How To Pierce a Belly Button With a Sewing Needle

Piercing your belly button with a sewing needle is not safe at all. The sewing needle isn’t the right gauge to pierce your belly button because it can bend or break. The sewing needle width is not as thick as the width of a belly button ring. You should NEVER try to pierce your own belly button or any other part of your body! The risk of infection is very high if the right equipment is not used and if it is not properly sterilized. The danger of an allergic reaction, bleeding, and scarring is also very real. Aside from that, it would hurt a lot.

If you are not confident about piercing yourself,  go to the professional piercer, they will do it better and it will hurt less. They also have the appropriate jewelry and it won’t be crooked from a bent needle.

Can You Pierce a Belly Button With a Sewing Needle?

The answer is no! You cannot pierce your belly button with a sewing needle. A regular needle could break and bend. It’s not designed to pierce through flesh. You should use a standard navel piercing needle.

Piercing needles are hollow. They are made like that so the ring can be inserted into the hole of the needle. This way we can insert the ring without having to take out the needle first.

How To Pierce a Belly Button At Home

Assemble the Tools 

Before starting the process of piercing, you need to collect all the required tools to make the process fast and with little to no bleeding. Using the correct equipment for piercing your belly button is necessary. Otherwise, the piercing could go badly wrong or result in a nasty infection. First of all, to pierce your belly button in the safest way possible, you will need a piercing kit that includes:  Alcohol pads, Black latex gloves, piercing needles, and disposable piercing clamps. All items are 100% sterilized using ethylene oxide gas and packed safely. Having gloves and alcohol pads to sanitize is compulsory to prevent any infection of the piercing from dirty hands or unsanitary skin or needles. Using a sewing needle, safety pin, or piercing gun to pierce your belly button is a bad idea, as these items are unsafe and will not produce good results.

Disinfect Your Tools And Area

 Firstly, all of the mentioned equipment has to be wrapped in new and separate packaging. Please avoid the use of second-hand or reused equipment as they may be contaminated. You should unwrap your equipment just before you sterilize. Disinfecting your tools is extremely important before starting the process of piercing, especially belly button piercing. Make sure that you have antibacterial soap, petroleum jelly, or rubbing alcohol that will make the piercing process both smooth and sanitary.

You can also use hydrogen peroxide to maintain the sterile status of your apparatus and leave them to sit in the liquid for a minute or two. Remove them from the liquid wearing clean latex gloves and leave them on a clean piece of paper towel to dry completely. Moreover, the needle should be new out of the package for a more sanitary piercing. You can sanitize the needle again if you feel it needs it.

Make a Hygienic Environment

Before starting the piercing process, start with disinfecting your working environment. You should spray the tabletops and counters then wipe with a towel or a clean cloth. This is a precautionary measure that kills harmful bacteria that pose a threat of infection.

Also, clean your hands and lower arms by washing with antibacterial soap before setting up your tools and before you begin the piercing process. An even safer precaution is wearing latex gloves, only if they are sterile and haven’t been sitting out. Dry your hands with a paper towel, not a cloth towel that’s porous and attracts bacteria.

Clean The Area Around The Navel

To clean the area around the navel and the surrounding skin surface, use clean cotton wool and an antiseptic. Antiseptic is used for killing bacteria present on the skin, eliminating the risk of navel infections. An even safer precaution is using a disinfecting skincare gel specially designed for piercing such as Bactine or rubbing alcohol. 

Mark the Spot

Make a mark where the piercing should be. You want to ensure you are getting the right spot when you get ready to pierce the belly button. So, using a body ink marker to mark the entrance and exit locations of the needle is a great idea. After marking the area, proceed to sanitize the area with rubbing alcohol. This marker will write smoothly on the skin and won’t come off when you go to sanitize the area.

 Do not make the mark while in a seated position, as the skin around the belly skin may crease and skew the alignment of the markings. Belly button piercings are typically located at the top of the belly button, rather than the bottom, but it’s your choice. Use a small mirror to check if the marks are aligned horizontally and vertically. Do this only while standing, as your stomach scrunches up when sitting and will not give you a straight piercing. There should be approximately 1 cm (4 inches) between the navel and the pierced hole.

Piercing The Belly Button

Clamp the navel at the marked point and hold it out slightly from the body. Pierce from the bottom up. Align the sharp end of the needle with the mark on the underside of the clamp, the marked exit point should be located on the central top half of the clamp. The best way to pierce is while standing up, as this will give you the most mobility and allow you to see what you’re doing. Make sure to hold the clamp with your weaker hand, as you want the stronger, steadier one holding the needle. 

Be calm and pierce through the mark on the bottom side of the clamp.  Pierce steadily and don’t stop or pause midway until the needle exits through the upper mark. This actual piercing process takes about 2 seconds. Immediately after piercing, with the needle still stuck in, cork the sharp end of the piercer with a needle guard; this prevents the needle from accidentally poking other parts of the skin. Never pierce from the top down. You need to be able to see where your needle is going and you can’t do this if you’re piercing downwards. Don’t be concerned if the piercing bleeds a little, this is totally normal. Just wipe away the blood with a clean Q-tip dipped in saline solution.

Insert the Navel Ring

Place the end of the jewelry without the ball into the hollow needle (it should be virtually flush or slightly smaller than the needle) and push the needle out with the jewelry and insert the belly button ring. DO NOT pull the needle out. You want to keep the contact between the needle and your navel ring for a smooth transition. The needle will fall off the end of the jewelry as it exits the skin so be prepared to catch it. Take the loose ball and screw it tightly onto the top of the belly button ring. And Your belly button is pierced!

Conclusion

To conclude, piercing your belly button yourself is not that hard. You can easily pierce your belly button at your home by following simple tips and tricks.

The most important thing to remember is cleanliness. The whole process should be done with great precautions and under proper sanitary conditions to avoid any infection later on. After you’re done with piercing your belly button give it proper time to heal.