At A Glance
Author	Ptomb
Contact	Ptomb@bme.anon
IAM	Ptomb
When	A year ago
Artist	Dawn Wiest
Studio	Skincraft
Location	Cincinnati, OH

Ok, a little back history. In the spring of 1997 I went to get my nipples pierced at The Hole Thing, the only APP establishment in Kentucky. Because I wanted both done and I only had so much money to do it, I opted for captive bead rings over the more expensive barbells. I knew a captive bead ring would be more difficult to heal but I was competent at healing piercings as I'd had four previous ones. After the first piercing, I decided against the second as the first was so intense and the second was supposed to be worse. Fast forward.

Four years later, July 11th, 2001 in fact, I went to get my other nipple pierced. It'd been three years since my last piercing. The shop that I went to for all of my piercings, The Hole Thing, had shut down and I didn't trust anyone in my area to do a piercing as I could not get any of them to show me a recent spore test result for their autoclaves.

I had joined IAM a few days before and I was highly ready for a new piercing to celebrate this. I traveled to Cincinnati, OH (90 miles from me) where the tattoo code is stronger about spore testing and went to the place where I would buy jewelry when The Hole Thing didn't have what I was looking for. I selected Skincraft because of its selection of jewelry and the fact that it was an APP member. I felt safe there. Funny, because I was about to be stabbed.

Because my left nipple had a captive bead ring, it healed up poorly and in a crooked manner. This time I knew I wanted a barbell. I had the whole piercing mapped out in my head. The only thing I had forgotten was how badly the first one felt years earlier.

I went in at a dead period and asked for Jeff Wiest, the owner and master piercer. I was told by the counter person that he wasn't in. However, Dawn Wiest, his wife and co-owner, was in and wasn't occupied. I thought about it and figured if it went foul, I could always holler at Jeff.

The counter person gave me release forms and aftercare sheets and fetched Dawn. With the forms out of the way, I was starting to feel something I hadn't felt in years, the anticipation of a new piercing. I concentrated on breathing and tried to calm down. Hell, I hadn't even gotten to the piercing room yet.

Dawn appeared and we chit-chatted. I explained that the shops in Kentucky are crap and that I only trusted APP shops to do good work. I explained that I wanted a 12g 5/8" barbell and she commented that it sounded reasonable. I showed her the left nipple and how it sagged to one side. She said she'd like to pierce the other a little off horizontal so it would be a good match for the left. I agreed. Since I know how pliable my nipples are, I knew that if I twist them a little, they retain the shape and I can make them look horizontal if I want to.

We went to the back room and I started sweating despite my calm breathing and even though I knew it's not too bad as far as pain goes. I removed my shirt and stood there as she marked my nipple with a fine tipped Sharpie (which I later took home). It took a couple of markings to get it right but in the end it was set and time to pierce.

I hopped on the massage table with a large sheet of medical towel (you know, the blue stuff with plastic on the bottom) and stared at the ceiling trying to find a focal point. I was breathing long slow breaths to stay calm and out came the Pennington Forceps. She pulled the nipple up a bit with her fingers then got a firm grip with the forceps and lashed rubber bands to it to keep it in place and tight. I would have been fine if she pierced right away. But she didn't. Instead, the marks were covered by the forceps. So she bends it to the left and then the right and then left and then right and left again. Yes, this was tedious. Yes this was painful. She then took the forceps off and apologized and reapplied them. By that time my nipple was swelling from the torture it went through.

Now, the rubber bands were set to the tension before. That was when my nipple was flaccid. Now it was erect and pulsating. The forceps were excruciating this time, like rubbing lemon juice in a wound. Fortunately it was lined up better and only needed to be wiggled a little bit.

By the time I was ready to be pierced I was sweating like I was in a sauna. The needle was prepped with lube and the barbell attached to the back via a connector pin so she could pierce and insert the jewelry in one motion. She told me to take three deep breaths and on the third exhalation she would pierce. I focused on that dot on the ceiling and relaxed as best as I could. The sting came but without fire like most of my piercings. The lube and jewelry were cold and felt wonderful. When the forceps were removed it was like freeing your penis from your zipper. It felt good but I wasn't about to touch it. She screwed on the other ball and we both noticed that the forceps had actually given my nipple two abrasions. I then said "I thought my nipple was swelling!"

I sat up, bringing the sweat soaked towel with me, and had a drink of water. I sat for a minute and put my shirt on. Yes, the shirt felt magnificent! I tipped her $10 and went to the front and paid for it all. I immediately bought a soft drink and headed home. I was symmetrical and complete.