I am feeling like it may be time to get my belly-button pierced. As it is, I only have my ears done. How do you choose a good navel-piercer? Can a Dermatologist do it instead? What about the various styles of piercings I am seeing nowadays? Is one style more easy-care and reliable then others? I am aware of the need for autoclaves, etc. I figure I will get a more well-rounded answer asking on the Straight Dope message boards, not just on piercing sites.
Well, I’m goinmg to assume your female, but I suppose that doesn’t matter. I don’t know about standards for states other then Pennsylvania, but here there’s no laws about cleanliness and the likes. So it’s up to you to find a good one.
First scout of some possible places. Check them out on the inside, if they’re bright and seem clean, it’s probably a good spot. Also talk to the staff. Don’t worry if they have lots of piercings and tatoos. It’s probably for the better.
Don’t go to a dermatoligist, they’re not professionals in body piercing.
I don’t what you mean by various styles, but the top edge of the navel is probably the best.
And talk to your piercer there. They can tell you alot more than most people here. Ask them about what soaps to use to keep it clean and what do if it gets infected and such.
BME. Learn it. Live it. Love it. WARNING! NOT for the faint of heart! There will be EXPLICIT pictures of EXTREME forms of body-modification on the front page, and elsewhere on the site. But it absolutely cannot be beat for information about piercing in all its glorious forms. Sorry, conurepete, for once the SDMB is not the best resource for this thing. Other than having the resident piercing expert on board to direct everyone to BME. 
But, a quick rundown. No, a dermatologist should not do it. Doctor does not = Piercer. They are rarely equivalent and should never be considered to be – many doctors will recommend things to you that just should not be done, piercing-wise. I know that sounds wrong, but it’s true.
Anyone who tries to pierce you with a gun should be beaten with said gun. Guns are not good for piercing ANY part of your body, let alone your ears. The piercing should be done with a good, sterilised NEEDLE. Go into a piercing parlour, have a look around, see if they look like a clean place. Ask them to see the latest spore test on their autoclave. If they’re reluctant to allow you to do any of these things, DON’T GET PIERCED THERE. You have every right to assure yourself that you are in a sterilised, clean environment with a minumum of chances for infection.
Ideally, the first piece of jewelry to go into a navel piercing is a CBR, or captive bead ring. These hoops are much easier to clean than barbells, the more popular type of jewelry for a navel piercing. You shouldn’t get pierced at a gauge any lower than 16, 14 ideally. The smaller gauges (higher numbers; I know that makes no sense) can act like a wire cutter through cheese and are more likely to be ripped out and to migrate.
Navel piercings are actually one of the hardest types of piercing to care for and heal. You have to be ready to give up swimming, exercising, and other activities that can contaminate and possibly infect the piercing for the entire length of the healing, which can be anywhere from three to six months. Go research to your heart’s content at BME – you should never go into any form of body modification without being absolutely sure of what you’re doing.
Good luck. 
I disagree completely. Bead rings can easily be torn out by your clothing, especially if the waist line of your pants is near your navel (as mine is). Barbells are not difficult to clean. All you have to do is put soap on it and move it back and forth. I agree that larger gauges are ideal. I prefer 12 or 14 myself.
As for smaller gauges being higher numbers, the number is derived from the number of them laid side by side that makes an inch. Thus, 16 gauge = 16 laid side by side making an inch thick line of metal.
I agree with iconoplast. CBRs set one up for a much higher risk of irritating the piercing. Whereas barbells exist mostly inside the bellybutton and can only really slide up and down, CBRs can flip over on their sides (ow), get bumped more easily by waistbands (double ow), and get snagged on things (mega ow.) Sure, CBRs are easier to clean because you can spin them back and forth, but I’ve never really seen what’s so tricky about cleaning barbells-- just soak them to get the crusties off, and then slide the barbell during soaping up and rinsing off. After about two weeks with the barbell you can sleep on your tummy again without any irritation, which is good if you roll around in your sleep. I started out with a barbell and never had problems with it during cleaning. The couple of times I’ve worn a CBR (after my healing was up) I noticed I was constantly bumping it off things and flipping it on the side-- and that level of irritation can lead to a lot of scarring and delayed healing time in a fresh wound.
