My mother took me when I was 15 to get my first ear piercing. And she took me at 16 to get my second ear piercing. And took me at 17 to get my third ear piercing. And then she told me I was done. However, when I was 18 I began becoming interested in more piercings. When I pierced my cartilage my mother became concerned that I would get a facial piercing or a visible tattoo, and assumed that this would prevent me from getting a job later in life or prevent me from being able to function normally in society. So she made a rule... no piercing from the neck up. If she can't see it, it doesn't exist. I never want to disappoint or upset my mother, that's why after my first month in college I decided to get my navel pierced.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Noah Studio Ultimate Body Piercing Location Rochester, New York I looked for piercing parlors in Rochester and decided upon Ultimate Body Piercing on West Henrietta. The same day, my friends took me to get pierced. We made a day of it. Eight friends walked in, two got pierced, and then we all went for Japanese food. I was very nervous because I had never pierced anything but my ears and didn't know what to expect (I had never heard of BME at this point). I didn't bring anyone into the room with me, mostly because I wanted to limit the number of people who would see me with my shirt up. I was surprised with myself that I let Noah, the piercer, see my stomach. I have always been very modest and I like to hide myself. A navel piercing would be odd for such a person, but I was doing it for me. It was not to be showed off to everyone.
Noah was very comforting. He chatted with me and made a joke about how I had to sit on my hands so I didn't flinch and hit him in the crotch. He told me exactly what he was doing as he went along. When he showed my where he marked my navel, I said it was fine. Later I realized that the piercing was actually a little crooked. It was noticeable, but it didn't bother me very much. I really should have paid better attention, but I was still very nervous and a little out of my element.
He didn't use a clam, which was a relief. I had heard that the clamp was the most painful part, and I got to skip it. I could feel the needle go in, but there was no pain at all. Noah gave me all the after care information sand sent me on my way.
After I left, it bled a little and hurt a bit every time I bent, but it was not terrible. Within a week it looked black and blue and was leaking a lot of pus. I figured this was normal. Next thing I know its seven weeks later and the piercing only looked worse. It would still bleed from time to time and it seemed as though a scab was trying to grow over the piercing. I continued to clean it, but apparently I had not been doing it properly. This was not Noah's fault, but apparently I miss understood him. He said that I should soak cotton balls in sea salt and water to clean the piercing. I had just been wiping it down as I would with my ear piercings. However, as I have learned from more recent piercings, I needed to hold the cotton balls over the piercing for five minutes. From looking at BME, I learned that it would have worked even better if I had held a shot glass with warm sea salt water over it for five minutes. Even though I began doing this, it was too late. The damage had been done.
Although I really loved this piercing, it was beginning to be very painful and more trouble than it was worth. I decided I had to take the piercing out. I now had on my stomach a big, gaping, bloody hole. I was worried that it would never look right again. It is now six months later and all I have are two grey scars on my navel. You can see exactly where it was pierced and there is a lot of scar tissue. I am lucky, though, at least the piercing wasn't rejected. That would have resulted in a larger, more noticeable scar.
The moral of this story is not do what I did. Make sure you pay close attention to your after care instructions. If you have any questions, ask your piercer. If you think there might be a problem go back to your piercer or go to a doctor. Do not wait until there may be permanent damage.