A few years ago, when I was around 15, I decided to pierce my left nipple. Of course, I did everything that people are told not to. First of all, although I pierced it with a sewing needle, I left a SAFETY PIN, that's right, a safety pin, in the piercing to keep it open. I pierced it too far back, did not keep a bandage over it, and allowed dirt and sweat into the piercing. Needless to say, it was infected within days and had to be removed, leaving two beautiful little dots of scar tissue on the sides of my nipple.
At A Glance Author hervoicehaslife Contact hervoicehaslife@bme.anon When It just happened Location New York City
As much as I'd always loved nipple rings, I swore to myself that I'd never pierce mine again. It seemed like too much pain, work, etc. and frankly, I wasn't ready to take care of it that well.
Well, along came eighteen. The freedom to go out and get piercings legally, without having to do them myself as an immature teenager with a safety pin would. My best friend, who had had her tongue pierced when she was sixteen but had since removed it, wanted to re-pierce her tongue, and invited me along to hold her hand. It truly was not until I was in the shop I decided to go along with getting my nipple done. I guess it was watching the procedure of her tongue piercing that inspired me. I'd always imagined a tongue piercing to be difficult and painful, considering it's a muscular piecing. But I held her hand and watched as the needle slipped easily through her tongue, followed by the barbell she had selected. It all seemed a little too easy, but watching the piercing made my adrenaline flow. I craved the "piercing-feeling" again, and decided to go along with getting mine done.
I informed the piercing artist, a young looking, tattooed guy, that I would like to get my nipple pierced. Before anything else, my best friend helped me to select a piece of jewelery for it; a curved barbell [like an open hoop, similar to what could be placed in a Septum] with two balls on the ends. I slipped into the chair a bit nervously, but smiled and laughed off my nervousness, which I figured stemmed from anticipation.
I was made to pull down my shirt and bra to expose the breast. The piercing artist played around with my nipple for a minute or so, to make sure it was hard enough to be pierced. He took out a blue, fine point felt-tip marker and marked off tiny dots on both sides [as would any piercing artist, with any piercing; I've seen this before with my earrings]. Luckily for me, on his first try, the dots were exactly lined up and where I wanted them to be placed. He dipped a Q-Tip in iodine solution and covered the area to be affected with a thin layer of it. At this point my heart began to race with the anticipation, fueled by the fact that he was beginning to open the sterile packet and remove the needle with which I would be pierced. I grabbed for my best friend's hand and she smiled a reassuring smile at me, telling me it wouldn't hurt as bad as when I did it myself. [Here I might mention that we had both pierced our nipples ourselves when we were fifteen, and although hers did not get infected, mine was a terrible allergic reaction. I'd suggest against piercing yourself to anyone. Not to mention the pain of self-piercing, unless you KNOW what you're doing, is nearly unbearable. Don't do it- get it pierced professionally.]
He clamped off my nipple and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to watch the needle going through. I held my best friend's hand, and... one, two, three... it was over. I must say that putting in the jewelery was more painful than the piercing itself, considering that the piercing was straight through, whereas the jewelery was curved and needed to be placed in at a strange angle. Nevertheless, within twenty seconds the entire procedure was complete. I was informed that I had to wear a bandage over it for at least two hours, that I could not play around with it without washing my hands under ANY circumstances, that my boyfriend could not touch the area for 10-20 days, that I should clean it at least twice per day with Peroxide and an antiseptic solution [I use Bactine because it has an antiseptic and an anesthetic, Lidocaine], and that I should move the jewelery slowly from side to side once or twice a day, especially for the first week, to prevent healing with the jewelery embedded in once place.
I must say that from this experience I learned not only that professional piercings, even of a nipple, hurt a lot less than most people would expect, but also that proper care for a piercing requires much work. Therefore I'd only suggest a nipple ring to people who are truly willing to care for and clean their new piercing diligently. However, if you're ready for a new experience, a nipple ring is a great first step into the world of body modification.