At A Glance
Author	Danielle - iam:Vanilla
Contact	Danielle - iam:Vanilla@bme.anon
IAM	Vanilla
When	It just happened
Artist	Dave (no longer employed at said studio)
Studio	Name withheld with respect to studio.
Location	Location withheld with respect to studio.

The whole story from beginning to end. This is it. I decided on nipple piercings a while ago. In around May. I wanted diagonal at the time as they would be different. I put it off since I just had Takemusu Aiki (my upper back tattoo) completed that month. Throughout the summer I met up with my Love, Chris (iam:serpents). We spoke about various genital modifications I was considering and a few I hadn't considered. I knew that I wanted to get nipple piercings at that point - but horizontal instead of diagonal to offer more jewellery options. So, as a surprise for him (so that they would have enough time to heal before he and I got back together after the visa paperwork went through) I booked an appointment and had them pierced yesterday (August 26, 2002) around 15:15 (that's 3:15 pm). I really shouldn't have had them done. I should have waited – perhaps then what follows wouldn't have happened.

I walked into the studio and he said, "Let me put a sign on the door, you don't want anyone interrupting us while we are doing this." I agreed. He handed me the consent form, which I dutifully filled out and signed. I asked him, "How many nipple piercings have you done?" He responded, "Quite a few." Then he went into the back to set up. I followed him when he came out, he had set up and had gloves on – but was touching other things (papers, pens, pads of stuff, counters) I didn't like that and I wanted him to change his gloves – I made a point of watching him do things to make sure he changed them before doing anything with me. He had to, something crashed off of a shelf and he picked the things up off the floor so he changed his gloves (water from something got on them).

He had everything laid out on a little table, there was a dentists chair that I was to sit in. I removed my shirt and bra and sat down (completely not thinking that I should be marked standing up as not only do I have breasts (unlike men) I have big breasts, DD's which are much different when you lay down or recline than when you are standing up - NOTE that women should be marked while standing not while sitting or reclined). I sat down and noted that there were two little corks on the table, two needles in separate sealed packages, and four cbr's – two sets of smaller and two sets of larger (diameter and apparently gauge as well – this is important to note because when I called about the piercings I asked if they had 12 gauge rings in that they could use instead of 14 gauge and was told that they did not have them in and that it would take a few weeks to order them. I said 14 would be fine I could stretch). So I noted that, he got some alcohol on a swab and wi ped my nipples off, then marked the left one (it wasn't completely erect) I mentioned that it wasn't erect and that perhaps it should be (which they should be), he said, "This is fine." And marked it, it looked straight and horizontal – remember though I was in a reclining position.

You may be saying, "Well if you know so much about piercings why didn't you say anything about these things?" Well I did for some things but I was trying to concentrate on the experience – not on the piercer's ineptness (I didn't expect him to not be experienced). I was focusing on my techniques to breathe through pain (which really would have helped had I been able to implement them). He said, "Um I guess you want the bigger rings eh?" I looked at the table and I didn't note the size differences gauge wise just the diameters and said, "Yes, the larger would be better." (Barbells are the ideal first jewellery for nipple piercings, and they should be one size larger than what your nipple is erect.) I thought it odd that he would even have to ask. But I didn't say anything. He marked the left nipple then proceeded to get it erect by rubbing it with alcohol on a cotton ball. He grabbed one of the needle packages and opened it, grabbed a cork. Positioned himself, I said, "You don't use clamps?" He said, "No, I find I do better freehand I get a better feel for it." After talking to various piercers and some more experienced ones don't like to use clamps I said, "Okay, as long as you are comfortable with that and are used to doing them this way." (Some prefer to go free hand - when in doubt have them use clamps.)

He positioned himself said, "Breath in." Then he pierced, and I counted one-one thousand, two-one thousand...seven-one thousand [get the hell away from me!] "And I'm through." I said, "It's about time." He said, "It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be." (The piercing should take a count of one-one thousand, two-one thousand and you should be well done by then.) Hmm. Not such a great thing to hear. He left the needle in the nipple with the cork on the end. He grabbed the jewellery for this piercing – a 14 gauge 5/8" captive ball ring. He put it through – it hurt but was bearable. I was a bit faint and needed some water. I hadn't eaten yet during the day (a little thing but it wasn't much - you should eat something with both protein and carbohydrates before having body modifications done it will keep your blood sugars more stable). But I had sugar in me to keep my glucose levels up. I rested for about 10 minutes as he wandered around and got me a cool clo th and a cup of water (with the gloves on still - the piercer should never contaminate their gloves by touching other things, if they do they should change them before touching you again).

