My first piece of advice for anyone who reads this: do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, get your nipples pierced in the middle of the coldest month of a Minnesota winter. It's just not smart, and I speak from experience.
At A Glance Author a-bird Contact a-bird@bme.anon IAM a-bird When Three months ago Artist Jim Sens Studio st. sabrina's Location minneapolis Anyway, here's the whole story. It had only been a few weeks since I got my septum pierced and yet I was already jonesin' for a new piercing. It was winter break and I didn't really have anything exciting to show for it but I even surprised myself when I decided on getting my nipples pierced because according to me, just a few months ago, "I could never do that." And whenever someone mentioned nipple piercings my face would scrunch up in an expression of pain and discomfort. And yet I had suddenly decided that I wanted my nipples pierced. I just thought there was something sexy about the way they subtly showed through a tight shirt and could sort of be kept as your little secret. Originally I thought about waiting until it warmed up (since January in Minnesota isn't exactly balmy weather) but my mind was made up and once my mind is made up there's little you can do to stop me. So I headed over to Saint Sabrina's to talk to Jim about it. Now, Jim is my piercer and for sure one of the best there is. He had already done my ears at a six gauge and my perfectly straight septum and he always made me feel as comfortable and relaxed as one can feel before having pieces of metal shoved through their flesh. So, for me finding a piercer wasn't even an issue and, as it turns out, it's a lucky thing I had a good one.
I tell Jim I want to get my nipples pierced and he's visibly excited about the chance to work on me again. We always have a lot of fun joking and smoking and telling stories. He tells me he usually recommends starting with barbells even though rings are less expensive. I tell him I like the rings more myself, and he says that because I'm small-chested and don't tend to wear a bra they should work out fine. I make an appointment for the next night, chat with some of the people there and go home super excited. The night gave me plenty of time to read experiences and look at pictures and resist the urge to tell my boyfriend (I wanted it to be a surprise) as well as get a good night's sleep before the ordeal. Unfortunately it also gave the butterflies in my stomach a time to multiply. By the next evening, armed with high blood sugar and the Nine Inch Nails version of "Get Down Make Love" I was ready to go.
I got to the shop Jim and I hugged our greetings and he started picking out jewelry for me as I filled out the requisite paperwork; initialing here, signing there, reading the aftercare and relinquishing my id for them to copy for the millionth time, all the while getting more nervous. Finally it was time to pay and as Jim motioned for me to come on back I turned to the counter person and asked "why do I make such silly choices?" All they could do was chuckle.
At this point the actual piercing procedure is pretty typical. I took off my shirt, Jim and I laughed and set our minds to not feeling awkward about it. He swabbed me down (chilly, tingly goodness) and marked and cocked his head to the side to get a better look and remarked and tried to get me to stand still so he could get it straight. All this while changing his gloves about every 30 seconds, as any good piercer will do. Then it was time to lay back and let Jim just take control (the hardest part for me). He clamped the first one (uncomfortable) held the needle to one end, told me to relax as I clenched the table and started instructing my breathing. "Deep breath in and exhale. Another really deep breath in and....exhale." And on the exhale, in goes the needle (ouch) but soon the jewelry is in, the bead is on the ring and Jim is wiping a little blood off. No problem, right? On to the right side.
Now I know from my ears that the second one is always worse. Jim asks how I'm doing and I reply that I'm fine but know the second time hurts more. "How do you know that?" he asks.
"You told me, silly, when you did my ears."
"oh yeah, well, let's get it done then." So on go the clamps (again, not too fun), the command to relax, the breathing and in goes the needle. But this time OUCH. BIG OUCH. And I made the mistake of looking down at the needle stabbed through my poor, unsuspecting nipple and the little trickle of blood. It's like being on a high cliff, you're never supposed to look down. But soon the jewelry was in and I was struggling into my shirt while Jim told me about aftercare and asked if I was doing alright or had any last questions. Our hug goodbye was a little more ginger and I made my way home to show my boyfriend. He loved them (of course) but that night was one of the more painful nights in recent memory. The piercing itself was ok but the aftermath was pretty terrible.
Anyway, this part of the story is pretty mundane, sea salt soaks, cleaning the rings, flashing everyone I knew, wearing a soft tank top all the time to cut down on painful rubbing the usual. But then about two weeks after the piercing I notice that the right one isn't really in its original place. One side of the ring has seemed to slowly move down a bit, creating more of a cut than a piercing. So I up my cleanings to three times a day and go see Jim as soon as I can. He agrees that it's moved a bit too much but I should be extra kind to it for a week or so and hope it settles down and then come see him again. So I clean it and baby it and pamper it to the utmost of my abilities and still no improvement. The next weekend comes and Jim tells me we'll have to take it out and REPIERCE it free of charge after giving it a chance to heal. So out comes my ring and immediately it seems healed (funny how fast your body can fix itself when there's no jewelry in the way). The n ext month is spent monitoring my healing nipples and counting down to the date we set to repierce it.
Finally the day was here! And I returned to Saint Sabrina's ready but not so bright-eyed or bushy tailed. Jim and I went through the motions and first he changed the left side to a barbell before getting ready to repierce the right side. It was harder to just go ahead and do it when I knew how much it was going to hurt but I longed for my symmetry so I just bit the bullet. This second time around I was very tired so everything seemed to go in slow motion. The pain of the piercing itself was dulled and Jim and I just sort of worked together like clock work. Anyway, I could tell that getting the needle through the scar tissue left from the initial pierce was difficult and I bled a whole lot more. Afterwards Jim just held a piece of gauze to my nipple while we talked. Getting pierced while I was already tired just wiped me out and I went home and slept for hours. When I woke up I had bled through my shirt and my nipple was throbbing. All in the name of body modificati on.
Now it's been about five months and things are looking up. My nipples have definitely been the hardest piercings to heal and they still lymph and get crusty and I still have to take the time to clean them. Jim and I have gotten them through some cranky times and there are brighter days ahead now. I guess my take home message from all of this is a couple of things. First don't go and get a piercing without thinking about it first. Make sure to consider how much of a time and energy commitment it's going to be to take care of it and heal it properly. Also, make sure you know that even if you do everything right, the piercing may reject or not heal correctly. Last, but probably most importantly, is your piercer. Make sure you have a good one, not only one that is reputable and professional (though those things are of the utmost importance) but one that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. A person that you can not only take your shirt off in front of but one that wo n't make you feel awkward or silly about it and one that'll walk you through the process and be readily available if you need anything. So, Jim I'm an extremely lucky girl to be able to call you my piercer and my friend. Here's to many more fun times in that little room we both know so well. Many more hugs and cigarettes. And remember-clear o-rings. Thanks for everything.
Oh yeah, and never get your nipples pierced in the middle of a Minnesota winter. brrr.