Risks can include painful and potentially serious infection of the abdomen and blood poisoning. Improperly sterilized equipment can spread infections. An amateur body piercer can also cause nerve damage or scarring. Infection can still occur even when properly sterilized equipment is used. An infected piercing hurts, looks red and swollen, can weep and may feel hot to the touch. If your piercing looks infected, see a medical professional or body piercer for treatment. Who should not get their belly button pierced? If your belly button does not have the skin for the piercing to hold, the ring will likely migrate out. It will not let the belly button ring lie flat against your navel. An "outtie belly button" has more surface scar tissue to deal with, but a seasoned body piercer can pierce an outtie belly button. Most people choose a vertical piercing that enters inside the belly button and exits through the skin above the belly button. How can you take care of a new belly button piercing? To help the healing process of your belly button piercing, wash it twice every day. Note, over cleansing can interfere with your body’s natural ability to fight off infection. Always sanitize your hands before touching your belly button ring. Apply a diluted salt solution to your piercing for five minutes in order to soak off dried material. Clean with soap that contains antibacterial properties and rotate it through the piercing for approximately one minute. Rinse your belly button piercing thoroughly; make sure no traces of soap are left, and then pat it dry. How long will your belly button piercing take to heal and why can healing be difficult? A completely healed belly button piercing can take up to one and a half years. Belly button piercings can be difficult to heal because of exposure to poorly chlorinated waters; also clothing and sweat can irritate the piercing. Factors that can slow the healing process include bad quality jewelry, stress, illness, lack of proper care and a poor diet. If not cared for properly a belly button piercing can take 1-2 years to heal and is an easy target for recurring infection. http://www.orientaldancer.net/guest-stories/belly_button_ring.shtml

Yes it hurts. You're getting a piece of metal shoved through your skin! Fortunately, the actual procedure is done very quickly so compared to other things (childbirth, hemmroids, cat scratches, etc.), it's not that bad. In fact, mine didn't hurt at all the night of my piercing (once the piercer had done his thing). A couple days later, though, it was pretty sore from being bumped, pulled, etc. As for your risk of infection, there are a lot of variables involved. For goodness sakes, do not try to pierce yourself! That's just a bad idea. Go to a reputable piercing shop. If you don't know where to go, ask all the most pierced people you meet. Of course, there are more formal ways to go about this sort of thing, but my experience has been that people with extra piercings generally have a better idea about the local places than far off organizations. Since you are 13, you might not be able to get pierced yet. Depending on where you live, some places have minimum age requirements even if you do have a parent or guardian's consent. Again, don't do it yourself or have a friend do it. Just wait. It's a big decision and you want it done right. When you do get pierced, bring someone along to help play hygiene patrol for you - i.e. make sure that the piercer wears new gloves, that he/she uses a new needle that he/she takes out of a sealed sterile package, the he/she disinfects the area thoroughly, etc. Trust me, you'll want someone else with you since you will have other things on your mind. And, get them to make sure that the piercer's marks prior to piercing are where they should be. You don't want your piercing to be off-center or too far up or down. After your piercing, follow the piercer's instructions for cleaning. I like H2Ocean spray for cleaning 4-5 times a day. Also, use Dial or other antibacterial soap on your piercing when you take a shower. And of course, no touching with dirty hands! If you get the right piercer and take good care of your piercing you should have a much lower risk of infection. If it does get infected, make sure you see a doc soon so you can get it cleared up before it causes too much damage. Good luck! Assuming you have a good piercer the initial pain should be brief which makes it much better than a lot of other things that I mentioned. The amount of pain you experience in the following days has a lot to do with how you take care of the piercing - i.e. wearing loose clothing, keeping it clean, not touching it any more than necessary, not using harsh products like hydrogen peroxide, etc.

Just to let you know, some of these people know absolutly nothing. im 13 now, but when i was 12 i got my belly button pierced. For me, it didnt hurt, but the pain differs with every person. i might get a paper cut and start bleeding, but that doesnt mean that you wil cry.my piercer told me that at first there is almost an 100% chance of getting an infection because it is new. but after that he said thatthe precentage lowered a bit. just dont do it yourself or let any non- professional peirce you. even if you trust them.

I am going to tell you the truth of whether it hurts or not. Some would say im a baby about it but ive had piercings and it does hurt quite bad when its going through. I am 16 and got it done last week. But once its through its like you barely got the thing pierced. For the first day, when you sit down it will hurt but you can avoid that by leaning back in the chair a little. Use saline solution for contacts three times a day and use triple antibiotic ointment for only four days only!!!! I havent had anything close to an infection and I feel little pain because I take care of it.

im 14 and i just got mine done like a month ago..prolly less..and when you ask ur friends who have it done and they say "the clamp hurts worse" thats true..the clamp hurts alot..i had a bruise from the clamp.but the actual needle going threw it happens so fast as long as you dont look at it..you will feel like a beesting..and once its done for like a week or so it will hurt to bend over and to do like cruntches or something like that..and the risk of the infection depends on the person..and how well you clean it..im pron to infection which means i can get infections easily but since i cleaned mine alot it isnt infected..so make sure you clean it really well and use seasalt..that helps to fight off infections if its already infected

well i ahvent gotten mine done i wish but not yet but maybe it will hurt and maybe it wont but you only live life once so get done sure it will hurt for a little while its meatling going trough you skin for crying out lound but the pain goes away you will have a cool looking belly ring so u feel a 1 or 2 of pain but you get a lifes worth of it thats all i have to say

im 16, i just got mine done about two days ago. it doesnt hurt AS much as alot of people may say it does. it feels like a reallyyyy big pinch for 3 min thats it. and afterwords you will prbably feel dizzy when you breathe in fresh air. just sit down and drink alot of water. the dizzyness will fade off in a couple minutes. after the piercing it will feel pretty sore but you will get usto it and in the end i've heard it is totally worth it. goodluck <3333

I'm not the best judge of pain because my tolerance is ridiculously high. I didn't really think it hurt much at all, but the guy who did it seemed to think I should be hurting a lot more. he kept saying things like "now, if you feel dizzy, sit down right away", and I was like "If I do, I will. But I won't". But judging from his reaction, I think most people find it moderately painful. as for infection, it's in a VERY high friction area with your clothes brushing against it all the time. flush it out frequently with antibacterial Softsoap and water, but do NOT use saline solution no matter what the person who pierces you tells you. You'd think they'd know better, but saline quite often results in little raised growths that discharge a lot and are a pain to get rid of because the friction of your clothes will keep re-irritating them. good luck!