Before reading, I'd like to caution everyone to check out the studio before getting pierced. If it looks sketchy, LEAVE! Don't be stubborn like me!
At A Glance Author Mini K Contact Mini K@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Don't remember (sorry!) Studio can't say Location Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Back in November 2002, I decided on a whim to get my nipple pierced. I searched all over for a shop that would do it, and that was on the cheap side (I'm a starving student!).
I finally found one that said on it's website that it would do it for $35, jewelry included, so the very next day I went to the shop with one of my roommates and looked around.
It was painted all black, and people were smoking all over the place in the very confined area. I told the girl behind the counter with the cigarette in her mouth what I wanted, a horizontal nipple piercing. Immediately, she snorted and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, dear?" she said, sarcastically.
I said "yes, I'm sure."
So she shrugged and said "Ok it's your tits! That'll be $48.50."
It turns out that with tip and tax that the price advertised was almost $15 more! Whatever, I was impatient and stubborn, so I paid the money.
Then I figured out that this was the girl who would pierce me, and I got a little scared, especially when she said that she "just needed to go have a smoke, and she'd be right in!"
She finally comes in, and asks what kind of barbell I wanted. I said that I didn't really mind, could I see some? And she says "well we don't have any actually!"
O.K. Sure.
So I ended up with a cute little SSS 14g CBR with a blue jewel bead. Everything was relatively clean, but what I didn't like was that the guys in the shop kept wandering back to try and peek through the curtain to see me!! So she finally sent everyone up to the front and told me to take off my top and bra.
That was a little hard because my roommate was there, but I did it and she cleaned me up.
She warned me again that this piercing was VERY painful, and was I sure I could handle it. I was getting kind of annoyed so I said "yeah I've had more painful piercings than this, this is nothing!" She looked at me skeptically and asked which piercing I had. I told her "I have a VCH!" and she looked at me like "yeah right" but shrugged again and got started.
She put the clamp on, and then without even warning me, shoved the needle right through! Luckily for all concerned, I was already holding my friend's hand, and besides it hurt no more than my ears. Still, I thought that it was a bit unethical to just do it without telling me!
So she puts in the ring, and tightens the ball. I just got up silently, put on my shirt, and walked out to the front again. The guys out there were all asking questions like "did it hurt? I didn't hear any screaming!" and so forth. I just looked at them, took an aftercare sheet and the shop's card, and left. I didn't even tip the girl; I felt she didn't deserve it for what she did to me.
When I got back to residence, I immediately took off my shirt to inspect it, and WHEW! It was straight, and wasn't bleeding, hurting, swelling or pussing at all.
I washed it with Spectro Jel, warm water and a Q-tip twice a day (just like my clit piercing) and it was going rather well. It got crusty a lot, but I read that that's normal for nipples, so I didn't worry. It never gave me pain, except once when I caught my brush on it.
Now it's January, and the results of getting pierced in a dirty studio are showing. It still hasn't completely healed! I thought it had, and put a new horseshoe barbell in with little blue cones on either end.
That went fine until I put a bra on for more than 3 hours, and I got the little cones embedded in my boob! "Oh well," I thought, "I'll just pull it out."
Big mistake! It immediately started gushing blood, and hurting a LOT! That was a few days ago, and there's still some blood around the metal, and it hurts to move the barbell.
I guess the moral of the story is: if you can't afford a piercing, don't go to a cheaper place! Save up the money, and go to a reputable, clean shop to get it done, even if you have to wait a few weeks for it. In the end, it's worth it to save your health!
Also, for anyone who needs to hide this piercing from their parents, I found that putting a bandaid over it, with the padded part on the ring, hides it really well! Before I figured this out, you could see the ring REALLY clearly through my shirts, and I had to go home for Christmas break!
Good luck everyone!