Body Pleasure
Navel Piercing
Above: Female Navel Piercing with 1.6mm x 12mm (14ga x1/2inch) Ball Closure Ring.
Above: Male Navel Piercing with 3.2mm x 15mm (8ga x 5/8inch) Ball Closure Ring.
This piercing was done with this ring at Body pleasure and photos taken after 2 weeks - healing nicely!
Above: A double Navel piercing. To achieve this the client needs to get the vertical or transverse (surface) piercing to heal first and then the horizontal piercing may be be done behind it. Very effective!
This is a stomach design on "Stacie" who sent me this picture for the site.
I asked Stacie to give me a run down of how they healed and this is what she wrote...
"The enclosed picture is my stomach, I had them done at Cherry Bomb in Marysville, California. I got them pierced on November 7th..."
" I took the picture the night that I received the piercings, the red lines around them are from where the piercing dude marked the spots. Its been about 4 months now and only two of them are having a little trouble healing. A polyp developed on the two in the middle, vertical to my navel. The one at the bottom healed the best. No problems at all. "
NAVEL PIERCING ORIGIN: - The navel piercing has not a lot of exposure throughout history although it is believed that it was worn by the Royal women of Ancient Egypt and one would imagine that they would have had elaborate gold and jewelled navel studs. There is also some belief that arabic belly dancers wore bells and elaborate jewels in their navels. There has been no historical reference to them having been pierced though.
For the past 10 years navel piercing has become increasingly popular among both males and females alike and although the trend comes and goes, the increasing range of Navel jewelry is keeping this a very popular piercing.
I can't say how many thousand navels we have pierced over the years anmd seen ebven more. Navel piercing is rapidly becoming as accepted in society as ear piercing.
Popularity does not minimise the risks of this piercinghowever, if placed correctly and cared for properly it should heal in about 6 to 10 weeks although there are many things that can happen to navel piercings that may interupt the healing process. This area of the body has a lower blood supply and does not heal as rapidly as facial or genital piercings. It is more inclined to attract fluff and lint and is also more prone to being knocked or bumped. All of these things increase the risk of healing complications.
PLACEMENT: - The placement of the navel will vary a little - person to person. I theorize that navels are like fingerprints - no two are the same. Navel piercings need to be the correct depth or length and that means the 'in' point and 'out' point should be the diameter of the jewelry to be inserted.
It should be checked with the center line of the body and done straight at the top of the navel to sit nicely with the bottom just in the navel over the umbilicus area. In an adult the unbilicus has disolved and the area in the navel is merely slight scar tissue from the site of the umbical cord during gestation.
The center line is also an acupuncture point and so the piercing may be beneficial for well being however, there has been no documentation of this.
A straight piercing at 10mm - 12mm length is a good piercing that should heal well and enable lots of jewelry options.
A piercing with a 1.2mm (16ga) tiny little ring is more likely to rip out and have healing problems because of the friction in the area. It is like cutting cheese with wire - the thinner the wire - the easier it is to cut it's way out. Make sure the ring is large enough not to cut or irritate the piercing when it is bumped. And remember: It will get bumped!
Jewellery that is too small in diameter will irritate and try to cut it's way out and jewellery that is too large in diameter will catch and drag on the piercing causing irritation.
Once the piercing is marked, you are sure it is straight and the right length for the jewellery the clap is applied to the area making sure that the dots are lined up before the clamp is closed. Have an assistant hold the clamp so it cannot move. They should hold it still until you have finished the piercing. If you don't have an assistant then the client can usually hold the clamp. If the client wont ho,d the clamp then it may be necessary to do the piercing holding the clamp yourself and not using a cork. This will hurt the client more and is the least prefered method.
A cork is always good to use to accept the needle to protect the piercer from a needle stick injury. The needle placed into a needle holder and then pushed from 'in'point to 'out' point in one fast action - once it hits and penetrates the cork it can be smoothly passed through the area so that only a couple of millimeters are left protruding from the 'in' point.
The jewellery which has been autoclaved must be then placed at the end of the needle (the 'in' point of the piercing/ where there is no cork). Place the jewellery carefull against the needle and in another smooth action force the needle through the piercing with the jewellery in this was the jewellery follows the needle intot he new piercing - if you are too slow the needle will fal out and the jewellery will not be all the way through. If you have done this action correctly then the needle will fall out of the 'out' hole as the jewellery follows it. (NB: It is important to make sure that the angle atw hich you are pushing the jewellery is the same angle that the needle is travelling.) Once inserted then the clamp may be removed.
