Well here I am, sat writing this missive, with a ring through my right nipple and a bandage over it. I never thought I would do it!
At A Glance Author Sunil Contact sunil.patel@soton.ac.uk When It just happened Artist ? Studio Asgard Piercing and Tattooing Studios Location Bargate, Southampton, UK It all started when I saw this guy down at the pool with a nipple ring and thought it looked pretty cool. On a whim I thought "I wonder what it would be like if I got one done".
That evening I looked at myself in the mirror imagining what it could look like, choosing which side I would do and also found these forums where I read as much as I could - particularly the "how much does it hurt?" and "aftercare" questions.
I searched the Yellow Pages for the nearest Tattoo place and came up with "Asgard Body Piercing and Tattooing" in the Bargate Shopping Centre, Southampton. I decided to go along with them since you can't afford to have a "dodgy, dirty side-street parlour" if you have a shop unit in the Bargate Centre (expensive, posh mall).
I seemed to be in a half daze as I walked down into the town centre, thinking if I really wanted to do this or not. My doubts vanished as I was doing this all on a whim, plus I had phoned the place up earlier and didn't want to end up cowardly turning back. I had managed to completely rope myself in.
I found the place, went in, said what I wanted, signed the form and paid - there was no going back now. In a few minutes I was called into a small room.
There, the girl carefully/gently walked me through the process. First, I took my top off, then chose which side (voted on the right - I only wanted one) then she marked where the ring was to go. It was all very clean (plastic sealed, new needle and new latex gloves).
Next, I lay down while she clamped my right nipple and put some very cold gel on to numb the area. It was cold and together with nerves I started breathing quickly. I didn't want to watch the needle (I don't like needles) so I stared straight up at the ceiling, with an "OK?", I braced and she went ahead and I felt the needle going through. With clenched jaw and fists, there was a brief shooting pain, the needle was through – quicker than I expected. I felt her putting the ring through (I was still staring straight up) and that was it.
I asked her before hand how much it hurt and she replied "I won't lie to you – it does hurt quite a lot". She was right, it did hurt but then the sharp pain lasted only a second, no more. She seemed surprised and pleased that I didn't yell out or scream or panic "as quite a lot of men do" she said, I don't know if she was just being nice or if this was in fact true (I like to think I was brave!).
The worst thing about the whole experience was the sound I heard when the needle was going through. Indescribable it kept on replaying in my head afterwards and made me feel sick. I really do wish I hadn't heard it, really, really do. I tried as best I could to put it out of my mind – but that is one sound I'm going to remember for a long, long time. It still makes me cringe!
With the piercing done and the ring through I sat up, and gingerly looked at myself in the mirror and thought wow (as well as ouch!). It was like I imagined it but strangely different. I felt happy and knew that as long as nothing went horribly wrong (eg. infection) I wouldn't regret my "whim". I put my loose t-shirt back on, ready to leave as quickly as I had arrived.
Although the worst was over, I still had quite a pain in my chest and felt my whole right side tingling. I think I started going into a sort of delayed light shock as I suddenly began to feel very faint and dizzy as though I was about to pass out. Luckily, I managed to get outside and sat down on a bench and took some deep breaths. After about 5 minutes I felt better and managed to walk to the bus stop. It was painful though. Despite the bandage she had applied, on every step I felt a jolt of pain through my right pectoral. I managed to get on the bus, back home and lay down and went to sleep.
Several hours later, the pain has now completely gone. I can walk properly and have cleaned my nipple ring with witch hazel and unstuck it (from the healing scabs). Although it's been only about five hours since I was pierced, I'm very happy with it. I can now join the 1 or so percent of people with a nipple ring. I can't wait for it to heal properly so I can get back on the running track. I know it will all be worth while when I get back in the pool and surprise everyone (I haven't told anyone what I've done yet!).
For a long while I am going to be walking around with a huge grin on my face just knowing that I have something very special, hiding just under the thin fabric of my t-shirt.
Thanks for reading.
Sunil
FIN