Just under a year ago, I had my left nipple pierced at a shop in the backwater town where I was living. It was done at 16ga, against my better judgment, and I didn't check the placement as carefully as I should have. When I got home, I realized that it was pierced near the middle of the nipple rather than at the base, but I shrugged and decided to make the best of it rather than removing it then.
At A Glance Author kythryne Contact kythryne@bme.anon IAM kythryne When It just happened Healing was undoubtedly hindered by the fact that I spent a week working as a stripper less than a month into the healing process -- the club where I worked made us wear surgical tape over our nipples, and my poor piercing was always very itchy and irritated by the time I finished my shift and could take the tape off. On top of that, my life was turned upside down just a few days after I got this piercing, and continued to be incredibly stressful for about six months, and my health was also quite bad for much of that time.
I used my standard aftercare routine of salt soaks with a bit of lavender oil and colloidal silver mixed in, and for a while it looked as though it was going to heal successfully. Then one day a few months after I'd gotten the piercing, I suddenly felt a sharp stabbing pain in my left nipple. When I investigated, I discovered that a small fissure had begun to open in the middle of the nipple. Within a few days, the fissure had expanded to the point where I could see the CBR through it, and crusties were developing in the fissure as well as at each side of the piercing.
I went to a different piercer, who said he thought it might heal in time, and that I should continue my aftercare and stretch up to a 14ga CBR as soon as possible. I took his advice on all accounts, and for a few months after that it settled down and seemed to be healing well, although the fissure never did close up and I continued to get crusties both in the fissure and at the sides of the piercing.
In just the past few months the CBR began slowly migrating closer and closer to the tip of the nipple. The last straw seemed to come during an extended period of PMS, when my breasts were swollen to nearly twice their usual size for more than three weeks. During that time the piercing moved towards the tip of the nipple quite a ways, and I began to suspect that it would need to be removed.
The PMS finally and mercifully stopped and my breasts returned to their normal size, but the piercing continued to act up, and the CBR was now 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the tip of the nipple. When it began itching and hurting most of the time, I decided to take it out, rather than prolonging the process. I found a small pair of pliers, and gently opened the ring just far enough to remove the bead and slip the ring out of my nipple. I had my partner take photographs during the entire process, both for my own reference and because I thought the pictures might be of interest to BME viewers.
This piercing, like all of my mods, was very important to me, and I deeply regret losing it. I'm contemplating letting it heal for a few months, and then having it redone, as well as possibly getting my other nipple pierced, which I'd always wanted to do as well but never got around to doing. If I do decide to have it redone and/or to get the other nipple pierced, I'll seek out a better piercer, have them done at 14ga right from the start, and make sure the placement is deeper. I think if this piercing had been deep enough from the start, it would not have rejected, but the combination of the placement and all the stresses in my life made for an unsuccessful healing.
I'll miss this piercing quite a lot, although I am more than a bit curious to see what it's like to have two unpierced nipples again. The pierced nipple never healed enough to allow for more than very gentle playing, which disappointed me quite a lot, and usually meant that only my unpierced nipple got any attention during *ahem* interesting moments. At the same time, though, I can't help wondering if maybe I'm giving up too soon, and I confess that I'm more than a bit tempted to put the CBR back in and give it one more shot. Still, the logical side of my brain seems to think that it's best to just cut my loses now and have it redone in a few months if I really do miss it a lot... which I think I will.