Me, my nipples and two 10ga needles

At A Glance Author Silverfreak Contact silverfreak@hotmail.com Artist Kim Studio The Piercing Urge Location Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia

For a long time a part of my body modification plan has been to have large gauge nipple piercings, both for aesthetic and sensory purposes. For a while, I had a pair of 14ga vertical nipple piercings; one performed by an exceptionally poor piercer that never fully healed. Bob Moore at The Piercing Urge did the other, and it healed swiftly without any trouble. It was at this point that I began to realise just how much additional sensation nipple piercings can give you, even at 14ga. I made the difficult (but logical) decision to remove these piercings, allow them to heal, and then work towards large gauge horizontal piercings.

It was about six months later when I reasoned that they were ready to be re-pierced. The holes had fully closed and most of the scar tissue in my left nipple from the troublesome original piercing was gone. I had decided to pierce at the largest gauge that I could, and then work towards a 4ga target. I made an appointment at The Piercing Urge for that afternoon and began the hour long trip into the city. I arrived about a half hour early, and spoke to Kim about my intentions of stretching to a 4ga. He examined my nipples, which are rather small, and told me that the largest initial piercing he could do would be a 10ga, which was fine by me. He went through the jewelry options with me, and eventually I chose two 10ga, ¾" CBR's. I took a seat in the waiting area while he sterilised the jewelry and prepared for the procedure.

I was fairly nervous at this point. I definitely wanted the piercings, and there was no way I was going to back out of it, but I had never had a piercing done at 10ga before and didn't quite know what to expect. Kim beckoned me in after about ten minutes, and asked me to remove my shirt and lay down. He then proceeded to mark my nipples for the piercings. I must give special mention to Kim's bedside manner, which is outstanding. He is very calming, considerate and funny. He was telling me jokes while marking my nipples and I was trying not to laugh too hard so that he could mark my nipples with no problems. You would be very hard pressed to find a better piercer than Kim. When the marking was complete he had me stand up so that he could check the marks while I was standing as opposed to laying down. He marked and remarked a few times until they were spot on. He then gently applied a pair of clamps to my right nipple.

"Are you ready Adam?" he asked quietly.

I took a deep breath. "Alright", I said. " Lets go".

The first piercing seemed to take about three seconds, but in actuality, it was probably less than half a second. It was a sharp, stinging pain that made my ears ring. The follow through of the jewelry was only mildly uncomfortable. The second piercing proceeded much the same as the first, although the second piercing definitely hurt less than the first. Using a pair of pliers, Kim attached the beads, and cleaned up a small amount of blood that had come from my right nipple. He ran through the aftercare with me, and gave me some tips on stretching. He showed me his 4ga nipple piercings and told me that it took him roughly a year to stretch from 10ga to 4ga comfortably, although he had had the piercings for about ten years prior to that.

The first few weeks were quite uneventful. There was some tenderness for the first few days, but that subsided quickly. The main problem I had was that they were so easy to knock or catch doing everyday activities. Patience and care did eventually pay off for me though. After about twelve weeks the piercings looked and felt pretty much healed. The only thing that concerned me was that I was getting a little crusting from the piercings every few days. Not a great deal, but enough to concern me. I continued doing salt soaks, and they did help, but after six months I was still getting some crusting. I reasoned that the problem was my jewelry. The rings had been a bit of a problem from day one, and after six months I was still catching them regularly. I decided to change to barbells, which would hopefully solve the problem. That weekend I again made the trip into The Piercing Urge and selected a pair of SSS 10ga 5/8" barbells with some very chunky 10mm endballs. The jewelry change was no problem, and the barbells felt great. For the first two days afterwards there was some heavy crusting and it stopped completely after that. It's been about 7 months since the piercings were done now and they have fully healed. I have decided to wait until the piercings are a year old before I begin to stretch them, just to be sure they are ready. Better safe than sorry I figure. I am convinced the first stretch will be fairly easy, as these 10mm endballs are quite heavy, and are loosening up the tissue in that area. I am hoping to be at 4ga in 18 months, but I am not push the stretching any faster than I can do so comfortably. The stretching however, is another story altogether, and when I do get to 4ga I will be sure to write about my journey for BME.

If you have any questions, feel free to Email me.

Adam aka Silverfreak