2D.1a "The Navel Piercing: A Better Alternative"
Description
This article is from the Piercing FAQ, by Anne Greenblatt with numerous contributions by others.
2D.1a "The Navel Piercing: A Better Alternative"
by Karen Hurt of Future Primitives, San Francisco, California
During the last few years I have observed an alarming number of navel
piercings struggling to heal. Most problems result from jewelry that
is too small causing stress to the openings of the piercing. I have
seen navel piercings with 3/8" to 1/2" rings containing 1/2" to 3/4"
of tissue. It would be obvious if a nipple or other piercing contained
too much tissue for the jewelry; but the navel is less obvious. It is
not uncommon for navels pierced with a ring to suffer through 6 to 18
months of healing time.
We have all seen irritated and inflamed navel piercings; many develop
discolored and hardened tissue around the openings. Some migrate
and/or "grow out." This happens because the jewelry is too small and
needs to move through the tissue to a position where it is no longer
under stress. Removing the ring and replacing it with a curved
barbell has always solved these problems, usually within days. A
curved barbell allows the body to move naturally without stress to the
piercing and will not cause any of the undesirable effects associated
with the use of a ring.
Having worked in a high volume studio for over 5 years, I had the
opportunity to gain much insight into problems associated with
piercings. I have come to the conclusion that a curved barbell is the
best initial jewelry for optimum comfort and healing. Navels pierced
using a curved barbell generally heal in 3 to 4 months.
People usually associate rings with navel piercings, but when they are
made aware that the healing time is greatly reduced with virtually no
chance of any irritation or scarring, they are usually happy to start
with curved barbells. After the jewelry is inserted they also like the
look.
This is a shift in thinking for all of us (piercers and piercees), but
the overall benefits become obvious after a few piercings.
Suggested Navel Piercing Procedure
I encourage all piercers to carefully mark both the inside and outside
of navel piercings to insure that the piercing does not contain too
much tissue. All other piercings are marked on both sides and we see
much better results in overall appearance and healing. I believe that
navel piercings should be performed with equal care and precision.
Clean the navel with the piercee lying down, and mark a preliminary
inner placement dot. Assess the overall situation; if the navel area
spreads and/or flattens with no visible flap remaining, a curved
barbell should be used.
Have the piercee stand and mark a visually attractive and desirable
outer placement.
Lying down again, carefully measure the distance between the marks.
Adjust the marks to create a placement width that will accommodate the
jewelry of choice. Generally, both marks will need to be moved closer
together to create a balanced and attractive placement.
The final placement marks must be aligned and fine tuned with the
piercee standing. Make sure that the final width remains consistent
with the chosen jewelry. The initial curved barbell size should be
1/16" longer than the maximum width of the piercing as measured with
the piercee lying down.
If a ring is to be worn after healing, I suggest the following:
Future ring size: Maximum piercing width using a curved barbell: 3/8"
5/16" 7/16" 3/8" 1/2" 7/16" 5/8" 9/16"
Keep in mind that a 5/8" ring often causes irritation to the bottom of
the navel. The piercee may benefit from wearing a curved barbell most
of the time.
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