I am a 28 year-old MBA student in Cincinnati, OH. While I spend my days espousing the virtue of capitalism and free enterprise, I am a true rebel socialist at heart. What's the old adage? Oh yeah, fight the system from the inside. Part of my internal doctrine consists of equality, fairness, and the balance of power. As Plato said, no one should have more than four times the wealth of any other. But I digress, part of my rebellious nature lies in the fact that I have always loved body art.
At A Glance Author dangerboy Contact dangerboy45208@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist myself Studio home Location Cincinnati, OH To see me on the street, one would have no idea about my love for modifications. I sport my one self-designed tattoo on my shoulder, which is usually hidden under dress shirts, and for a while I wore my labret piercing at night after work (I got it pierced while living in Australia). That stopped after it was pointed out to me by my boss that the hole under my lip showed at work after I would take the ring out when I woke up in the morning.
I started my graduate business degree last week, and have felt the intense pressure to begin the process to conform. Although I know I never truly will conform to the Alexander Hamilton ideology of capitalism, the daily bombardment conservatism is rather daunting.
So I decided to pierce my nipple. Call it insignificant, but to me it is a life preserver back to the heart of my true convictions. Knowing that one has control over one's own body is one of the building blocks of self-determination, whether it's working out incessantly (which I am guilty of), or adorning the body with jewelry.
My first professional piercing experience (my labret) in Australia was not a great one. The piercer was obviously just starting out, and in the middle of the process switched needles because the gauge he chose (16g) was too small for my large bottom lip. So in the middle, he replaced that needle with a 14-gauge needle. This caused me a bit of anxiety during the procedure. Afterwards, I was really happy with the piercing, but the process made me fearful of novice piercers.
So I decided to pierce my nipple myself. I ordered a nipple self-piercing kit off of E-Bay. Upon getting the package in the mail, I was very excited, but a little scared. I had pierced my own ear before, but never any other body part. I spent a long time online reading other people's nipple piercing experiences, and I spent a long time looking a procedural pictures. I printed out a couple of crucial pictures, i.e. entrance/exit holes, and then set to work on preparation.
The kit came with a sterile needle in packaging, a clamp, and needle stopper, and two small 14-gauge circular barbells. In preparation, I had bought a bottle of iodine and some cotton balls. I spent some time icing down my nipple. The reason being that I had read in some stories that some people piercing themselves had their hands shake upon the first punch in, so I figured numbing the area would cause less of an anxious reaction (I think this was really good idea when piercing yourself alone at home).
I shaved the area around my right nipple and then cleaned the entire area with iodine. I took the clamp and set it around the base of my nipple. I thought about making dots with an EXPO marker, but I could see exactly where the needle should go in and come out. I opened the sterile needle package and quickly, quietly pushed it right through. It entered in right where I wanted to and I pushed it through halfway. I put the clamps down, and reached into the sealed package of jewelry. I pulled out one of the 14-gauge circular barbells and unscrewed one of the balls. I set the tip against the base of the needle, and pushed it right through.
It went in so smooth. There was a little bit of blood, but after a couple of dabs with cotton balls the bleeding stopped. I washed the entire area with some anti-bacterial soap, and dried it off with some more cotton balls. I twisted the balls of the circular barbell on, and then cleaned the region again with the anti-bacterial soap. All in all, the process took about twenty minutes. Ten minutes to ice down my nipple (IT WAS PURELY TO KEEP MY HAND FROM SHAKING, I'M REALLY NOT A WUSS!!!), and ten minutes to clean the area and complete the procedure.
I'm really impressed with how easy the entire process was, although the whole experience was absolutely exhilarating. I hope to do the other nipple soon (I figure my body will heal faster if it only has one piercing to deal with). Only time will tell to see what happens next with this external capitalist / internal socialist. Thanks for reading.