Ok, here it is. My nipple piercing horror story that has a happy ending. Maybe someone out there will learn from my mistake. Pay attention kids. This is what happens when you don't do your research.
At A Glance Author justjoy Contact justjoy@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist ?? Studio Nightbreed Location Chillicothe, Ohio
After the birth of my son in 1997, I decided to celebrate my newfound pain threshold and get my nipple pierced. It was something I wanted to do for quite a while, and this seemed like the perfect time for it. I knew if I could handle childbirth, I could handle a needle going through my nipple.
I drove to one of the local tattoo/piercing shops in my smallish home town in southern Ohio, waltzed in, and said "I want my left nipple pierced, please." Fine, not a problem. The kid behind the counter looked like he was about 18, with lots of metal in his face. He was my piercer. He walked me to the middle room of the shop and sat me down in the chair. He pointed to a small display of CBRs on the wall and asked me which one I wanted. I looked, and chose one with a Leopard skin Jasper ball, who knows what gauge it was, or diameter for that matter. I liked the stone bead, that was my reason for choosing that particular one. He took it down, dropped it into a jar of some greenish liquid and began preparations.
As he opened up the packages that the tools were in I was feeling a bit nervous, and a bit excited. He reached into the jar and pulled out my new ring, dropped it on the tray, and rolled on over to me. It was funny, he didn't quite know how to tell me that he needed me to get my tit out. I just plopped it out. Boom. Tit. There it was. He looked very nervous about the whole thing as he marked with a pen where he was going to jam the needle through.
I start my breathing. It got me through several hours of unmedicated labor, it'll work for a quick piercing. Clamp on. Ouch. Not bad. I'm watching the whole thing. Out comes the needle, BLAM, it's through the nipple. Nothing, not even a flinch. The kid looks at me like I'm gonna tube vomit in his face or something. He seemed disappointed almost.
Oh well. Ring through. Closed it up. Done. Cool. I'm happy.
Aftercare instructions: Rotate frequently, lube with neosporin, flip it up and down as much as possible. Seriously. That's what the sheet said. I wish I had a copy of it today just for proof. I didn't know any better. So I followed them to the letter. Hell, I even went back a week later to get my other nipple done! Only this time I look at what he's using to close my ring.
Needle nosed pliers. He's using fucking needle nosed pliers.
Fast forward two months. My nipples are still lymphing, occasional blood, lots of heat. I go back to the shop. They tell me to do the sea salt soak. Great, no problem. Soak away. The heat goes away. The goo and blood continue. Loads of crusties. I mean, like, covering the ring completely crusties. a month later I go back, again. They look at my unhappy nipples, and proclaim that I have a metal allergy. So they suggest trying some different metals, Niobium, titanium, and gold. Over the course of two years I try all of these different metals. Still unhappy nipples.
Sidebar. Prior to 1999 I had no contact with the internet. I lived in a smallish town, through I did travel extensively around the US. Not one second of research went into this whole event prior to 1999. I just kept going back to the same shop for advice. They were the only ones in the town, and I knew not one single person that had pierced nipples. Dumb ass me.
Ok. 1999, I'm fed up. Two years of unhappy nipples. I just happen to make a new friend that is a piercer. Had been in the industry for 15+ years. I show him my nipples. First thing he says is the diameter is way to small. Over half of the ring is in my nipple. He convinces me to take the rings out and let them heal. Then he looks at the old rings with a loupe, and shows me one of the problems.
Nice, deep nicks in the rings. I had been rotating scratched up metal through unhappy piercings for two years. Yee fucking haw. Needle nosed pliers. He then showed me a proper ring closing tool, and after care instructions that didn't include rotating and flipping or neosporin.
I love my new friend, and his wife. They rock! They pointed me in the right direction. I recently acquired a SS CBR and popped it into my way old and never used lobe piercings. Just to see if the whole metal allergy thing was even an issue. Nope, not a problem. I have an appointment with my friend to get them redone.
Research rocks.
And I moved out of that hick ass town.