When I was ready for the second piercing, he marked it (still with the same gloves he did various things with on the break though I didn't really think about it at the time), he didn't like the mark (remember I'm in a semi-reclined position) so he removed one mark and put another – did the alcohol get nipple erect thing then asked me if I was ready. I told him to get it over with. He grabbed the needle in sealed package and cork, then positioned himself and said, "Take a deep breath." And he pierced – I was able to count to 10 this time. I finally told him to back the [hell] off. I was very eloquent no? He was done but 10 seconds to pierce good lord! So he got the jewellery for that one and took the needle out then started pushing the jewellery through. And this was my experience with piercing at 14 and stretching to 12 immediately – ow [bloody] ow! He said, "I am causing you extra pain here, it doesn't seem to want to go through." Is that because it's like stic king your elbow in your ear? Hmm...perhaps? So finally he gets it through, I said, step away from me now. I was polite. God damn though it hurt. A lot. He closed that one up. Know, that if you are going to stretch immediately that it is going to hurt a lot - with nipples I believe it is advisable to NOT do this.

I rested for a bit – that pain was terrible and I was feeling quite nauseated and faint. Obviously. I'm good with sharp pain, it hurts but it's bearable and over with quickly but these weren't quick piercings. I sat for a bit and took pictures – I thought that it was just the angle making them look crooked. He left the room so I could put my bra on after cleaning the bit of blood off and applying some cream he said he had to apply (I don't apply cream to piercings, just salt soaks and general washing is best – I apply nothing to tattoos at all – your body knows how to heal). I waited for a few minutes then stood up. I looked in the mirror. They were off. Way off. Now, it doesn't take much to be off on something that has a diameter of 8mm (5/16"). I positioned myself all sorts of ways and they were really crooked. I took pictures to verify. I put my bra on and got my things. He asked if everything was okay. I said, "Well actually is it just me or are they cro oked?" We looked at them in the back room again and he said, "Well I suppose this one could be up about 2 mm (1.5/16"), and this one could be up about 2 or 3 mm." He then said, "I'd let them heal and see how that goes and see how they look, it was probably how you were sitting." So he blames it on how I was sitting – isn't he supposed to be the professional?

So I say, "Fine, I'll see how they are but they are crooked." He says, "Well if you have any troubles just come back." He asked me during the break between the left and right nipple piercings if I knew about aftercare, I told him what I knew and he said that those weren't their aftercare instructions but that I could do what I wanted. Their aftercare includes wash in the shower then apply cream, and keep dry, turn the jewellery with cream a few times daily which is not appropriate aftercare. I consult this website for aftercare that I trust: http://www.safepiercing.org/. I paid $100 (that's $70US) and wasn't happy but left.

When I got home I took more photos after talking with a couple of friends (piercers and piercees) at IAM about the piercings and the angles. They were really quite crooked and I was not impressed at all. I decided last night (the day I had them done) around 20:00 that I was going to go into the shop today (the next day) and have them removed (I assumed that he would have tightened them so that I couldn't get the balls out of the cbr myself). I then cleaned them around 22:00 last night just with water to get the blood off and put new cotton pads in my bra to stop blood from going through if they chose to bleed. I slept with a bra on. Before I had the piercing I took a naproxen (equivalent to Aleve in the US) and two acetaminophen with caffeine and codeine to make sure that I wouldn't bruise or swell up and because I had a headache. When I got home I took this same concoction again as I still had the headache. Just before bed I took the same thing again as my nipples started to throb, not the left one – it was painless but the right one was killing me. I went to bed at 00:00 or so.

I slept well, woke up about four times but was not sore. Finally woke on my own around 07:00. Got up, did some work online then went to shower. Now this is the interesting part. (Not the shower...what happened in it.) I was showering and figured I would let water run over them to loosen the blood crustiness that built up (just a little). I showered as normal, washed my hair, face, then grabbed the soap and was washing my chest and then breasts. I lifted each breast and turned it a bit so I could see the piercing. Hmm. The rings looked different.

I couldn't place how exactly but one seemed 'shorter and fatter' than the other. I kept looking back and forth and thought, "Well hell, one is a larger gauge and a smaller diameter than the other." I finished showering, got out and went to my room. I grabbed two rulers and measured. Sure enough the left was 14 gauge (1.6 mm – 0.064") and the right was 12 gauge (2.05 mm – 0.081"). I measured the inner diameter of the rings and the left one was 5/8" and the right was 1/2". So I had a 14 gauge 5/8" ring in my left nipple and a 12 gauge 1/2" ring in my right nipple. So not only did I have crooked piercings that were going to reject anyway but they were different gauges and didn't even have matching jewellery! I was pissed. Completely and totally pissed off. (The piercer should verify that they have the correct jewellery and matching jewellery before beginning the piercing.)

