On 18th January, I went to Blue Banana to get my belly button pierced. It is something I had been considering for a while, and after quite a lot of research and some recommendations from my friends, I decided that Blue Banana was the place to go. I will admit, I didn't really want to go there because it isn't really my scene, but safety comes first and this was the safest and most trustworthy place by far! I picked my jewellery and waited for it to be sterilised before I was called in. The piercer I had was called Flo, and she was absolutely lovely and put me at ease. She started off my cleaning the area and then marked where the piercing would go with a purple pen (the picture above was taken about an hour after I got it done and you can still see the purple dots). She then laid me down on the bed and clamped the area with some metal clamps, before piercing it with a annular needle. She then removed the needle and left the tube in place, which she then cut so it was at a more manageable size. She then put the bar in the bottom of the tube and pulled it through before screwing the ball on, and that was it! She stood me up and let me have a look at it before putting a plaster on to protect it until I got home.
A question that was obviously going to be asked was pain! The clamps didn't hurt at all, they were just cold and tight. When she first put the needle in, there was a slight pinch and it just felt odd because I could feel it moving through my skin, it was a very weird feeling. It did sting a bit the further the needle went in but it was more pressure than pain because it takes a lot of force to get a needle through a chunk of skin like that. Again pulling the bar through was a lot of pushing and pulling and was a bit like a pinch but it was nothing that I couldn't deal with. It honestly wasn't that bad and I would do it again without any issues. The one thing I couldn't get over was how quick it was, within 2 minutes I was in and out! I had to sit for a bit and I felt very faint, I was eventually sick but I am no good with shock so it wasn't the actual piercing that did that for me! For about an hour afterwards, it stung like hell and was a quite uncomfortable but the pain soon went and I couldn't even feel it. It was a little bit tender for about a week after I got it done, I couldn't lie on it and anything that touched it hurt but that soon eased off. It is absolutely fine now, I forget its there until I knock it on things, trust me, clumsy is my middle name!
Cleaning it is a bit of a pain in the backside but it has to be done! I fill a shot glass with pre-boiled water and a small spoonful of salt and soak it twice a day for the first two weeks and then once a day after that. I soak it for 10 minutes and then put a few drops of tea tree oil on the hole and leave that for about 2-3 minutes. I then rinse that off and go round the bar with a cotton bud to make sure that it is all clean and dry.
The average healing time for a navel piercing is about 6-12 months and they recommend that you wait about 3-4 months before changing the jewellery. Obviously this is different for everyone, so I would speak to your piercer before changing it to see whether it has properly healed or not. A belly button piercing heals from the outside in which is why it takes so long, and there is also a limited blood supply to that area which doesn't help either. I already have about 15 bars already, which is ridiulous but they are so cheap and I am prepared for when that glorious day comes! If you would like to see my collection, then I can do that for you!
I would definitely recommend going to Blue Banana if you are in the UK, they definitely know what they are doing and provide a really good service at really reasonable prices. If you have any questions, then don't hesitate to get in contact and I would be more than happy to answer them for you! Also, if you have any experiences that you would like to share, leave them in the comments so we can all have a read!
Emily xx
P.S, here are some articles and videos that you may find useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFwELfVs19g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KOVk8iGbrA
http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-a-New-Navel-Piercing
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