Do you have a belly piercing? Thinking about it....

[susy]

Yesterday DH and I were at the mall (a monumental occassion for him) adn saw tons of stands with teh belly button rings. They are just gorgeous and I was thinkingn of getting one. Does anyone have one so you can tell me all the gory details????

 

[Twinkles6892]

I don't have one. But I want one. But #1, I don't wear anything so that you could see one, and #2, my Dad told me that if I pierced anything but my ears, he'd rip it out. So I might want to wait until I'm out of the house.

 

[laurabelle]

Mine is almost a year old! I got it last May during a meet at Daytona Beach with my breast cancer sistas (all women diagnosed under age 40). One of my friends lives there and recommended the place where she had her's done. My sister (nurse) went with me and approved of the cleanliness of the place. Everything was sterile and up to her standards. It was not bad, pain wise. He used 2 clamps to hold the area securely after sterlizing it, and used a needle (freshly opened in front of me). He was very quick, which is important to it not being painful for you. You have to be very diligent about cleaning it, and not touching it for, I think, the first 6 weeks. I bought the cleaning soap and spray they sold. If you keep it clean you shouldn't have any problems. I love all the different rings you can get, I even found a Mickey one at a mall kiosk.
BTW- I'm 42yrs old, and it was a crack up showing it off to my parents, who would have killed me if I had gotten it done as a kid!

 

[drgnfly30]

I'd love one but I think it may get lost in my stretch marks... damn kids...

Christine

 

[Gymbomom]

WOW!! I am going to turn thirty this week, maybe I should do this to keep my mindset young.
I love my neighbors, she is the same age as me and hers looks good.
I really do not wear anything that you would be able to see it except some swimsuits.
I say do it, I bet your hubby would love it.

 

[helenabear]

I did mine just over a year ago. I went to a place that was a part of the Association of Professional Piercers (http://www.safepiercing.org) to make sure they practiced safe piercing. My place was only for piercing and that had me feeling even better.

I absolutely hate needles, and I told him I could not bear to look at it, even though I was supposed to watch him take it out to make sure it was sterile. I told him I would trust him and my eyes were closed (just so I didn't have to see the needle honestly ) until he put the ring in. It was totally NOT painful at all. I honestly think that was one of the easiest piercings I have ever done. They did clamp the skin (that can be the most painful part for some) and quickly pushed the needle through, then added the ring. I have a very nice banana barbell that has a larger clear rhinestone at the bottom one and a smaller but matching stone at the top. It's quite cute

The healing took a while, but I washed it once a day with anti-microbial soap and then did a sea salt soak once a day for 15 minutes. Within just about 6 months it was healed.

I wish I had gotten the guts to do it earlier, but even at 28 I totally love it!!!!

 

[laurie31]

Since you asked for gory details I will share this one...

If you haven't had kids yet and you're planning on it later, you may want to wait about the piercing. A woman in my childbirth class had one and it caused her terrible pain as her baby grew. By mid-pregnancy she removed the piercing, but the scar tissue there still wouldn't stretch and she was miserable from it. She said she'd never have had it done if she had known. She said it was worse than the delivery as she was in constant pain for months.

Just something to consider

I don't know if this happens to all pregnant women with belly button piercings; it may be different depending on how long it's been there before you get pregnant and how much weight you gain (but this woman did NOT gain that much!)

Laurie

 

[ericamanda01]

I have had mine for about 6 years and I don't remember it hurting that much. But you do have to be careful when it comes to infection. My belly piercing took the longest time to heal. You can't wear pants the rub on it. I used tea tree oil and it healed up in about two weeks. Now there is a chance that it can cause scaring, and result in pain when pregnant. But in that situation you should remove it before your belly starts to grow. I have several friends who have had belly rings when they got pregnant and just took them out and had no pain later.

 

[Megster]

I had mine done for about a year. The most painful part for me was the clamp that he put on...the piercing didn't hurt at all. You could compare it to a shot, a small pinch and thats about it.

