Belly Piercing Information

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By James J. Jones

Belly Button Piercings, properly called Navel Piercings, are just about the most popular types of body piercings in our society. The lobes and cartilage part of the ears are the only locations more popular to pierce than the belly. While most people who sport�belly piercing�are female, some males get their belly pierced too. In fact, the demographic for�belly piercingnow range from the low teens to baby boomers!

Even though�belly piercing�are very popular, it is still important to understand the process and risk associated with these fabulous piercings. Piercing the navel is technically considered�a surface piercing, so the healing period and possible problems that are associated with surface piercings can arise. Surface piercings are susceptible to migration (where the piercing 'moves' - it drifts slightly to a more comfortable resting place) or rejection (where the body outright treats the piercing as a foreign object and pushes it from the skin). With proper cleaning and constant care, however, these two risks can be drastically minimized. It should be noted that most people who get their�belly piercings, and take better care of them, don't have any migration or rejection at all.

More rarely, the belly button piercing heals like an ear piercing - that is, quickly and problem-free. However, if you're thinking about getting your belly pierced, don't count on a quick and problem�free piercing. The odds, like me about to explain, are sort of stacked against you.

While migration and rejection can be minimized, there are intrinsic problems with the location of the belly button. Your belly button is located in the actual�center of your body�- now consider this - every time you bed forward, backward, or aside, your belly button shifts and stretches. With a piercing, your belly button will still do many of these things, but you will see jewelry attached that has to go for the ride. New piercings especially hate constant motion or bending and stretching; these actions prolong healing which is common for belly�button piercings�to take a year or more to fully heal.

The same constant motion and movement is further complicated by our society's clothes. Waistbands of pants and fabrics of shirts are the biggest culprits in irritating the piercing - in fact, many belly infections are attributed to clothing. Jeans are not very conducive to�healing belly piercings, and unless you are able to wear sweatpants for a year, an infection is pretty much inevitable (but the infections can be cleared away - but it is kind of a hassle to have a piercing periodically flare up in an infection). Some people would even say navel�piercing infections�are sort of a rite-of-passage; if you're able to weather the infections, you'll have a beautiful and completely healed piercing...eventually (usually a couple of years after the piercing commenced). The navel area is surprisingly high maintenance, so don't be cavalier about�getting it pierced!�

I do not mean to dissuade anyone from getting a piercing, but you should understand that the belly isn't�the best place, logistically speaking, for a piercing to be, and that infections are quite common for the first year. After you have a firm grasp of that reality, you may choose or choose not to get the piercing.

If you choose to undergo with the piercing, here's what to expect. Upon explaining to�the piercer�you want your belly pierced, the piercer will ask to check out your navel. Not everyone can get a navel piercing! In fact, not many people get a true navel piercing, but rather, they get either the top or lower rim of the navel pierced. The piercer will then give you his / her expert opinion on what location of the navel is good for you, and once both of you agree, you can�pick out�the jewelry.

Belly jewelry is extremely varied and comes in numerous shapes, colors, designs, glow-in-the-dark, sizes, etc. However, for your initial piercing, stainless surgical steel or 24k gold should be used. The gold, understandably, will be expensive; for this reason stainless surgical steel is one of common metal used in piercings. Initial jewelry shape is usually either a captive bead or a curved barbell - both of which will be slightly larger than you might have originally thought. The�initial jewelry�must be slightly bigger to accommodate the inevitable swelling - if a piercing is too short and the swelling therefore engulfs it, you'll be in serious pain (and it's very unsightly).

Once the jewelry and payment is squared away, you'll be led to�the piercing area. While standing, the piercer will mark a location on your belly where they think the piercing should go. You're able to confirm or rearrange the marking wish, and once both of you have agreed on the exact location, the piercing will commence. Once you are lying down on a table or reclining in a chair, the piercer will first use antiseptic to�sterilize the area. A clamp is usually placed around the area to get pierced, and a sterilized needle will push through the skin on your exhale. Your sterilized jewelry is then threaded through the hollow piercing needle, and once secured, your piercing is complete!

Your piercer provides you with a complete explanation of how to care for the jewelry, so�pay close attention. Even though infections are extremely common until properly healed, your piercer will give advice regarding how to avoid or heal them. If you are using common sense and do as instructed, your beautiful belly piercing will be healed very quickly!

Other post you may be interested in reading:�body jewelry piercing�and�piercing tragus

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Belly Piercing Information

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