A few weeks ago I was hanging out at the studio, like I normally do at least one weekend night. College Park, Maryland is the location of the campus of University of Maryland. Therefore, it's a pretty shitty college town, with a pretty shitty Tattoo/Piercing studio in it. But the main difference about Artistic Ink are the two people that work there. Sean is a great piercer/modifier and Paul is an excellent tattooist, not to mention that both of them are great guys. So anyways, they're friends so I usually go and keep them company some nights.
At A Glance Author K.O.M Contact mdiener@wam.umd.edu IAM K.O.M Artist Sean Phillips Studio Artistic Ink Location College Park, MD Back to the story at hand; at the end of the night, Paul decided that he wanted to get vertical nipple piercings behind his horizontal ones. I watched Sean pierce him, and this rekindled my own desire to get my nipples pierced. I've flirted with the idea of having them pierced on and off over the past few years. But right then and there I decided that I really wanted to go through with it.
So next Tuesday rolls around. I had decided that previous weekend that Tuesday would be D-day. I called up a good friend of mine, and as we had previously discussed, decided to go together to Artistic Ink. I won't lie, I hate to get pierced. Some people say they like the feeling of getting pierced, but not me. I absolutely hate it. I cringe when I think of the feeling of the sharp needle going through my skin. Ah well, it's the price of being a living work of art, right? Anyways, needless to say, I was pretty damn nervous. The look of pain on Paul's face when he got pierced scared the living crap out of me. So I decided, "Hmmmm...what can I do to aleve the scaredness? I know...I'll get them pierced bigger than Paul's. At 8!!"
That wasn't really what I thought. But I wanted to get them pierced at 8, nevermind the extra pain. I'm a fan of large piercings, and I don't really see myself getting another piercing started at smaller than an 8.
Anyways, so I was nervous and sort of didn't want to go through with it, but once I get it in my head that I want something done, I do it. Probably around 5:30 or so we walk up the stairs into the main area of Artistic Ink. I say high to Sean and Paul and then tell Sean that I want to get my nipples pierced. He gives me a strange look because it's the first time I've been pierced since hanging out with them, but then goes to set up his stuff. I tell him that I want it done at 8 gauge cause I'm "tuff" and he agrees.
A few minutes later I'm sitting on his gyn table with my shirt off. My friend is watching through the gaps in the flash wall, I don't know why!! I'll skip over describing the marking and that type of stuff because it's boring. So, he clamps my left nipple first. Owww! That hurt. I start doing breathing exercises. In and out. In and out. I exhale and he pushes the needle through. Owwww! It hurt. Pretty bad. But not as bad as I expected. Definitely not the most painful procedure I've went through with. Now comes the right nipple. The second piercing usually hurts more for me. He clamps it and I start deep breathing again. The needle goes through the second nipple. Owwwww! I breathed a sigh of relief cause I knew the painful part of my night was over.
Sean cleaned me off. I chilled for a bit to make sure I wasn't lightheaded or anything like that. Actually it was the least lightheaded I've ever felt after a procedure. I remember that I felt like I was walking on air after I had gotten my chest tattooed. I felt fine after the nipple piercings. Sean told me for aftercare, and I quote "do whatever works for you." I wouldn't recommend to have this said to anyone that doesn't see or keep in almost daily contact with his or her piercer, but I see Sean all the time.
For aftercare, I've been trying something different. I'm using herbal soaks as my method of cleaning/healing. I make a tea consisting of Lavender, Red Clover and Arnica. I put a little bit in a plastic cup, then microwave it for about 21 second. That gets it good and hot, but not scalding. I then recline in my computer chair and form a seal with the cup and the area around my nipple. 10 minutes soaking each nipple (microwaving it for 8 seconds in between nipples to get it hot again). So far it's been a week and a half and my nipples are getting into the lymphing/crusty phase. This is pretty good for me, I'm a bad healer, so I hope the tea soak is working.
That's about it, though I guess there is one more thing to say. I bled a bunch the day after I got pierced, which isn't a surprise because I'm a bleeder and it is a large gauge piercing. So if you're interested in getting your nipples done this big, or bigger, I would suggest maybe having some "Stop Bleed" (which they sell at the BMEshop) if you mind bleeding the next day. I had to go to school, and since I didn't want to be bleeding there I used some. It works well, although it stings. That's about it for my experience. I have shiny new 4 gauge CBR's waiting, so I'll write another experience about getting those in, when I do.