The story of my belly piercing

ir0ncunt:

LET ME START OFF BY SAYING THAT I DO NOT PROMOTE DIY PIERCING.

Ok.

Back when I was 15 and stupid, I thought it would be a smart idea to pierce my belly button- not professionally of course, but by myself.
I used a safety pin that I fooled myself into thinking that I had sterilized it.  
Once I had managed to pierce it after a few painful hours of slowly trying to do it, I bled about 3 litres blood and almost passed out.
I kept the safety pin in there for about a week, and it quickly became infected and looked as if it were rejecting - so I took it out.  

As you can see from this photo- that little scar next to the top ball is where I had first pierced it, I’m almost 18 years old and I still have this scar.
After that I would re-pierce it all the time and not insert any jewellery, because I didn’t own any proper bars. 

It got to a point where I was dared to do it at school and someone had bought me the jewellery if I managed to not pussy out, mind you the jewellery wasn’t even a long bar for swelling. So I did it, after icing my stomach for an hour, I pierced it and bled everywhere. Of course the bar didn’t fit, It was too big for such a small hole. So I put in this copper wire - not even remembering that I have sensitive skin and am allergic to anything that isn’t pure metals. After I had stretched it with the wire I put in a small lip bar. Yes, a lip bar. It quickly got infected, and the hole swelled over the bar and sealed it with the infection. For obvious reasons- I panicked. I couldn’t get the bar out, and my whole stomach broke out into a red itching and oozing rash. I went to my school nurse and asked her to remove it, she couldnt because the hole had swallowed up the whole bar. She said that I’d have to get it surgically removed or else I’d go septic. I went back to class and tried to clean out the infection and cut down to where the bar was and I and blood came pouring out, excusing myself from class I ran back to the nurse and she put on her gloves and yanked it out the opposite way (ball part was pulled through through the whole piercing). She gave me wipes and referred me to a doctor, I was excited. I put in the actual navel jewellery, that was too short for swelling, and left it in there. The infection quickly subsided after days of carefully looking after it and cleaning it.

All I have to prove from this story, are some nice abscesses, a wonky belly ring, and a mint scar. 

Don’t do this at home please, don’t be stupid 15 year-old me. 

The In Depth Stretching Guide.

awfulmodifications:

In depth stretching guide.

What you need: KY Jelly (or another skin safe water based lubricant), correct jewellery, bondage tape, BioOil (or another oil like jojoba, vitamin e or emu oil), a lot of patience and a lot of time.

Let’s start off. Your ears. They should have been pierced for a minimum of 6-9 months before you begin stretching. You should also know what gauge they were pierced at. For the purpose of this guide, I’ll assume they are pierced at 16g (1.2mm).

Starting out: Get some 1.6mm internally threaded jewellery. It can be a labret, barbell, septum keeper. Massage your ear whilst bathing/showering, and cover the jewellery, and the front of your lobe with the lube. Slowly, push the jewellery through. If you meet any resistance, stop, wait a week (whilst massaging daily) and try again. Congratulations, you’ve made your first foray into the world of stretching!

Now, you want to wait a month,  and get some 2mm/12g jewellery. Make sure, it has to be internally threaded/not threaded. Repeat the process again, remember. Any pain, stop, and wait a week whilst massaging your lobes daily. Continue through 2.4mm/10g to 3mm/8g.

Now, we’re up at 3.2mm/8g. It should have taken you three months to get here. Now we want to start taping. You want to get some surgical steel/titanium plugs (or tunnels, your choice!). Lube your ears up, and pop them in. I say pop, but, make sure you do it slowly and carefully. As this is the first stretch up into ‘larger’ territory, you can use a taper. Now, the number one rule of stretching, tapers aren’t jewellery! Get the taper, and hold the larger end against the end of the plug. Make sure they line up. Lube them both up, as well as the piercing, and in one swift motion, push the taper through. As you have the plug lined up on the end of the taper, it’ll slide through into place. Try not to use acrylic tapers, as they have a very bad size gradient and often lead to tearing of the piercing fistula. So.  Now you have a nice 3.2mm stretch.

How do I start taping?! I hear you cry. Well. Here we go. Wait a week. Make sure the stretch is happy, healthy, and not sore in anyway. Carefully cut a strip of the bondage tape, and wrap one layer around the plug. You want to make sure it doesn’t overlap, as you just want one layer on the begin with. Cover the tape and plug in your chosen oil, and put it back in. Now, wait for another week, and do another tape wrap. And then one last time in another week. So, you’ve done three tape wraps in three weeks. Every other day, you want to remove the plug and cover it in oil again to make sure the tape doesn’t dry your lobes out.

