A little background info on myself...I lived in a house with 5 younger siblings and being the oldest one of the bunch was trying at times. My parents were somewhat strict, religious, and not very appreciative of the length of my hair or my 4 earrings. I guess they didn't want me to lead my other siblings into thinking all the "rebellious" stuff I was into was the right thing to emulate.
At A Glance Author anonymous When Two years ago Artist can't remember Studio Jade Dragon Location Chicago, IL With that being said, I had to wait until I moved out of the house until I could even think about getting anything done other than ears. I moved out at age 19 into an apartment, had just quit the lame job I was in and got a new job; I thought it would be a perfect time to get pierced somewhere else, I just wasn't sure what I wanted yet. I stumbled across this page and got all the info on what was available and decided a nipple pierce would be right for me. I liked the idea of having a piercing that only people I wanted to let in on would know about. My girlfriend at the time (we're married now) wasn't opposed to the idea (she wouldn't ever get it done herself, though) and thought it could be fun to play with and I agreed. I decided to get the left nipple done without telling her and letting her find out by "accident" which worked pretty well. The actual experience was very easy for me, and I'm not a really outgoing kind of person. The professionalism of the artist wa s probably what put me at ease, as well as the clean conditions. Aftercare was smooth thanks to the directions given and me following closely. (I don't remember the artist's name since it's been awhile - sorry!) Several months down the road, I wanted to put in different jewelry, and I thought I could handle it myself. Big mistake. After I took the original ring out, getting the new jewelry in proved impossible for me; Trying to thread the new barbell shape through a ring piercing probably wasn't the smartest move on my part, especially that soon after the piercing took place. The pain was unbearable; at that point I tried getting the original ring back in, but I had no idea on how to close a ring with a ball closure (I've since read how on web sites). I was frustrated and working a whole lot so I didn't make the time to seek professional help in getting the jewelry back in, so I let the piercing heal up.
After it healed (more than a year later) I decided to go for it again. So I went back to Jade Dragon because of the great experience first time around. I asked about piercing through the scar tissue of the original piercing and they said it should be no problem. I decided to get the same (left) one done and it was no big deal. The pain was very minimal the second time around through the same skin and it looked great, just like the first piercing. I had several snags in healing this time. There were more crusties than the first time it seemed and the same anti-bacterial soap I used in the shower the first time stung a bit more. I had to soak the piercing in warm water to be able to twist the piercing around without it hurting so much. Eventually, healing started going ok for me. I was wise enough to wait almost a year this time to try to insert new jewelry, and I was able to do so just fine this time. I replaced the 14g ring with the same size barbell with little sp ikes on both ends, and it looked great, I thought.
Soon after I got new jewelry, I had to switch jobs; I was totally fed up with my direct supervisor and he was holding me back from a promotion in another department. My new job was a computer technician job that required me to move a bit more and lift PC's and components out of shipping packages and carry them across the room to the bench. I was bumping the piercing around and roughing it up because of the lifting and movement involved in the job. Also, the original reason I liked this particular piercing was because I didn't have to share it with anyone I didn't want; I had a feeling that people were seeing it through the shirts we had. I decided to remove it because I didn't want to reveal that part of myself to my co-workers.
Some time has passed since then. The skin has toughened up and healed fully around the piercing. Now that I'm working in a position that I've been in more than a year and plan on staying in for as long as I can, I've decided to get my nipples pierced again (both this time!). I would rather not re-pierce through the same skin a third time, so I'm going to go for a vertical barbell though each nipple. Now I just need to get some money saved up and I'll be back a Jade Dragon for a third time. In closing, I just want to say that overall I think its a great piercing to have and I wish I could have kept it all the way through because I'd be able to have much larger jewelry in by now. Wish me luck on my third attempt!