How I Healed a Navel Pierce

My navel pierce was my first body pierce and was quite daring for me at the time. I think I wanted it because it looked cool and was a risky thing to do. It took me several months to work up the courage to get it done. At the time I got it pierced, I knew nothing of body piercing and made many mistakes. I hope others can learn from them and have happy pierced navels :)

My navel was first pierced on 7/6/94 with a gold 16ga CBR. Nine months later I had to take it out. I think this pierce failed for several reasons. First, the pierce was a little higher than it should have been, putting it at a greater risk for migration. Second, the CBR was completely wrong for my body type. The waist of my jeans were in continual contact with the ring, causing much irritation and eventually ripping the pierce down. The small 16ga ring also made it easier for the pierce to be torn. My cleaning regiment probably only make the crusties worse. I was using a non-antibacterial soap and bactine for the entire time. After 9 months of dealing with a sore and crusty pierce, I returned to the shop where I got it done. They showed me how the pierce had torn down about 1/8" (leaving a scar) and that it need to come out to heal. But they did offer to repierce it in 3 or 4 months. Taking it out was especially difficult because it was my first body pierce.

4 months later I had two hours between classes so I went to get the pierce redone. The position of the pierce was much better, but I made the mistake of using the same ring I had before. The ring was most likely scratched and probably irritated the new hole. I again encountered some of the same problems I had before with the choice of jewelry. I was also not as careful about cleaning and this pierce only lasted a month or so before I took it out.

After this I was sure that a navel pierce would not work for me. But then my sister wanted to another ear cartilage done, so I went back to the shop with her. I mentioned that I had taken my navel ring out 3 years ago, and the piercer showed me a curved barbell that would work better for me. I didn't get it that day because I was still sure I would have the same problems I had before. But the thought stayed with me and I wanted to give it another go since jewelry would be better than the red circular scar I now had. A few weeks later, my sister and I went back to the shop to get our navels done (and redone). I chose the 14ga curved bb, but out of ignorance let me sister use my old ring. My sister went first and then it was my turn. The pierce hurt less than the other times and the jewelry looked great. The ball perfectly covers my scar. This time, I also avoided harsh cleaning, like bactine. And I'm happy to say that I felt completely healed within a few months and 7 months later, it's still doing great.

Just in case you are wondering, I did keep my ring in during my pregnancy without any problems. You can see my belly on the day I went into labor here.

Sweetie's Recommendations for Happy Healing

Never

Good luck and happy healing.

Jewelry History

(9/27/97) - 14 gauge 3/4" SSS BBB - at K&K, Mike
(10/10/98) - 14 gauge 7/16" gold BBB
(11/17/98) - 14 gauge 5/16" SSS BBB with gold balls
(1/10/99) - 12 gauge 7/16" sea green titanium CBR - at Infinite, Kristin

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