My navel piercing experience

Hello! It’s been long. I wanted to update this dying blog, so I thought I should share my recent navel piercing experience. When I decided to pierce my navel, I did lots of research, but they never seemed to answer all the burning questions I had. They were all dated long ago too. Hopefully those who intend to get their belly button pierced will come across my blog and find it useful to helping them understand better about what they’re signing up for. 

1. Do your research

Getting a body piercing is different from getting your ears pierced. Especially for your navel, it takes 6 months up to a year to heal as compared to your other average piercings. Even then, some people have experienced getting infections even after the one year mark. The navel is easily infected because of the location of the piercing, anything from rubbing against your shorts to continuously sleeping on it could aggravate it. Before I pierced my navel, I researched all the possible infections I could get, aftercare, so on and so forth. It’s my first body piercing and I wanted to make sure I was prepared for it before I went under the needle. You need to be prepared to spend time taking care of your piercing, being extra careful and avoiding certain things in your daily routine like changing sleeping positions. 

2. Finding reputable piercing parlours 

It’s also important to find reputable piercing parlors who know what they’re doing. I’ve heard horror stories from my friends who tell me that they’ve had to go through surgery after doing vigorous activities or wearing certain clothing items. Your piercers should inform you of all the things to look out for, what not to wear or what not to do. Some don’t tell their customers the healing period (6-12 months) and how you shouldn’t change your piercing after just a few weeks. Your navel piercing might look fine on the outside, but it might not have healed as completely as you thought it has. That will cause an infection. You should leave the piercing barbell in even after 6 months after. Don’t be in a hurry to change it and risk an infection. Pretty navel jewelry can always come later. Keep in mind of the material of the barbell you’re pierced with; it’s always best to be pierced with a stud of titanium or surgical steel. Titanium barbells don’t cause rejection of the barbell, but other low grade metals might. Always ask your piercer things you’re unsure of. Be sure to do your research on reputable piercing shops and make sure their equipment is sterilized. Your safety should always be their priority. 

Professional piercing shops average their prices ~$50 onwards. That’s when you know you’re paying for quality. Don’t try to be a cheapskate and risk getting an infection! I did mine at Riseabovetattoo and it cost me $50 for a stud, the actual piercing itself and aftercare. Till now, there’s been no issues with my piercing. 

3. Migration and rejection 

Migration and rejection might be something that you will go through should you decide to get a body piercing. It’s common with surface piercings – like your eyebrow or navel.  

Rejection happens when a foreign object (your jewelry) is inserted into your body. Your body might presume it to be a threat and force the piercing out by pushing it and then healing the skin behind it. It eventually falls off and doesn’t hurt because it’s a gradual process. A reason behind rejection might be because you’re allergic to the material of the jewelry hence your body pushing it out. 

Migration is when your piercing starts to shift places from the initial location it was pierced at, bringing it closer to the skin’s surface. This happens when your piercer doesn’t pierce through enough flesh. This is also a gradual process, but you’ll notice it’s migrating when the hole around your piercing gets larger. 

4. Pain and process

Different individuals have different pain thresholds, and I’m someone with a very high pain tolerance. The average pain on the pain scale was around a 4/10, and many consider it to be a piercing that’s one of the least painful – comparable to a lobe piercing. A few said it was about a 7/10 and the aftercare hurts more than the actual piercing. For me, it was about a 0.5/10. It didn’t hurt at all, and certainly didn’t even after a few days. I think I’m one of the lucky ones. The piercer starts off with clamping your flesh while he marks where he’s going to pierce. It’s not uncomfortable, it feels like someone gently pinching your skin. He then asks you to breathe in and he inserts a hollow needle into your skin. It felt like a slight prick of the skin for me and even after he pushed the needle out and inserted the actual piercing, I didn’t feel anything at all. It bled slightly but had no pain. The actual full process including sterilization of equipment, the actual piercing itself and explanation of aftercare took about 10 minutes. The piercing itself took 10 seconds. The second day onwards, it would feel abit sore when I sat too long in a certain position, but other than that, it’s fine. 

5. Aftercare

It’s important to follow what your piercer instructs you to do after getting the piercing. It looks nice now but if you don’t take care of it, it’s gonna be frustrating and complicated afterwards. My piercer told me to use the solution he gave me and pour it in a half cup, fill it with hot water and clean the piercing with a Q-tip 2 days after piercing it, day and night. Subsequently, I just need to clean the area with hot water. He also told me not to wear highwaisted shorts, slouch or sleep on it for a week. I didn’t have any problems lying on it or wearing highwaisted bottoms, but it’s best to follow your piercer’s advice religiously to prevent any possible infections. 

