Well, the whole ordeal began when I was 15 years old and my mother agreed to letting me get my navel done. I was so excited. I got my two forms of ID, my birth certificate and went to the studio.
At A Glance Author Liza Contact Mysteriousxlovex@aol.com When Two years ago Artist Shade and then Gash Studio First, Midwest Body Modifications and then Gashes Location Michigan The place was very clean and well organized. The guy who was there was very polite and nice. He knew I was nervous and when all was signed we went into the back room.
He wiped me down with alcohol and then Iodine after he marked me with a purple marker. Then he put the clamp on and had me lie down. He took the needle fresh out of the package and came over to me. He said take a deep breath and breath out slowly but don't hold your breath. So as I breathe out slowly I feel a little bit of heat and the first part was over. Next it was time to put the barbell in. I took another deep breath and he put it through and all was done. It looked great. So I happily went off to pay my $43 dollars for the piercing, jewelry, and cleaning solution.
I was instructed to clean it 2 times a day. I did this religiously for about 3 months. But I noticed that the redness never went away and it began to have a lot of dry skin that peeled and moved away from the barbell. I called Shade, but the studio was shut down. I continued my aftercare, and I did some research and found out that the barbell had nickel in it. I noticed that other piercing I have had that had jewelry in them that contained nickel also got very irritated and sore. I decided to try and change it to a Titanium bar bell, but it was way too late. My body was already so reactive that it started to push my piercing out. I had a really bad allergic reaction. Not only the jewelry have nickel in it, but the metal was not of good quality and my body was trying to get rid of it. I later found out that Shade used metals that weren't implant grade. Just melted down metals from crappy companies.So after about 4 months of caring for my piercing and babying it and trying to help my body keep it. It rejected. I had nothing to show of my hard work for the summer. I was so livid and disappointed. But, I decided to let my body heal and try again.
So, a year later I went to my mother again asking her if I could try again. She said yes. So I called around and did a good background check on Gash. All good stuff. Nothing bad and no problems with infection or allergies with any of his clients. Great! So my mom and I went to his studio.
I handed him my $35 dollars for a nickel free banana bell and the piercing. It was Implant Grade Titanium and had a pretty pink rhinestone. He went into the back, autoclaved it, set up, and came back.
When he called me back into the room I was nervous but excited. He marked me and then cleaned me with alcohol. He changed his gloves after he had cleaned me. Then he clamped me and told me to lie down on the chair. I laid down and he brought me up to his level and laid the chair back. He told me to take a deep breath and as I did he poked me. It was just as painless as the first time. Then before I knew it the barbell was in and I was done. The piercing looked so cute. I did the sea salt soaks he instructed me to do twice a day. Once before bed and once in the morning and it healed perfectly.
I had no problems whatsoever with this piercing the second time around and it healed very quickly. I am very happy with this and glad I didn't quit with an allergic reaction because now I have a very pretty body mod that I love to death.
I have gotten other body mods done by Gash and everything has gone well with them. We also discovered that during the healing process is when my body re-acts to the nickel, but once I'm healed I can wear the 316L Surgical Steel jewelry. So, if your allergic to nickel try other metals or materials. There are many out there and quite a few piercers recommend glass, titanium, and silicone.
Let this be a lesson to you all that it is a good idea to know if you're allergic to ANY kind of metal and make sure that the piercer uses good quality metals to put in your piercing. Even 316L surgical steel has a small amount of nickel in it, and sometimes even this implant grade metal can make someone have an allergic reaction. Be careful of what you put in your body. If you don't take proper and careful care of your body mods then rejection or a bad infection can happen. Find out what you're allergic to before you get pierced or else you could end up with a painful end to your piercing.