A quick overview of who I am: I'm a 20 year old college student, with a few other piercings (septum, navel, a bunch of lobe piercings) and a couple tattoos. I was 19 when I got my nipples pierced, after about nine months of weighing the pros and cons and working up the nerve to actually go do it. I'm going to try to give you an account of how the piercings felt throughout healing, since that's what I wondered about most before getting it done.
At A Glance Author suzyml Contact suzyml@bme.anon IAM suzyml When Three months ago Artist Joe Studio Evolution Location Providence A quick overview of the procedure: I went to Evolution in Providence, because I have gotten pierced there before, and it was a great experience. The piercers and the staff are wonderful people and they all know their stuff. Most importantly, they are very very clean. I chose 14 gauge barbells for initial jewelry. My piercer autoclaved a few different lengths, and ultimately used half inch barbells to allow enough room to clean them properly.
First he brought over the tray with all of the equipment in sterile packages. He turned around while I took off my shirt and bra (which I thought was very polite), and I told him when I was ready. Then he swabbed both nipples with three different solutions to clean them thoroughly. I stood up on a footstool (so that my chest was at his eye level) and relaxed both arms at my sides so he could mark the placement. After that, it was time to lay down and begin. He stood on my left side and positioned the clamp over the marks and got the needle ready. To be honest, when I laid down, I kept myself looking at the ceiling or closed my eyes altogether; I didn't look down at my chest until the whole thing was over so that I wouldn't start to get nervous. However, I knew exactly what he was doing because he made sure to tell me each step as he was doing it. He told me to take a deep breath, and let it out, and then to take another and let that out. He pierced the first nipple at the en d of my second exhale.
The piercing itself was not as bad as I had been led to expect. I read many experiences here and talked to other people with this piercing, and most people seemed to think it was the most painful thing ever, or said things like "you know it's going to hurt like a bastard, right?". Not very encouraging. However, before the piercing I ate a good meal and got a lot of rest, and because I had wanted this done for so long, I wasn't very nervous. Yes, it hurt, but by the time I winced the jewelry was already in. When my septum was pierced, I definitely felt the needle going through as it was happening. With these piercings, it was one quick sharp pain and then it was over, and I didn't really feel the needle itself going through. The second one does hurt a little more because you know what to expect, but even so, it is very bearable and not something to worry about too much. Each one is over in a second, and then you're out the door with the aftercare sheet before you know it.
The piercings hurt the most for the first few hours after they were "installed". My chest throbbed, and I tried to move my torso as little as possible so that I wouldn't hit them with anything. Clearly, my nipples were a little upset with me. Honestly though, the pain wasn't as bad as cramps, or at least it was a more bearable kind of pain. I took some tylenol and a nap when I got home a few hours later (in a Lazy Boy so that I would stay on my back), and when I woke up I felt much better. Still sore, but not throbbing, which was an improvement.
The soreness gradually decreased over the next couple weeks. I had them pierced with barbells, so the jewelry didn't get bumped around much, and I didn't touch them at all unless I was cleaning them. Aftercare consisted of washing with Provon in the shower, and cleaning with a saline soaked Q-tip twice a day to get rid of the crusties. Originally I was told to wash twice a day with the soap and twice with the saline, but after a week of this I found the soap was drying out my skin too much. When I cut back to once a day with Provon, and twice a day with saline, my skin went back to normal, and I stuck with this regimen for the rest of the healing period. The crusties were very minimal because I was cleaning them often and leaving them alone otherwise. Also, I was told not to sleep on my stomach for the first two weeks. Honestly though, it would have been too uncomfortable anyway. Even sleeping on my side was a little uncomfortable for the first few days, and I had to stay on my back.
I was wearing sports bras pretty much all the time, even to bed. During the first two weeks, my nipples were too sensitive to wear a shirt without a bra. The rubbing of the material on my chest actually hurt, so the sports bras were a lifesaver. Regular bras were definitely more uncomfortable. By the third week, I could wear a shirt with no bra, and it was possible to wear a regular bra for short periods of time. After a month, my nipples were no longer sore to the touch, unless the jewelry got caught on something, and the crusties were still pretty minimal as long as I cleaned them regularly.
For those wondering how visible the piercings are: It is very easy to see the barbells through a shirt if you are not wearing a bra, and it is even possible to see them through a sports bra and a shirt, depending on the material. A sports bra with more than one layer of fabric hid them well, as did a regular underwire bra with any kind of lining or padding on the front. I began to really like being able to see the outline of the barbells through my clothes though. I was pierced in May, and in summer clothes they are especially visible. For the record, the piercings did not make my nipples permanently erect. However, they were hard more often due to the increased sensitivity after the piercing, and even when they were not erect, they appeared to be. Before the piercing, my nipples were pretty flat most of the time, but now they stick out due to the presence of the jewelry through the skin. Personally, I find this attractive, but this is something I wasn't sure about before th e piercing, and it's something to consider before getting it done. Other than that, the jewelry did not distort the shape of my nipples at all.
It has been three months since I was pierced, and my nipples are doing very well. They are not sore at all, but there are still some crusties now and then. They are perfectly straight and even, and I'm absolutely in love with them. They really are beautiful, and I'm very glad I went through with it.
Recommendations: I definitely recommend getting pierced with barbells as initial jewelry. They were easy to clean (there was about an eighth of an inch of extra room on the post), and they didn't get knocked around or moved unnecessarily. Also, I highly recommend Evolution studio in Providence for anyone in Rhode Island or close by in Massachusetts. Everyone there is very knowledgeable and friendly, and they are the cleanest place I have seen. And finally, buy more sports bras! You'll need them.