I agree that 14 or 12 would be the best gauge, depending on your bellybutton anatomy. 14 is usually the most popular size that the jewelry is sold in.
Expect for the piercing to take at least 6 months to heal-- some people heal faster, but if you’re not willing to put in twice a day cleanings and keep your hands off of it for that long, it might be a good idea not to do it.
Other than that, good luck researching, and I hope you have fun with your new piercing.
Yow! Okay, sorry guys. Taking information from BME, not my own experience. I’ve never had a navel piercing, myself. ::hangs head in shame::
Aw, I forgive you, RaCha’ar. I’m just very fearful of any sort of misinformation on this sort of thing… I’ve had a few bad experiences (fortunately only on my ears, which was a lot more manageable than some other places could have been). I think that I may have come across as more harsh than I intended, so if I did, I’m quite sorry.
On a much more related note, I got my navel pierced last Halloween, and it’s healed quite nicely. A word of fair warning though (although I’m sure you’ve been told this). It hurts. It hurts to get it done, and it hurts for weeks, (again) especially if your pants (or whatever you choose to wear) hit it at all. I learned for the next two weeks that skirts and hiphuggers were my friends, you choose whatever you think will work for you.
No, it’s quite all right, and believe me, I’ve had the bad experiences too. Proof. Normally I do know about this stuff, and a quick check at BME showed that I was wrong on this one, big-time. So I think I have to renounce my claim of being the SDMB piercing expert. ;D
From personal experience, I’d agree that your first and primary resource should be BME. Please keep in mind, however, that many of the faqs linked from that website are somewhat out of date. Often times, the Question of the Day archive is more current. As far as the whole cbr-barbell debate is concerned, that is still a fairly debated subject among piercers. I would say, regardless of what other people would tell you, your best bet is to simply ask around first for good, respectable shops in your area. BME is great for this purpose if you have the time to read through numerous experiences. After you’ve found some possible shops, visit and see if the employees are friendly, ask to look at a portfolio of HEALED work, etc. After you find a shop that you are comfortable at, ask for their personal advice on the subject and the various up and downsides to the different types of jewelry. Needless to say, you can invest a great deal of time looking into shops and what not. However, getting work done by a skilled artist more than makes up for the time invested.
Hey, I’ve been thinking for awhile about getting my navel pierced. I did a search on the SDMB and this so far has been the most useful thread, so I decided to ask some questions that came up… I was hoping you could answer them, or volunteer other useful information. Thanks!
RaCha’ar: Spore Test? Autoclave? Pierced at a gage? What?
What exactly is a captive bead ring?
I have school to deal with…that means a dress code, which means no belly shirts. 
If I wear low-rider jeans below the navel with a shirt covering the navel, would my piercing get irritated?
What about scarring? When I’m eighty years old, I seriously doubt I’m going to want a navel piercing…how noticeable are the holes?
Any suggestions as to a good place to get this done? I got my ears pierced at Claires, but I don’t think they do navels.
What would be the best time of the year to do this? I’m thinking winter so that it would be healed by summer time.
Would it look weird/be noticable under a tight shirt?
Where on the navel does the hole go?
I sleep on my stomach…that would cause a problem, right?
And yes, I am going to research this elsewhere, too…
Oh, BTW, I’m not positive I’m going to do this…just considering it.
Thanks!
~monica
ummm, I don’t know who told you this, but it ain’t so. As I was reading this, I’m thinking “1/16=.0625, but 16 gauge wire isn’t that size”. If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have had to spend all that time when I was a draftsman memorizing gauge sizes. Here’s a chart for AWG equivalents:
Gauge Inches
1 0.28930
2 0.25760
3 0.22940
4 0.20430
5 0.18190
6 0.16200
7 0.14430
8 0.12850
9 0.11440
10 0.10190
11 0.09070
12 0.08080
13 0.07200
14 0.06410
15 0.05710
16 0.05080
17 0.04530
18 0.04030
19 0.03590
20 0.03200
As you know, 1/16 = .0625, but 16 gauge wire is .05080. FYI, I also checked the British Wire Gauge chart, and although it is different, it doesn’t jive with your formula either. Do you have some kinda cite for this?
