At A Glance
Author	vkdreamer
Contact	vkdreamer@bme.anon
IAM	vicky-dreamer
When	It just happened
Artist	Myself.
Studio	My Bedroom
Location	Oxfordshire, UK.

Last Saturday, Saturday September 7, 2002 I decided that I would try and pierce my own nipple. To be honest, I was less than successful. I rummaged though a medical box and first aid kit and with the use of a glass of ice, Iodine Tincture, a large sewing needle and some old fishing clamps I actually though I would be successful in my aim.

I attempted to clamp my nipple, which was hard to do as the clamps were nothing like what I needed, numbing it was fine – ice always seems to work quite well and all that was left was to push the needle through. That hurt, the needle wasn't sharp enough, it wasn't big enough and it wasn't going to work. After about 3 hours of trying my hardest, I gave up feeling stupid and disappointed with myself.

The next day, I got online and visited Wildcat and decided to order the proper supplies. Thanks to Wildcat, 3 days later I had in my possession a pair of Micro Sponge Forceps (I believe these are the Penningtons equivalent) and a single Introcan needle, with an outer diameter of 2.1mm, so the actual size of the hole would be perfect for a 1.6mm circular barbell.

I had decided that I would wait until Saturday evening until I attempted to pierce my nipple again, this way my nipple would have fully healed from the previous weekends antics and I would be the only person in the house, so none of my family members would be suspicious of my goings on.

I finished work late on Saturday afternoon and waited until later on in the night to prepare; I first laid out some Kitchen towel on the surface of my bedroom desk and on the first piece I placed the piercing equipment: the needle, clamps and jewelry. On the second sheet I placed Antiseptic wipes, a water based marker pen, a glass of ice, Iodine Tincture and an Antiseptic spray.

I only planned on piercing my left nipple, to see how successful it would be, so I continued to clean my nipple with the Iodine Tincture, then mark on some guideline dots so that I could check on the placement, once I was happy I clamped my nipple lightly and applied the ice. After the ice had taken effect and my nipple was properly numb I continued to apply the clamps until they were locked on the first notch, it was then time to proceed with the piercing.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing nerves I removed the needle from it's packaging and placed it against the first mark on the right hand side of my left nipple, when calm and ready I continued by slowly pushing the needle through my nipple, I was surprised by the lack of pain – in fact I couldn't feel anything accept a little resistance but I continued carefully pushing though until I could feel the needle breaking out through the other side of my nipple.
Once the needle broke through the outer layer of skin I noticed a small amount of blood which I wiped away with an antiseptic wipe. I was surprised by the lack of blood, as it's a piercing that I'd always expected would bleed more.

Prior to the piercing I had prepared a 1.6mm*10mm Titanium Circular Barbell; with the barbell in hand I removed the needle and quickly but carefully replaced it with the jewelry. It was slightly harder trying to push the jewelry through, as I really should have used some form of lubricant to help it move through more gently, but after a short while I had managed to push the barbell through my nipple without too much of a problem.
There was no more blood and no more pain, so before fastening the barbell in place I washed my hands, carefully removed the clamps and cleaned the area once again; when happy I fastened on the threaded ball and looked at myself with a large, satisfied smile on my face.

Soon after, within 10 minutes of finishing the piercing, the feeling had started to come back to my nipple – it was burning, aching and throbbing all at once, it wasn't pleasant but that's what should be expected after forcing a foreign object though a tender piece of body tissue.

So far I am happy with the result of my first self piercing; it isn't something that I would recommend to anyone. I've had the piercing for a few hours now and it really has been aching a lot. Maybe, some day in the future I will decide to pierce my right nipple, but at the moment I am going to simply wait and see how it heals before I make a final decision.

(In case you are wondering what I've done with the piercing needle, it will be disposed of in a medical waste bin, the same as those which you would find in hospitals and doctors surgeries. )

Self piercings aren't safe, they aren't done in a sterile environment and a large majority of the time the equipment used isn't correct, isn't sterile and is being used by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

Piercing studios are around for a very simple reason; these people know what they are doing and for a small sum of money they will pierce us all professionally and safely, so don't be careless. Be safe and don't pierce yourself.