Navel piercing in Auckland

Where does it sit?

Through the ledge of skin above the navel, with a curved bar: one end sits in the navel, the other on top of the ledge.

A floating navel is the same piercing for a shallow ledge, with a flat disc in the navel in place of an end, so nothing presses.

Will my navel suit one?

Most do. It needs a ledge of skin above the navel for the bar to sit in, and how deep that ledge is decides the bar. You can’t tell that from a photograph.

We’ll tell you it isn’t the right call, or not the right day, if:

• You’re under fourteen.
• You’re pregnant.
• You’re unwell on the day.
• There’s no ledge to hold a bar. If the ledge is shallow, a floating navel often works, and we’ll show you.

We would rather say no at the table than pierce on a maybe.

Does it hurt?

A quick pinch through skin.

It’s one pass of the needle, over in a moment. It’s tender for a few days after, mostly when a waistband presses on it.

Can I have it done under sixteen?

From fourteen, with a parent in the room and their written permission. From sixteen you can come on your own. Everyone brings photo ID, and a parent brings theirs.

Who pierces it

Tom or Kat, one client in the room, forty-five minutes.

From fourteen with a parent in the room and written permission, or sixteen and over on your own. Everyone brings photo ID.

What happens at the appointment

You sit at the low table with a mirror. We look at your navel, find the spot, and choose the bar to fit the ledge, and if you’d like gold you choose the top end. Then the mark, which you see and agree with before anything else happens.

The needle is opened in front of you. The piercing is one pass of a single-use sterile needle, and the bar goes in at the same moment. A needle, never a gun. Your checkup goes in the book before you leave.

How long does it take to heal?

Six to nine months

1. Day onePierced, and your checkup booked before you leave.
2. Four weeksYour checkup, included. The bar is shortened if it’s ready. Swimming is fine from here.
3. Six to nine monthsHealed. A new style can go in.

How to clean it

Warm water in the shower once a day is the whole clean. Let it run over the navel, then pat it dry with a paper towel. Nothing else goes on it: no tea tree oil, no Savlon, no antiseptic, and no turning the bar.

Is this bump an infection?

Almost never.

A bump beside a healing navel piercing is nearly always pressure or catching: a waistband, a belt, or a bar still long. Leave the bar where it is, don’t squeeze it, and come in. If we pierced it, the look is included, healed or not.

When can the bar change, or go gold?

Once it’s healed, at six to nine months. Until then the bar you were pierced with stays in, shortened at your checkup if it’s ready.

Gold is priced on the piece, from what is in stock. A gold top end can go in on the day, chosen at the table, or at your checkup, priced on the piece alone.

What goes in it

Titanium, with the bar chosen for your navel at the table: its curve, thickness and length depend on the ledge. It goes in a little long to leave room for swelling, and comes down at your checkup if it’s ready. A floating navel has a flat disc in the navel in place of an end.

Pierced somewhere else and it isn’t right?

A navel piercing that sits crooked, has moved or never settled is usually placement, or a bar that doesn’t fit the ledge. We’ll look at it and tell you plainly what’s going on and what we’d do.

The look is $30, taken off a piercing if you have one with us.

What if I take it out?

A fresh navel piercing closes quickly if the bar comes out. A healed one can leave two small marks.