Belly button rings were the trend among teens in the mid 90's. They still
are pretty
popular today to a certain degree. Being teenagers back then, my best
friend Heather
and I one day decided to get our navels pierced. So, we went to a local
tattoo and
piercing parlor and within minutes we were sporting our sexy belly button
rings and
running on an adrenaline rush that lasted most of the day.
Those weren't cheap belly button rings and our parents would likely have
gone berserk if they had known how much we spent on those cuties, but you
know how teenagers are! :)
Even then we were aware of the importance of belly button piercing
aftercare. So, we were very meticulous about keeping the area clean.
Despite that unfortunately, the area around my belly button ring
started getting very red and inflamed. It turns out my belly button
piercing had become infected.
Eventually with careful attention and care the infection cleared up.
However, I found that any time I attempted to change my jewelry, or moved
the ring excessively I would end up back where I started... infected
again. This was pretty annoying, but I stuck with it and in time, my belly
button piercing was fully healed. Phew! What a relief that the infections
weren't really serious and I didn't have to go see a doctor otherwise, my
dad would have killed me. He was against my having a belly button piercing
in the first place.
But then I got pregnant with my daughter. I'd never thought about how a
very pregnant
tummy would look with a belly button ring prominently displayed on the
very tip.
Reluctantly I gave in and removed the ring, thinking that the hole would
remain and
that I could reinsert the jewelry after giving birth.
By the time nine months had passed and I attempted to put my belly button
ring back
in to its rightful position, I was disappointed to find that the hole had
mostly sealed
over. Well, I had no choice; if I wanted my belly button ring back, I was
going to have
to go through the piercing process all over again.
So, I went back to the same belly button piercing place once again.
Because of the scar
tissue from the first piercing, there was some resistance when trying to
make this
second hole. However, with a bit of effort and patience my piercer
succeeded and within
minutes I was wearing my belly button ring once again. I was delighted,
yay!
My friend Heather seemed to be lucky as she didn't have an infection or
any other
belly button piercing problems. However, that didn't last very long
because she
soon got pregnant too! Not wanting her to go through the same ordeal I
did, I advised
her to keep her belly button ring in for the duration of her pregnancy,
regardless of how
ridiculous it might look.
She took my advice but apparently it was a bad one! The stretching of her
growing
tummy resulted in the skin around her belly button ring getting stretched
out of shape.
She ended up with stretch marks around her belly button piercing and to
her great
disappointment, had to take out the ring at the seven month mark. To make
matters
worse, she was left with an ugly looking hole.
Well, that did it for her. Unlike me, she never bothered to have her belly
button pierced again. She said it wasn't worth the hassle. If you look
closely you can still see where the holes were and the resulting stretch
marks. She considers those to be her battle scars of pregnancy and giving
birth. She still has her jewelry and would look at it fondly from time to
time, but she also realizes that those days are over.
She says she never thinks that getting her belly button pierced was a
mistake, but she realized when it was time to let it go, and she's okay
with that. Luckily, being such a good friend she never got mad at me for
giving the wrong advice.
As for me, to this day I still proudly wear my cute belly button ring,
and my daughter
adores it. She asked me if she could have a belly button piercing too. I
told her she
would have to wait a few years so it wouldn't hurt so much, and she
accepted that :)
A word of caution, though. If you're considering having your navel
pierced, you should
do some research first about the different belly button piercing problems
that could
occur. It would also be a good idea to know how to treat infected belly
button piercing
should it ever happen. I'm not a doctor so I can't give you any medical
advice, but you
can try searching the web. There's a whole lot of information available on
the internet.
By the way, you can also search the net for some good quality yet cheap
belly button
rings. I always manage to find great stuff at bargain prices on the web especially on eBay,
and I'm sure
you will find yours too.
Alternatively, you may want to consider getting a clip-on belly button
ring instead.
Some of you may think that a fake belly button ring is just not as good as
the real
thing but hey, if it saves you getting an infection and some other
problems, why not?
Be sure to also read about my nose ring
which is sort of a sequel to this story.
One of my friends recently got an
eyebrow ring. She wanted me get one too. So did I? Well, read about it
and find out :)