I waited until 10:00 the day after the piercing to call the shop and tell them I was coming in to have them removed. I asked for the owner and was told she wouldn't be in until 16:00. I said, "Well I'm going to be there in about 15 minutes and I want these piercings taken out." I told him why, crooked, different gauges, different sized jewellery. He said, "I can do that." And I said, "I want a full refund." He said, "I can do that." I got dressed and down I went. I walked into the shop, he put a note on the door to keep people out, we went to the back room, he put gloves on and I lifted my shirt and removed my bra. He just popped the bead out of the left one (it wasn't in there tight at all) and slid it out – no pain for me. He did the same with the right one and tossed the jewellery into a jar with disinfectant solution in it. He apologized and pulled the 5 twenty dollar bills I gave him yesterday out of his own pocket and handed them to me. I thought that wa s odd. That he would have them on him like that. I gathered my things, said good bye. He apologized for them not being good piercings and apologized that I was upset with them. Never once saying that he did anything wrong.

I did my other errands of the day, then came back home and noticed the time. The owner of the shop should have been there for about an hour at this point (17:00) - plenty of time for him to tell her what happened. So I called, she answered. I said to her, "Hi, this is Danielle, I was in yesterday and had some piercings done quite terribly." She said, "Oh? I didn't know." I said, "Yes, I had my nipples pierced by your male piercer." She said, "Okay. I didn't know about this." I said, "I came in this morning and had them removed. They were two different gauges, crooked, and the jewellery were different sizes." She said, "He's with a client right now I'm going to talk to him then call you back." She found my information, I told her a bit more like the exact gauges and diameters and how crooked they were, she told me she would call me back.

I ate dinner, did some work, at 20:30 she called. She told me that she was really sorry that she spoke with him and was very harsh with him. She told him that he is not a piercer and is not to do piercings like that. He has been apprenticing for the past year but never had problems. And for this he screwed up at least three major times. She went on to tell me that I should have been standing to be marked, I agreed. She said that he should have checked the jewellery before using it for the sizes, and that a proper professional piercer would have done this, and she said that he shouldn't have let me even do the second one if the first was that crooked. She said that she is giving him one more chance and if he screws up again he's out. She said that she has no problem getting rid of him. She said that he did what he could, which was remove the piercings and refund the monies. She said that I likely had lost confidence in him (no...really?) and that if I wanted she wo uld repierce me after I healed for free. She said I had already been through the pain and that it should have taken no more than 2 seconds per piercing and that because of that with everything else that she would re do the piercings for free for me and that someone who pays $100 to have these very painful personal piercings done should be satisfied. She said that he did a lot of things he shouldn't have done and a lot of things that he should have done he didn't. She said that he gets one more chance and that he's never screwed up before and I just happened to be that one. I said, "Well then perhaps he should also take ID from underagers who come in to get pierced without parental consent." I told her of my cousin who just had her navel pierced last week by him and who is 17 without parental consent. She was really upset at this point and said she was going to look up my cousin tomorrow (to see if she signed a consent form and what type of ID she gave if any) and ques tion the guy about her.

I have a really strong feeling that since he's doing things that are going to cause her to be shut down quite quickly that he will be fired tomorrow. Seriously though, how many times can a person screw up during a piercing session of two piercings? Note that he was indeed fired. Don't be afraid to speak up if there's something wrong - you might not be the only one things have happened to by your body modification artist. But know your stuff first - some artists do things differently - do your research and don't be afraid to ask questions.

My nipples are currently healing with no pain. The right one (the one that was stretched) still bleeds a little but nothing extreme. I loved the look and feel of having metal there and know that one bad experience does not a lifetime of bad experiences make. I will likely have my nipples repierced - this time though I know I will be keeping my eyes out for all of those things that I should have mentioned this first time around. I doubt I will go back to that studio - even though she fired him, I wonder what else has happened there that no one has complained about. If I get them repierced I will wait at least a month to give my nipples time to correctly heal, then have them done with barbells at 12 gauge.

Do your research. If something seems strange, comment about it. If you don't feel comfortable, speak up. And if you have a bad experience go back and complain - make sure the owners know about it. If it was an unsafe experience make sure the proper authorities know about it (health department etc.). Who knows, you might speak up for a lot of other people who were too afraid to.

And know that just because you might have had a bad experience once, that doesn't mean you will always have bad experiences.