actual procedure. This was almost negative at one point as for the first few days I was a little overactive, which caused it to bleed. I cautiously slept on my back for the first few weeks but after that could sleep perfectly happily on my front as usual. I had a salt-bath on the night of having the piercing done and every day after that for the first month I cleaned it three times a day with lavender water using cotton buds.

By this point I had heard about and researched many more piercings and seen several tattoo designs that I wanted, but this was a big step for me. While incredibly common, this was my first 'proper' piercing. Sure, my tragus got more attention, but this was my little pride and joy and I loved it.

Healing Time and Continual Aftercare

Due to unavoidable personal circumstances it took just over seven months for my navel to fully heal itself. After the first month I reduced the cleaning to twice a day and now it is fully healed I only clean it once a day. I make sure that all my jewellery has been professionally sterilised before changing it so as to avoid any infection. I use lavender water to clean the piercing, but during initial healing I alternated every two weeks between lavender water and hp 3%.

Overall

This is the piercing that really lead to me having 'attack of the piercing bug' every so often, and I now have several more done and many more planned – but they're for another time. I would like to point out that while my methods and products for aftercare have worked for me and several others that I know, they may not work for everyone and you should always follow the advice your piercer gives you and that you are comfortable with. I would recommend a navel piercing to anyone. It's not uncommon, most parents won't freak out about it and you can hide it if you feel that's necessary. Oh, and it doesn't hurt in the slightest!