My present to myself on my twenty-third birthday was to have both nipples pierced. At the time, my only experience with body piercing was an eyebrow piercing, which I had since lost, done in another country two years prior.
At A Glance Author viola Contact viola@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Aaron Studio The Piercing Urge Location Sydney, Australia Since I was newly arrived back in Australia, I wanted to make sure I found a good piercer, rather than someone who just did it on the side in a tattoo parlour (as was the case with my first piercing. I got lucky in my inexperience.), so I looked online. I found The Piercing Urge's website and was impressed by the amount of information it contained. It was obviously a thriving, well maintained, and sterile business. I made an appointment for first thing on the morning of my birthday.
On the day I was extremely nervous, for the most part from the idea of having to remove my clothing in front of a stranger, but once I arrived at the studio and met Aaron I was very reassured. Initially the experience was very much like being at a doctor's office: there were forms to fill out and my details were entered into a computer. The whole atmosphere helped to calm my nerves and when, after choosing my jewelry, he took me back behind the curtain, I was relaxed and excited.
The first thing Aaron did was explain the procedure to me and show me the instruments. Then he began the measurements. Unfortunately I'm very ticklish and couldn't stop laughing as he tried to measure my nipples. He explained to me that it was a good idea to go with a little extra length in the post as swelling was likely to occur. I agreed and he went off to sterilse the jewelry.
The oddest part of the experience was laying there thinking, "I'm paying someone to poke a hole through my nipples with a needle." At that moment I wondered if I was completely sane. When he came back, Aaron placed a dot on each side of each nipple and asked me to look in the mirror to make sure they were where I wanted them to be. That was the second oddest part of the experience: trying to dispassionately evaluate my own breasts!
When everything was finally ready, Aaron asked me if I wanted him to tell me what he was doing, or if I'd rather not know and just have him do it. I said I definitely wanted to know. (I ask a lot of questions at the gynaecologist's office, too.) He had me take a deep breath as he counted 'one, two' and then as I breathed out on 'three' he did the first piercing.
That was my left nipple. And it hurt. A lot. What hurt even worse was threading the jewelry through. After a while, probably no longer than a minute, the whole area became warmly-numb and was no longer painful. Then he repeated the same procedure with my right nipple, which was painful in a different way. Higher, is the only way I can describe it. It was a sharper, more highly pitched pain. I let out a small, but fervent, "Ouch" at that one. Once again the threading was the worst part, but the pain lasted only a short while and then the numbness set in.
Then, suddenly, it was all over and I got up and looked in the mirror. I had never felt so beautiful in my entire life. I couldn't stop smiling. We went back out to the waiting area where I paid and Aaron gave me an sheet with aftercare advice on it, as well as a bottle of antibacterial soap. He explained everything on the sheet and stressed that if I had any problems I shouldn't hesitate to phone and speak to one of the piercers. He also mentioned that it would be a good idea to wear a soft bra to bed for the first week or so, to cut down on any chance of the piercings catching on something while I slept.
On the way back home I experienced the oddness of having sensation in a place where I'd never had it before. It wasn't so much pain as little nerve twinges. I kept wanting to hold my breasts, as you want to put pressure on a cut. It's generally not the thing to do when you're in a train, though. By the time I got home I was very tired, so I put on my softest and most comfortable bra and fell asleep.
When I woke up I took a shower and did my first cleaning. I was very nervous about touching my piercings for the first time, but although the cleaning was uncomfortable it wasn't painful and I managed to clean both thoroughly with no mishaps. I continued diligently with my daily cleanings for the recommended fourteen days. Towards the end of the first week I started experiencing sharp pains and then stinging when I tried to turn the jewelry during the cleaning. I attributed this to small pieces of skin trying to grow across the hole and being torn, and after a few days there were no more problems.
Being a stomach-sleeper, I was very careful the first two nights to wear my bra and position myself in bed, but on the third night I slept without a bra and had no discomfort or accidents, so I left it off from then on. Except during cleaning, I had no pain of any sort after the piercing.
That was two years ago, and since then I've had two more piercings done at TPU and am planning a third. My nipple piercings are healed, healthy and happy, with the occasional nornal crusty discharge. A friend of mine wanted to name them because she liked them so much, so I let her. They're now known as Sylvia and Pablo. I like to tell people that my nipples are named after dead poets. And when they ask me why on earth I have pierced nipples, I tell them it's because it makes me feel beautiful.