Unfortunately I took mine out for about a month over X-mas break because the ring I had in was pinching me and I didn't have a spare. When I got back to school and tried to put in another ring my hole had closed up. So I never got it repierced. Instead I got my nose pierced, but thats another whole story...

 

[Serena]

I let my daughter get her's pierced. From everything I read, it was supposed to take a year for it to be fully healed. So I took her when she was 17. I wanted to be in control of where she had it done, the cleanliness, etc. and in control of making sure she cleaned it, etc.

We went and I watched the whole thing. It was sterile, professional, and quick. She winced, but that was it.

It didn't take a year to heal, and she was really good at making sure she took care of it.
One suggestion, make sure you always have a spare ring, or whatever you use just in case.

 

[Beastlover]

I got mine last May. A gift for reaching a "goal". Anyway, same story. Hurt a little, felt weird, really HEALED up after about 4-5 months. What I mean by really HEALED was that I was comfortable changing it, and didn't worry when it would catch on stuff, no more "crusties".

I love mine!!

I would consider the pregnancy thing,though. ouch.

 

[Kallison]

I don't think it would look too attractive under a roll of fat! (although I saw many of them at the WDW water parks on far bigger people than me!)

 

[Aimeedyan]

I got mine done when I was 18, but took it out about 2 years ago when the end of the barbell fell off during class and I lost the end, so I just decided to take it out.

If I remember right, it was slightly painful but not bad if you don't look - I had to roll my waistband down for about a week or so, it was tender to have anything on it, and clean it often with Betadine (I think?) - that red stuff.

I never took it out, but did just replace the original ring with a multicolored barbell at one point, and I really loved it. Just be sure and use a true safe piercing place for it.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Ouch!

They look SO painful! I don't understand why anybody would want to put themselves through such unnecessary pain.

Don't they make a clip-on variety of belly ring? I swear I've seen them.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I don't have one, but if I had the kind of belly where it would not look scary, I'd get one. They're cute. Go for it!

Just make sure you go to a "real" piercer, not the cheapo places in the mall.

 

[helenabear]

Ouch!

They look SO painful! I don't understand why anybody would want to put themselves through such unnecessary pain.

Don't they make a clip-on variety of belly ring? I swear I've seen them.

Trust me, the clip-on variety hurt FAR WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried those, they rarely stayed and when they did, they would hurt like crazy. This one, I swear, didn't hurt at all!

 

[ziggystardust]

I have had 2. The reason for the 2nd time was b/c the first time I was underage when I got it and when my mother found out she was livid. So as soon as I turned 18 I got another one.

I currently don't have it in. Haven't for a while. I had some issues with infection. Maybe I just don't take well to foreign objects in my body, I'll stick to tattoos. Anyway, I still have the scar tissue and it bothers me so much on a cosmetic level, not pain.

They are pretty and you can get so many cute rings, I actually saw someone once with a tinker bell hanging from a belly ring once. Very cute.

Just make sure you want one, the initial pain isn't that bad and it only lasts a minute. Also make sure you go to a reputable place and take great care of it. I probably have the scar tissue b/c of the infections I kept getting.

Good LUCK!

 

[DisHornFan]

I got one in August and had to take it out in November. Getting it pierced didn't hurt that much, but I did almost faint afterwards from the adrenaline rush. The place I went was really clean and they talked to me and my friends for about an hour before to answer all our questions. I absolutely LOVED it (I had wanted one for so long), but unfortunately my body did not. It never healed correctly and after a while I got tired of watching it mess up so I tried to help it (BIG MISTAKE) and I made it worse. I had to take it out and now have a scar over my belly button. I don't know if it will ever go away, but its really annoying (no pain tho). I would say just be aware that no matter how clean the place is, sometimes people's bodies just reject piercings, so be ready for disappointment.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I wish I had the figure for a belly piercing! They look so good on some girls