Now, because you need to include every mm increment, you may find the most cost effective way of doing this, is using acrylic. As you should be aware, acrylic is terrible for stretched piercings. So, there’s a way around this. Instead of waiting a month before reaching the next g/mm, wait 5 weeks, and do one more tape wrap. This means, when you reach the next mm (ie 3mm to 4mm) you end up with a fraction over 4mm. This means, you can pop a new tape wrap over the new plug, preventing the acrylic from ever touching your ears.

Now, you’ll want to repeat this allll the way up (and I mean ALL THE WAY) up to your goal size. Never skip, never keep going if it hurts, and never use acrylic. Always lube and oil!

So, here it is in a nutshell (from 3mm)

1.       Insert the plug safely, using a taper. Wait a week.

2.       First tape wrap. Oil oil oil!

3.       Wait a week. Second tape wrap. What’s the magic word? OIL!

4.       Wait a week, third wrap. Oil.

5.       Wait a week, fourth and final tape wrap. Oil.

6.       Get the next plug size up (4mm in this case) and do one tape wrap.

7.       Then, insert the plug. Any resistance, stop, wait a week.

So, there we go! The seven step next size tape wrap method!

Any questions, just ask!

(C) Hayflick – Emily Armstrong.

The In Depth Stretching Guide.

In depth stretching guide.

What you need: KY Jelly (or another skin safe water based lubricant), correct jewellery, bondage tape, BioOil (or another oil like jojoba, vitamin e or emu oil), a lot of patience and a lot of time.

Let’s start off. Your ears. They should have been pierced for a minimum of 6-9 months before you begin stretching. You should also know what gauge they were pierced at. For the purpose of this guide, I’ll assume they are pierced at 16g (1.2mm).

Starting out: Get some 1.6mm internally threaded jewellery. It can be a labret, barbell, septum keeper. Massage your ear whilst bathing/showering, and cover the jewellery, and the front of your lobe with the lube. Slowly, push the jewellery through. If you meet any resistance, stop, wait a week (whilst massaging daily) and try again. Congratulations, you’ve made your first foray into the world of stretching!

Now, you want to wait a month,  and get some 2mm/12g jewellery. Make sure, it has to be internally threaded/not threaded. Repeat the process again, remember. Any pain, stop, and wait a week whilst massaging your lobes daily. Continue through 2.4mm/10g to 3mm/8g.

Now, we’re up at 3.2mm/8g. It should have taken you three months to get here. Now we want to start taping. You want to get some surgical steel/titanium plugs (or tunnels, your choice!). Lube your ears up, and pop them in. I say pop, but, make sure you do it slowly and carefully. As this is the first stretch up into ‘larger’ territory, you can use a taper. Now, the number one rule of stretching, tapers aren’t jewellery! Get the taper, and hold the larger end against the end of the plug. Make sure they line up. Lube them both up, as well as the piercing, and in one swift motion, push the taper through. As you have the plug lined up on the end of the taper, it’ll slide through into place. Try not to use acrylic tapers, as they have a very bad size gradient and often lead to tearing of the piercing fistula. So.  Now you have a nice 3.2mm stretch.

How do I start taping?! I hear you cry. Well. Here we go. Wait a week. Make sure the stretch is happy, healthy, and not sore in anyway. Carefully cut a strip of the bondage tape, and wrap one layer around the plug. You want to make sure it doesn’t overlap, as you just want one layer on the begin with. Cover the tape and plug in your chosen oil, and put it back in. Now, wait for another week, and do another tape wrap. And then one last time in another week. So, you’ve done three tape wraps in three weeks. Every other day, you want to remove the plug and cover it in oil again to make sure the tape doesn’t dry your lobes out.

Now, because you need to include every mm increment, you may find the most cost effective way of doing this, is using acrylic. As you should be aware, acrylic is terrible for stretched piercings. So, there’s a way around this. Instead of waiting a month before reaching the next g/mm, wait 5 weeks, and do one more tape wrap. This means, when you reach the next mm (ie 3mm to 4mm) you end up with a fraction over 4mm. This means, you can pop a new tape wrap over the new plug, preventing the acrylic from ever touching your ears.

Now, you’ll want to repeat this allll the way up (and I mean ALL THE WAY) up to your goal size. Never skip, never keep going if it hurts, and never use acrylic. Always lube and oil!

So, here it is in a nutshell (from 3mm)

1.       Insert the plug safely, using a taper. Wait a week.

2.       First tape wrap. Oil oil oil!

3.       Wait a week. Second tape wrap. What’s the magic word? OIL!

4.       Wait a week, third wrap. Oil.

5.       Wait a week, fourth and final tape wrap. Oil.

6.       Get the next plug size up (4mm in this case) and do one tape wrap.

7.       Then, insert the plug. Any resistance, stop, wait a week.

So, there we go! The seven step next size tape wrap method!

Any questions, just ask!

(C) Hayflick – Emily Armstrong.