I wanted a nipple piercing mainly because I was sick of pleasing others and wanted to take sex to a new level. Piercing my nipples indeed did that. Not only did it make my nipples uber-sensitive, but it made them more erect and more sensual. Do it right, and you won't regret it. They're impossible to keep my hands off--and others' too. Onto the good stuff...
At A Glance Author Crass Monkey Contact zobied@hotmail.com Artist Eric Studio Cactus Tattoo & Body Piercing Location Mankato,, MN I went to the same place that botched my ear when I got an industrial mostly because I was desperate and it was the only place in town. I went to a different piercer, so I thought all would be well. Not so. It turns out just a week prior to my getting my nipples pierced, he had been training and so all of his piercings were half price, although I had no idea until after I got pierced—now I know why they were so cheap. Yet, I should have known that within a week following his apprenticeship, he wouldn't dramatically be any better. The only good thing that he did was give me titanium rings for no more than I would have paid for SSS. He was afraid that the nickel in stainless steel would give me an allergic reaction. It turns out, though, that the coloring on the titanium irritated me more than the nickel content in SSS. However, I like the lightweight feel to titanium, so I've never gone back to anything less for these breasts.
This is the start of what went wrong. I knew that a majority of the nipple-piercing experiences I had read were of 14 ga. jewelry, so it didn't faze me when he told me (without first looking at my nipple) that he was going to use 14 ga. CBRs. However, I now know that because of the tearing, and general discomfort, women should be pierced with 12 ga if their nipples are large enough. So now I have to spend the extra time, money, and the pain to stretching them to the proper size. Not to mention, he used too small of rings (which made my nipple prime candidates for rejection), and the CBRs curved, so now the piercing is not straight enough to put in a barbell. Anyway, here goes the poignant procedure.
He had me lie down on the table and marked the spots where the entrance and exit points would go (mistake # deux, he should have done this with me standing up because breasts move to the sides when lying down). I held my boyfriend's hand (that is, until he got queasy and had to leave so that he wouldn't pass out). He had me hold the clamps (nevermind I had no idea what the hell I was doing) while he fiddled around with the needles. He helped me by having me breathe really deeply and told me that on the count of three, he was going to pierce me. The first piercing was nothing short of excruciating. I didn't cry, probably because the pain was so much that crying wouldn't have helped. It stung a lot, and putting in the CBRs wasn't much better (he had to fiddle with it a long time to get it closed). The second nipple hurt worse, probably due to the anxiety of knowing how much the first hurt. He was talking to me to try to calm me down, but in doing so he let the nipple close before putting in the CBR. And so he had to pierce me again! I was nothing short of stunned, but I wanted it so badly, I let him do it. I was so excited/disoriented by the time everything was over, that when he had me look in the mirror, I didn't realize that one of the piercings was off-center. Even if I did notice though, I probably wouldn't have said something for fear that I'd have to undergo the fourth needle that day.
The lesson that came from this: live vicariously through what I went through, learn from my mistakes in letting other "professionals" convince me they knew what they were doing. Before you get pierced, make sure you know the proper procedure, and the experience of the piercer. You won't regret being educated, but you will regret an off-center, permanently botched nipple or two. Make sure your piercer has experience, tell them what jewelry you want to use beforehand (and the proper gauge!), and hold on tight to someone's hand (don't hold onto the clamp, a "real" piercer will not ask this of you). In the end, the pain and bragging rights are worth it. As nipple piercing becomes more mainstream, so come the "professional" piercers that pretend they know what they're doing. Your best defense is to be prepared and know what you want. Afterall, it's you who's going to have to endure the pain and live with it for however long you choose (or until your body rejects it as is all too common with nipple piercings :(.