It’s also normal to experience redness, slight bleeding and soreness after getting your navel pierced. It’s a place where there’s hardly any blood circulation so it’s going to hurt for awhile, but after about week or two, it should start feeling better. If your piercing starts to hurt really badly or gets foul-smelling and red, it might be an infection and it’s best to seek your piercer out for help. 

If you intend to get a navel piercing, be sure that you’re aware of the complications and how to take care of it. It shouldn’t be an impulsive decision – make sure you’re ready for it. It’s also good to remember that this piercing isn’t just for skinny people, it looks good on all body types. Even if you have a bit of meat on your tummy, it doesn’t mean you can’t get it! I’m not the skinniest person, and I don’t have a completely flat, toned stomach, but I got it anyway. It made me feel more confident about myself. You don’t have to be a certain body type to rock a certain piercing; self-confidence is what makes someone beautiful. If you’re afraid of the pain, don’t be! Beauty comes with a price, it’s worth to trade 10 seconds of pain for a cute and sparkly navel afterwards. 

2 months in poly

It’s already two months since I started poly. Everything’s okay so far, and I swear you learn more things here in a month than you ever will a year in secondary school. 

Yup, that’s how different the learning environment is. It took me awhile to get used to it too. 

Back in PHSS, we were always cooped within the four walls of a classroom. There were hardly any learning journeys except for those stupid science experiment shit that’s completely useless and irrelevant. Answers were either yeses or nos, there was no in between. We weren’t allowed to voice opinions without our teachers telling us we were wrong. We always had to ask permission for simple things that we could decide on our own. 

I entered a course that encourages self-opinionated students, and there is no right or wrong answer. We are allowed to believe and do what we deem fit. I can’t say the same for the other courses, but here you really learn to take charge of your own learning. For me, that is the biggest difference between secondary school and poly, because I’m no longer bounded by the rules nor opinions of others. 

I’ve also heard many of my friends complain about how boring their lecturers are, because they’re usually old and want nothing to do with students once the class is over. Because they have millions of classes, they don’t know any of their lecturers personally. With my course having only five lecturers, they’re more like friends you feel comfortable to talk to. 

Can I also confess that when I first entered 02, I felt really disappointed when I saw my classmates? They were super unhyped and quiet, and I was like omg am I gonna be stuck with classmates who don’t speak up at all?! But I was wrong, because 02 can be a fun class and after the first few awkward weeks, everyone is finally starting to open up. 

I bonded with the HTT girls on the first day from an icebreaker, and it was damn hilarious how we all ended up together because of my idea to do a vlog based on sp’s haunted toilet rumor. We had fun knocking down dustbins, running and crawling down the corridors. They're my first clique too. 

Then I cliqued with Fitri and Charmaine, which was a surprise because I never thought I would end up hanging out with them. 

They say you’ll always meet snakes in your class, and it would suck to work with two-faced bitches because I think 02 can be pretty chill.

However, I’ve met some really arrogant nasty people la, thankfully not in the same course. Such people you really wanna shoot them in the head and trample all over their grave. During projects though, it gets really tense and it’s not easy to get along and be on the same page as someone. There’s always irritation and sometimes you end up being the asshole for voicing your own ideas or disagreeing with the other party. But I guess that’s life in a nutshell, not everyone is going to like you. But as long as we get the job done, earning a few black faces is worth it.

Coming to poly has also made me become more self-conscious. I’ll admit, the daily struggle of choosing something decent yet eye-catching to wear and comparing myself to super skinny girls or those with super on fleek makeup makes me feel like crap, and I can’t stop thinking of ways to improve myself or look better. Here, everyone is vying to be popular and insta-famous. I don’t know if JC is the same, but I’m quite sick of all those insecure thoughts because I feel like I’m turning into an attention seeking hoe.

So I stopped. I stopped focusing on all the negatives and the desire to want to be on par or even better than the others. FUCK IT. Why am I even comparing myself to others? 

I think people often forget that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if I’m unattractive or not good enough for a certain someone, that’s okay. Someone else will come along and like me for who I am. I don’t have to please everyone. I just have to be happy about who I am.

So I’m working towards that now, being more positive about myself. I’m learning to stop demeaning myself over something superficial. And I’m also going to try to work my grades up, after suffering a 2.5 over an insignificant peer feedback that I didn’t even put the effort to participate in.

I guess I can only say that it is important to stay true to yourself and continue to press on no matter what negativity you face, because negativity and toxicity is really all around in poly.

"Shame-less"

My homework essay was to write about my identity.... this was what i came up with 

“Stop trying so hard la, you’ll never be good enough.” 

That was one of the many nasty remarks I endured throughout my lower secondary school years. Contrary to popular belief, I was a kid who was constantly bashed by her schoolmates for the silliest things people hated me for.

