For most of my life I could never understand nipple piercings. I didn't understand why someone would want to inflict that kind of pain on their poor nipples. Then eventually it became "Well, if I would ever get my nipples pierced, which I wouldn't, I'd probably only get one." Then it became "Hm.. getting one nipple pierced shouldn't be too bad." Then "Why just go with one? They'll look unbalanced with just one."
At A Glance Author Meghan Contact kimbiasrose@aol.com When Six months ago Artist I always forget his name! Sorry =( Studio Bayside Ink Location New Jersey My last piercing was an industrial back in September (But it feels like I've lived my entire life with it) and it was now January. I was getting the worst urge to get something pierced. I briefly considered a hood piercing, but ultimately decided against it and I can't even remember why. In my head I was going through a list of where on my body I could get pierced "Ears? Nah. Tongue? I'll be kicked out of my house. Lip? Annoying anti-facial piercings at work. Navel? Meh. ... nipples? Hmm.." After that my mind was set.
I knew my friend had wanted to get her navel redone (I'm pretty sure it rejected the first time) so I suggested that we go at the same time. It was settled. That Saturday (2 days away) we were going to get pierced. I was so excited. And nervous. I also chose to get them done horizontally, I thought it would suit me better than vertically. And I wanted barbells as opposed to CBRs. I believe that barbells look better on girls with chests that are on the larger side.
For some reason I completely spaced on making an appointment with the piercer so my friend, her boyfriend, and I showed up at the studio on Saturday appointmentless. After wondering if I was gunna chicken out for about half an hour, we finally told them we wanted to get pierced today. They told us they'd call their piercer in (Piercing is his second job. I think he only comes in when called or when he has appointments). So we mill around looking at the tattoos and the jewelry. I kept saying "I really wanna do this. I do. But I can see myself chickening out." I was feeling a combination of nervous and anxious. So he finally comes in like half an hour later (He said he'd be in 10 minutes after he was called). He asked what we're getting pierced. My friend told him navel. Then he looks at me and I look at him with a kind of "deer in headlights" look. So he starts to guess "Navel?" No "Eyebrow?" No "Nipples?" .. uh.. yeah! Nipples. He just laughed at me and asked if I was gettin g one or two. Two.
We fill out our papers. My friend goes in to get pierced first. I was fascinated watching, but it was making her nervous so I had to stop looking. Then it was my turn. I kicked her boyfriend out of the room and had her stay. Another person who worked in the studio had to be there for some legal reason. They explained it, and it made sense.. I just don't remember what it was. The both of them were joking around with us. It was really making me feel better, which of course was their point, but I appreciated it anyway. I had to go into the bathroom that's connected to the room and take off my bra and shirt, der, then put on a surgical gown backwards. The point of the gown was I guess so I didn't have to be half naked the whole time and could be covered up when he wasn't poking at them.
He looks for a little while I'm sitting. Then makes me stand up. Then marks me up and tells me to look in the mirror. All good to me. So he had me sit down.. and I made my friend hold my hand. Then the clamps.. they didn't necessarily hurt. Just caused discomfort. But nothing I couldn't handle. He kept asking if I was okay, and I kept reassuring him I was fine. Then he told me not to look and take a deep breath in.. then out.. pierce! All that came out of my mouth was a little "Ow.." He did the left one first and told me that the right one is probably going to hurt more. I said I did my homework on the piercings and I knew. Well, he tells me not to look again and deep breath in.. then out.. pierced again! I say "Okay that one hurt." But it still wasn't anything I couldn't handle. He had left the needles in my nipples, then got the jewelry. Told me not to watch that either, and I obeyed. Honestly, I have to say the worst part is having the jewelry put in. For me, it hurt more than getting pierced. But.. it was not excruciating pain. Then there was a little set back when he was putting the jewelry in on my right nipple, he caught some skin while screwing the ball on. I never would have known if he didn't say it. I look down and go "Oh.. I'm bleeding." I was bleeding because the skin got caught, but since I didn't feel that I didn't care much about bleeding. Didn't last long either. Everything's all done. I get back into my bra and shirt. The two guys there kept asking if I was okay. I told them I was perfectly fine, but they kept asking anyway. My friend and I chat with the piercer for a few minutes, she paid for hers, I paid for mine (And remembered to tip!) then we were out of there.
Let me tell you.. for me, getting them done in winter was a good choice. Because then there's plenty of time for them to heal before you start to go swimming in pools. The only "bad" thing was for a day or two afterwards whenever I got a chill from the cold weather, there would be some pain. Actually, I shouldn't say pain.. because I wasn't sure if it felt bad or good ;D
I'm trying to remember other things that you might want to know about. I was sleeping on my stomach the second night, they never bothered my sleeping patterns. It's more comfortable to sleep in a bra or sports bra, but I can sleep fine without one. That goes for when I first got them done and now. I was a bad girl with my cleaning, though. I cleaned them daily with Dial, but I never did salt soaks. And now, five months later, they aren't exactly happy. But it's nothing terrible. There hasn't been any sign of migration or rejection.
The fleeting pain of getting pierced is definitely worth it. Just like how I feel as if I've had my industrial my whole life, I can't imagine that I haven't always had my nipples pierced. I love them. Not to mention, it's great to have two little secrets under your shirt. And no one will know unless you tell them.. or wear a tight shirt without a bra, haha.
Oh, and I almost forgot. I've heard you can lose feeling, that didn't happen with me. Sensitity went up. I also heard that you can't breast feed with pierced nipples, but that's not true. You can. A friend of mine described breast feeding with the holes from a nipple piercing as a "sprinkler effect." Two extra holes for the milk to come out :)
If you are thinking about getting it done, I say go for it. I thought I was going to chicken out, and now I can't picture myself without them. You could be missing out on something excellent!