For my sisters 16th birthday (she is nearly 21 now) my mom took her to get her bellybutton pierced. It looked really cute, but hearing about the procedure scared me a little. Later that day she was in the bathroom yelling for me to help her. I came in and she was laying on the bathroom floor, her bellybutton ring in a pool of blood. I started to freak out, and that really turned me off to the idea. Later I was told I could get mine for my 16th birthday as well, my 16th birthday came and gone (I am nearly 19 now) and I did not get it done. Too scared it would hurt way too much, plus my sister convinced me that I did not have enough fat on my stomach.
At A Glance Author *~*Mousey*~* When Three months ago Artist Adam Studio Kens creative tattoos Location IL I had given up on the idea about getting my bellybutton pierced, even though I thought they were so cute. And was secretly jealous of anyone who had theirs pierced. Then over Thanksgiving break my friend, Mel got her bellybutton pierced at Kens Creative Tattoos (where my sis got her nose pierced and where I got my nose pierced, and where she got her bellybutton and tattoo done). Mel surprised me and came into my work that night and showed me her freshly pierced bellybutton, it looked sooooo cute. I was so jealous, it looked perfect on her. And then the piercing bug hit me again. I had just gotten my doubles and my helix pierced a month earlier by my friend Rachel who worked at Claire's. Yeah I know guns are bad, but I did not care.) I knew I just had to get my bellybutton pierced, I just had to try and see if I had enough fat on my stomach for it. That night when I got home from work I asked my mom if I could get it done as an early Christmas present, of course it did not take any begging and pleading. But she said I could not go alone, make a friend drive incase I get lightheaded. I called Mel and asked if she would go with me the next day, she agreed to go with me.
The next day Mel came over and we headed up to Kens. When we got there Kens was not open yet, with time to kill we called Rachael and she decided to join us. We drove over to her house and stayed there until 2 when Kens opened. When we got back to the shop Adam asked what I wanted done, after filling out the paperwork and what not, I picked out a barbell with a clear stone on top and bottom. I decided to pick a clear one, since it would be awhile before I could change it and it goes with everything. (I regretted getting a light purple stone when I got my nose pierced, but that is a whole other story on this site ;) ). We entered the piercing area and I addressed my concern about not having enough "fat". And asked if I should get it done on the bottom instead. Adam says no I have enough, cleans the area and he marked my stomach. I almost wanted to back out of the whole idea, my mom said my sister got really dizzy. But I did not let my nerves get the better of me and I laid down on the chair and Adam set the clamps on my stomach, and holy cow, that hurt. I look at Rachael like "help me" and then he slides the needle into my skin, wow even more pain. Rach makes ouchie faces, so I told her she was not helping and looked away. Then Adam said "you don't have enough fat". I thought he was serious for a minute. I begin to think there is no way that he is going to re-pierce me, I won't do this again. Then he laughs and I calmed down, then he put the jewelry in. And then he tells me to be careful and not pull up on my stomach, explains aftercare, and said to make sure the ball is always tight. Then we paid him and thanked him and left.
It has been about 4 months since I got my bellybutton pierced, and have not had any major problems with it. But I managed to scratch it in my sleep a few times, not fun. If you want to get yours done but are scared, I would say just do it. Mine did hurt, but it was worth it. But I have friends who said theirs did not hurt at all. Rachael got hers done a week after I got mine done, and she said hers did not hurt. Just make sure that you follow the aftercare instructions and do not get lazy, because that is just asking for it to get infected. And definitely wait the 6 months or more until you are fully healed to change the ring.