See, I always stood out like a sore thumb because of the attention I received from boys for my appearance. I am also a very loud person, and that seemed to attract more unnecessary dislike. I was raised to believe I should always be myself no matter what others commented about me, but it nonetheless affected me. When you’re brought down again and again by people whom seem to enjoy gloating at your misery, it eventually breaks you. 

I became insecure, I lost confidence in myself. For a while, I became a broken shell of myself. I wasn’t that cheerful, carefree girl anymore. 

I panicked and got so nervous whenever it came to crowds. I was afraid of showing my face.

But it gradually got better. As I grew older, my mindset matured and changed. 

I learnt to stand up for myself and view myself in a different light. I was tired of being the girl everyone mocked. 

With my family’s support, I believed in myself more.

I learnt to accept myself.

I embraced the fact that I wasn’t born to please anybody.

I embraced the fact that I should never, ever, ever be ashamed of who I am.

17

Exactly 57 minutes ago, I turned 17.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel the excitement I usually felt whenever the countdown to my birthday was approaching. I wasn’t excited to open whatsapp or telegram and scroll through the birthday wishes.

And that really surprised me.

The me four years ago would be dying to receive as many wishes as possible, the longer the paragraphs the better.

But now, the current me realised that the number of ‘Merry Christmas’s’, ‘Happy New Year’s’, ‘Happy Birthday’s don’t matter anymore. The amount of attention I receive no longer excites me. I don’t notice the number of presents.

Suddenly, I just feel contented with the wishes I receive from my family and my closest friends. It’s like I just realised that it’s the thought that counts. I could receive a hundred birthday wishes and I still wouldn’t feel the sincerity behind it. Which amazed me because up till now I’ve never felt contented with just that few people genuinely wishing the best for me.

You know what else shocked me?

For the past four years, I’d been wishing for materialistic items that I always thought I needed to satisfy me. But this year, I wished for something different.

I wished that my family members would always stay healthy and happy.

I didn’t know what I was going to wish for up till that actual moment. But when I did, I realised that my family means the most to me and their wellbeing comes first. I would do anything just for them to be happy.

I guess I really matured through time and I’m not that self-centered anymore.

Also, I’ve always been a non-sporty person. I hate sports and I’ve always avoided trying new things because I dreaded stepping out of my comfort zone. But now, I realise that I really want to try sports. I really want to try something different, I want to start actively participating and make up for the four years that I wasted. I want to lead. I want to be somebody bold and different. I want to start having a purpose for doing the things I do, and no longer feel like a shitty loser who regretted not jumping at the opportunities she was showered with.

So that’s what shocked me.

It is the me that changed the way she looked at things, the me who stopped thinking only for herself.

It is the me who didn’t know she was capable of living not just for herself anymore, but for the people around her who mattered the most.

9 march: malaysia

today was an amazing day.

yx decided to join my fam and i on a trip to jb because she wanted to check out the salon there with regards to her POTENTIAL HAIR COLOUR. it was damn exciting omg, i've never been to jb with yx before.

on the way there we kept whining about how shag we looked and that we were super sleepy, but we ended up being hyped the entire time anyways.

our outfits were really lapsup and we wore slippers but the redeeming factor was that OUR MAKEUP WAS ON POINT TODAY hahahahaha 

we did my hair treatment after lunch, and can i just say that my hair was feeling dry like grass because my lazy ass didn't bother to do ANY TREATMENT ever since bleaching my hair 5 MONTHS AGO? and wa the treatment must be holy water or something, i felt as if my hair was blessed and miraculously healed because it was sooOooOooO smooth and straight afterwards :") my poor hair has been saved!! 

and yx kept snapchatting my ugly poses throughout the entire hour. UP TILL TODAY IM STILL CLUELESS AS TO WHY SHE ALWAYS TAKES MY UNGLAM FACES. i guess maybe i'm the unglam joker friend. *beams with pride*

we got a full body massage at Thai Odyssey too. we shared a couple room and had to strip ourselves naked and IT WAS HILARIOUS. i screwed up wearing the disposable panties and i thought the panties were too small when i wore it on the wrong side HAHAHAHAHA. yx also thought we were supposed to wear the bathrobe instead of the towel. 

when we were being massaged on the back we were laughing because our face was smushed on the headrest and naked. THE FUNNY THING WAS, when the lady was massaging our boobs i started grinning to myself, and i didn't want to look siao so amidst the silence i called for yx and we both started bubbling in peals of laughter. WE STARTED LAUGHING CONTINUOUSLY when the ladies massaged our armpits and we were trying to nonchalantly discuss yx's future hair colour when we were clearly thinking OMG IS THERE ANY ARMPIT HAIR? O GAD DID I SHAVE??