Once the jewellery is in place the clamp must be removed. Undo this very slowly so as not to allow a rush of blood back to the area. If it is undone rapidly then it may be painfull.
Make sure jewellery is done up and wont fall out and then clean the area of marks with an alcohol wipe. If you have done a good job and not caused a lot of trauma to the area there will be very little to no blood. If you have used a canulae needle or been rough in inserting the jewellery you may find the piercing will bleed for some time. If a piercing continues to bleed apply pressure with a dry gauze cloth - do not try to move the jewelelry this will ause more bleeding. Do not use alcohol on the area as this will thin the clotting blood and stop the bodies natural ability to heal itself. If after some time the bleeding has not stopped it may be necessaryt o seek medical advice. drenalin can be applied to the area to stop bleeding or they may remove the jewellery and apply pressure. It s unlikely that you would hit a major artery in a navel piercing as they are generally quite a long way down.
RISKS:- There is a major artery that runs through in the area of the navel and some Doctors have frightened people who have had minor infections by saying that they could get blood poisoning into the artery, while this is a possibility it would have to be a major, major infection as the artery runs quite deep and by the time the infection spread so deeply you would be in agony and would be unable to bend or move. It wopuld be red rioght around the piercing site and probably a large weeping bulge in the area. I would suggest that you owuld have been to a doctor well before that could happen..
The risk of infection is increased with the navel piercing through it being pulled and fluff entering the site from your clothing or bedding. This can be avoided by not turning your jewelry unless you have cleaned it. By wearing clothing that is not fluffy and does not have lots of fibers coming off it.
Touching the piercing is probably the worst thing for it and people just can't resist that fiddle while reading a book or walking down the street. Do resist the temptation to touch and turn your piercing unless you are cleaning it. If you get anything, fluff, germs whatever into it then you can loose the piercing.
Don't over clean it. I had one client who developed a major infection and when I asked about how she was healing it this is what she replied, "I clean it lots - every time I go to the toilet at work, I sit and clean it." She could not understand why it was infected. What can I say - DON'T CLEAN IT OR EVEN TOUCH IT WHILE YOU ARE IN THE TOILET OR WITH DIRTY HANDS.
Rejection is the next largest risk this occur mainly if the piercing is done too shallow or poorly placed - a straight piercing done deep enough should not reject unless something nasty happens to it. Click here to see a navel done all the wrong way.
Some navel piercings will migrate no matter what you do - it could be infection, fluff, being turned too much, being slept on, big belt buckles are bad news, - there will be something that causes it and if your piercing is rejecting you need to identify what the problem is and either stop it or remove the ring.
If you have a major problem and the skin goes red right across the length of the piercing then it is almost doomed and should probably be removed.- applying olive oil to the skin across the top can help but care should be taken not to get it into the piercing.
PREGNANCY - The piercing does not have to be removed due to pregnancy - the jewelry may need to be changed but you don't have to loose your piercing. We use a soft flexible PTFE bar to allow for the stretch of the skin and olive oil helps to allow it to stretch. It also helps prevent stretch marks.
HEALING:- This is a topic that is very controversial as each piercer has different ideas on what heals. Basically the skin needs time to form a tube of scar tissue around the piercing. If it is kept clean and free from dirt, germs and fluff then it will heal quickly and can be healed in roughly 6 to 8 weeks. Everyone is different.
We recommend using salt water and Betadine liquid. You can use saline solution or make up your own by using 1 cup of boiled water and 1/2 tsp. of salt.
Betadine - There is controversy over Betadine Liquid as it can impede cell generation and therefore slow healing. However it is great for killing bacteria and so we say use it sparingly once a day and then once every second day as the piercing heals providing you use salt water to help keep your piercing dry it should not cultivate bacteria easily.
Do NOT USE - Cotton wool, tissues or anything fibrous to clean your piercing - use your fingers - the fibers can enter the piercing and cause a splinter reaction which will cause the piercing to migrate.
Avoid swimming pools as the chlorine does not kill all of the germs and this is a place where infections can start.
Any problems see our GENERAL HEALING page.
ADVANTAGES:- There are many reasons for getting any piercing..
Trend - it is a fashion trend.
To make a statement and be different - although they are quite common now.
Sexual reasons they can be attractive and some people just love their piercings no matter where they are.
Medical reasons - there are no real Medical reasons for Navel piercing
Body Reclaiming especially after having children - women like to have some control over their own body and do something just for them. It is often a very empowering and powerful act.
For More information about anything on this site please email me.