Monica, BME can answer most of those questions. First of all, I’ll just repeat what other people said earlier in this thread: do NOT go to a Claires or anywhere else that uses piercing guns. They are extremely traumatic to the surrounding tissue. Get your phone book out and look up tattoos. Go to those places, ask to see their autoclave. This is where they sterilize the forceps and other equipment used in the piercing. If they act wierd about letting you see the autoclave, or seem wierd about cleanliness at all, walk away. A good piercing parlor should look like a rock star’s doctor’s office. The coolness should never over-ride the sterility. They should ALWAYS open the jewelry from its package in front of you when the time for piercing comes.
As far as aftercare, yes, it will be noticible under a tight shirt. More so if you go for the aforementioned CBR, which is what I have and I suggest, especially for a newbie. A captive bead ring is the hoop type, a bar bell looks like a bar bell, straight with two beads at either end. I found that jeans were the most uncomfortable, and yoga-type pants were the best. Sweatpanty type of thing. The scar it will leave will be a dot roughly the size of Sharpie dot. And frankly, if a dot that small above your belly button is noticeable at age 80, you’re one remarkable old lady.
Seriously, make BME your new friend. And if you do decide to get it done, sea salt rinses really help healing. I’ve had my navel pierced for two years, and have never had an infection. And don’t think about it too hard. Educate yourself, know the risks, go to a responcible piercer, but don’t get too scared or intimidated by it. That’s the thing about piercings, they’re only semi-perm. You can always take it out.
And that, folks, is what you get for listening to your parents. My apologies, I had checked it on 10 gauge wire in my own time… and it works for that when you happen to be doing it yourself with a ruler. I did a little research, and it’s apparently the diameter, or more specifically, “the resistance per unit in decibels, where 10 AWG has 1 ohm per thousand feet resistance” (see here). Very useful when one is concerned about the resistance of one’s piercings, I’m sure.
I can’t add much to what has been said, except that the place where I have gone for piercings uses a brand new needle every time, and tosses them out (into a biohazard container) after one use. Seems safer than having to worry about autoclaves and all that.
Thanks a bunch, everybody. I checked out BME and I think that I am going to put navel piercing on my Christmas list, and then my mom can get it for me…
I think it would look really cool. Getting it in December (or at earliest, November) would allow time for healing before swimsuit season. Thanks for your advice!
~Monica
Oh, and one more kinda weird question that I forgot to ask…guys always seem to figure out that it tickles me when they lick my navel (and also feels good)…if my navel was pierced, would they still be able to do this? And if so, how long after getting it pierced would it take before they would be able to do so?
Well, if your male friends have tongue-piercings, there may be a few embarassing friction-seizing incidents. I’d keep a bottle of 3-in-1 oil handy at all times.
It would be a while before the piercing was healed enough for saliva to be able to be in/around it without running a risk of infection. For me, it was around 6 months before it stopped getting irritated when anything other than soap got down there, but I checked with my piercer before I did anything odd to make sure that it was healing well. I recommend doing the same.
Body piercer here, retired.
Not much I can add, however; Rach’ar’s post was pretty much spot on, especially concerning making sure your piercer is using sterile procedures. Very, very important. And no piercing guns, ever. Now I know how The Bad Astronomer feels when he gets to an astronomy thread and the question has already been correctly answered.
As to CBR v. Barbell: either way. A “banana bell” is slightly harder to clean than a CBR or a circular barbell, and some piercers strongly recommend you don’t start out on them. Some, on the other hand, find that they can irritate some people as they did cercaria. Broker is correct, it is still a fairly debated subject among piercers.
monica: an autoclave is a sterilizing device that usually operates by dry heat or steam/pressure. Your dentist uses to sterilize his instruments between patients. A “spore test” is a biological monitor that makes certain your autoclave is functioning properly. You run a spore sample through a cycle in the autoclave and send it off to the laboratory to make certain it has killed all the litlle spores.
A “captive bead ring” is an almost complete loop of metal with a little bead in. The ends of the ring hold the bead in place, captive if you will, completing the circle.
Broker indeed. I meant broken. And RaCha’ar Sheesh.