OUR TOWELS NEARLY SLIPPED OFF our bodies when we were stretching HAHAHAHAHA. also. this is the first time my top half body has been completely naked and seen by a stranger. DAMN. 

i think the massage was the best thing of today lor, because when we went to do our mani and pedi it was so HORRIBLE. the manicurist tore my skin on two of my fingers while filing, and even sprayed some detergent/hand sanitiser or whatever shit on my broken skin, AND FUCK DUDE THAT HURT. AND HER SERVICE WAS SO TERRIBLE, she was so impatient too. but whatever, i'll not get my nails done there ever again. 

we also slipped on coke while walking to the toilet. yx stepped on a puddle of coke and slipped and i tried to pull her but i ended up slipping myself and clinging on to her for dear life and my dad had to grab me. it was truly epic. imagine if it was vomit. that would be super tragic. 

however my bestfriend is such a fun person to be with honestly and I CANT WAIT TO TRAVEL OVERSEAS WITH HER AGAIN, we're like two lunatics when we're together ahahaha, it's so exhilarating being with someone who's on the same wavelength as you. 

truly, 9 march was really really really really fun. 

2016

I’ve finally gotten my ass down to work on this blog after so long since 2016 was super hectic and I simply didn’t have the motivation to start even though I promised to do so since last year… HAHAHA oh wells

I’VE FINALLY GRADUATED from secondary school and I’ll soon be moving on to the next chapter of my school life. It was a very bittersweet four years for me tbh, and despite how elated I am to finally get the hell out of sec sch, it’s still kinda depressing to know that I’ll be parting with so many good friends and being alone in a completely different environment from them.

Back then, I detested school and I would do anything just to skip one day of lessons. I just didn’t feel happy going there because I felt judged and bullied, and cowering at home made me escape reality. I was one of those kids who stood out, and got lots of unwanted hate and attention from those whose faces I don’t even recognise. I got called many names, and there probably wasn’t anyone in my batch who hadn’t heard rumours about me being a “bitch”. I still remember walking into the canteen, feeling so inferior and freaking out super badly because I was afraid of the crowds and what they might say about me. Yx would follow me around everywhere because I was so uneasy that I couldn’t be left alone. Up till now, I’m still clueless as to why shit about me was so frequently spread amongst the school, up to the point where everyone had something negative to say about me – either true or false. I’m not a saint, and I’m human too, but I don’t think it was fair to put someone under such a negative light that it made them feel worthless and ashamed of themselves. (ALTHOUGH I SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN, I shouldn’t have let myself get beaten down over what people have to say) I don’t think it was fair to talk about me as if you knew me, when hardly ANYONE that I knew personally had something legit to badmouth about me. I’ll never forget how I was classified as a typical “ahlian” because I wore contacts and how I seemed like I was arrogant and unfriendly.

OK I have a resting bitch face, but did you have to judge me like that?

I also remember how people posted my pictures and “indirected” me on social media platforms because they felt they had something against me. THAT WAS BULLYING, and I will never get over how I never stood up for myself and ever talked myself into believing what they had done was well-deserved. Girls, if you ever get bullied online you should ALWAYS stick up for yourself even when no one else will because NO ONE should be bullied like that, and you have a right in defending yourself no matter how afraid you are.

HAHAHAHA THIS MEME IS SO RELATABLE.

Nonetheless, I’m still grateful to them because they really helped shape me into a stronger person I am today as well as shed a light on those who’ve stuck through thick and thin with me. I realised that when a person judges you, it’s to feed their ego and insecurities, and the fact that they can never straight up roast you in the face about it shows how they don’t have the guts to bring up “solid evidence” about you, but just simply trying to find beef.

I’ve also moved on and gotten away from certain toxic friendships. If you ever feel like you’re unhappy and constantly being demoralised for being who you are, just leave that fucking friendship and find someone else to hang with. Just like there are many who keep you around just to make themselves seem popular, there will be many out there who will genuinely care for your well-being and accept you for you.

I think 2017 is a good year to start afresh and leave all those unhappy memories in the past. Since what’s in the past stays in the past, it can never hurt me anymore and I’ll just keep striving to be a better person. All in all, these four years have truly been memorable because I’ve also met those good friends of mine that have been with me through every step of the way as well as my family members who’ve been so supportive of everything I’ve done all this while. IT SOUNDS LIKE I’M GIVING A SPEECH, BUT I’M NOT… I think everything was a learning obstacle for me, and I couldn’t have gotten through them without those that have been there for me since day one. I love you guys and I’ll never forget all the wonderful memories we’ve shared; I’ve cried and laughed with you; I’ve been in countless arguments just for us to patch back and be alright all over again – you guys are literally family to me. I think best friends don’t come by that easily and y’all will always be a part of me.

Thank you so much for always being there.