At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist Chris Friend Studio Earth's Edge Location Winston-Salem, NC I had wanted my nipples pierced for about a year before I got them done, but the man I was living with at the time (i.e. my boyfriend) hated the piercing and didn't want me to do it. When we had a huge argument on our two and a half year anniversary, I decided I would go ahead and do it regardless of how he felt about it. The place where I had gotten all my other piercings done previously was closed, so I decided to go to Earth's Edge in Winston-Salem, N.C., because I had heard good things about it for piercing from friends.
I didn't know any of the piercers there personally, so I just went in and told them what I wanted done. They helped me pick out appropriate-sized jewelry (14 g hoops)and told me to wait a few minutes while they got ready.
When he called me into the back so get my piercings, he told me to take off my shirt and to relax. I pretty much detached myself from any feeling at the time and didn't feel much pain besides a sharp prick in each nipple when he pierced them both. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as I assumed it would. Maybe my memory is failing me now, as it's been awhile since I got it done, but I really don't remember it being that bad. I do remember looking down at the huge needles in my tiny little nipples and thinking, wow! After he had put the jewelry in, I looked in the mirror and I loved them. He was telling me various aftercare tips, such as not wearing a sportsbra, and how to clean them, but I wasn't listening to much he was saying. I put my shirt back on but I didn't put on my bra because it felt like it would flatten the piercing and put pressure on it. It felt weird the first week because I was so careful about brushing against people, hugging people, wearing tight shirts, wearing my seatbelt, and cleaning the piercings. At the same time, I loved my new piercings, and I loved showing them off to people. My boyfriend hated them, but I said, oh well. I like them. The left one was pierced slightly crooked, but it is difficult to tell.
The first six to nine months that they were healing took a lot of maintenance. I washed the piercings twice a day with dial soap and was careful about not lying on them at night or not letting careless boyfriends be too rough with them. They were slow to heal. They didn't completely heal to the point where they weren't getting crusties anymore until I had had them over a year. The most painful thing was that build-up would collect on the jewelry through the day and when I cleaned it at night, turning the jewelry caused a slight ripping when the build-up was torn away from my skin. This kinda hurt. I would dread this process every day. Otherwise, however, they were pretty unpainful. I quit wearing a bra while they were healing and decided I liked that better :), so I still don't wear one.
On the third year that I had them, the left one got infected randomly. I think some guy was being too rough with it one night and it slightly tore, then his saliva got into the tear. That's been one of my problems with these piercings. Some men think they can be like dangling from my jewelry or something. They don't realize that the piercing is slightly fragile. Not extremely, but, like I said, they can't be dangling themselves from them or anything. Anyway, this one guy did something that I think caused the infection. Regardless, however, the infection was pretty bad. It didn't hurt too terribly, but it looked awful. It was the sight of it that really worried me. It looked like I was going to lose a nipple, or get gangrene of the nipple or something. My nipple was swollen huge and had scabs and puss all over it. It was quite terrible. I went to a doctor (mistake) because I was hoping for some kind of medicine or something that my insurance would pay for. He tr ied to tell me to take the piercing out. I said, no way. So, he prescribed an antibiotic. Nevertheless, I soaked it in sea salt for about a week and it cleared up just fine.
To anyone thinking of getting a nipple piercing...do it!! It's not too painful; it takes a little bit of effort to maintain it during its healing but it's definitely worth it. I really can't think of anything bad about it, or any reason not to get it. I still adore mine!!