I just turned 18, and after getting my navel pierced on my 18th birthday, I played with the thought of getting my nipples pierced, but in the back of my mind knew that I couldn't actually go through with it. (My best friend told me getting her nipples pierced was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life.) My boyfriend was totally in favor of the idea, but I was just too afraid of the pain. Also, the place where I got my navel pierced wasn't too grand...they didn't even have an autoclave I believe, and it just didn't seem like a professional enough piercing environment. If I was ever to get my nipples pierced, I decided that I definetly wouldn't get them done there.
At A Glance Author Eryn Contact eryn@eboarding.net When A month ago Artist Joe Studio Sachs Location Albuquerque, NM About a month later, the idea started surfacing in my mind again. After looking at tons of pictures on BME, I really started to like the way barbells in nipples looked. And the fact that I found a piercing place that I really liked (Sachs...the people there are super duper nice and professional) helped to really open me up to the idea. This seemed like a major piercing to me, so I decided it wasn't going to be something I'd jump into. I read every experience on BME that I could and read up on other sites. I spent a few more weeks thinking about it, and it came down to the point where the only thing that was stopping me was the fear of the pain. My roommate told me, "If you're that afraid of the pain, then you shouldn't do it." I had to consider this thought for a long time.
One day, as my boyfriend left for work, I said to him, "Let's go tonight and get my nipples pierced," just to see how he'd react. He totally wanted me to go and get it done that night. For the next few hours, I read and re-read all the experiences on bme. When my boyfriend got home, he wanted to go right away, but I was so nervous that I kept delaying. He told me if I didn't do it then, that I never would, so we left to go do it.
I got to the piercing place and did the normal fill-out paperwork stuff, decided on barbells, paid, and waited a bit for the piercer (Joe) to set up. He called me back into the little piercing room and was still setting up his stuff. I was so scared at this point that I don't think I could see straight. Finally he asked me to take my shirt off and cleaned my nipples with some iodine, I think it was. He showed me the length of barbells he was going to have to use: 5/8", which is quite a bit bigger than I'd prefer, but necessary for proper healing. He put the clamp on my right nipple, which I didn't think hurt, and did the breathe in and out thing, and pierced the right one. I thought it hurt just a tad bit more than my navel (which wasn't bad at all), but when he pulled the needle through, that was a little bit more painful. I didn't even feel him put the barbell in. He asked me if I wanted to wait to do the second one, and I told him maybe just for a minute. And aft er probably less than a minute, I told him he better just do it or I'd chicken out. So I breathed in...and then out...and felt the worst pain I'd ever felt in my entire life. It was so terrible because he had trouble getting the needle to poke through the exit hole and then pulling the needle through was excrutiating. I kinda sat there in shock for a second after he was done. He told me to take care of them pretty much how I took care of my navel, and just to follow the aftercare instructions on the sheet they gave me. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn't believe what I'd done...the barbells seemed so much bigger than I'd expected. I didn't bleed at all. I put my shirt back on, thanked Joe, tipped him big time, and left.
When I got home, I put a bra on, which my boobs liked, and they only hurt a tiny bit for a few hours after that. I grew to really really like my new piercings over the next few weeks. I don't even have a problem anymore with the size of the barbells. I haven't had any problems with them. I clean them twice a day with saline solution or dial when I'm in the shower, and do salt soaks every other day.
It's kinda exciting to have piercings that people don't know about...it's my lovely little secret.
I don't intend to scare anyone away from piercing their nipples, if you want them badly enough, the pain is completely worth it, as I'm sure you've heard before.
Lastly, if anyone out there is from Albuquerque (I know we're few and far between), I totally recommend Sachs and especially Joe for a piercing. Aside from being a great, professional, super-duper nice piercer, he's really cute!!!