All that I really wanted for my 16th birthday was permission from my parents to get my septum pierced. They thought about it (I even promised to dye my hair a normal colour) but they still refused. Fortunately, the following Friday after my birthday, we got a day off school. My friends and I decided to head down to Toronto, and do some shopping, possibly even get something pierced. My best friend's boyfriend, Randy was considering to get his other nipple pierced, while I wasn't even expecting much. Even the weather matched my mood, it was raining, and cold; I was still bitter about my birthday, obviously.
At A Glance Author red.ivee Contact red_ivee@hotmail.com When Three months ago Artist Sandy Studio Abstract Location Toronto My friend Ben told me about a tattoo studio where his friend got his septum pierced, he told me it was clean and the people seemed pretty nice. It was close to the store that my friends and I were at, so I decided to search for it. Walking for a block and a bit, I was beginning to lose hope, but I found the place! I was actually really excited. I got back to where my friends were, and told them to come with me. Just about everyone knew (except for my parents, of course) that I've wanted my nipples pierced ever since I started high school, which was around the same time that I stumbled across the BME web site.
I walked into the tattoo studio, not knowing what to really expect, I saw a guy covered in tattoos sitting at the font desk. At this point, I was getting nervous, mostly because I didn't want to be turned away due to my age. I approached the desk, with my friends following behind me and asked the man, "Would I be able to get my nipples pierced here?" immediately followed by, "I'm sixteen though.". I was expecting the man to say no, but he told me that as long as I have some type of photo identification proving that I'm sixteen, that it'd be allright. He told me to just wait until the piercer got back. I didn't know whether it was a guy or a girl, but it didn't bother me. Smiling, flipping through the piercer's portfolio, I was waiting for the piercer arrive. My friends kept commenting on how crazy I was, and could not believe that I was actually going to go through with this.
The piercer finally got back from her break, I was relieved to see that it was a woman. Her name was Sandy, she was quite nice. I filled out the form, asked her some questions, she checked my id, "Now, who wants to come with me?". Kristin and Taryn both told me that they'd rather not. Randy told me that he would, but he'd feel a bit weird about it, considering that I'm not his girlfriend, which was understandable. Therefore, I was to go ALONE.
Sandy led me to a small room, and talked to me about the procedure for a bit, as she prepared everything. This was my first piercing, aside from my ears, and scrumper (which I pierced myself, but that's another experience). I was definitely nervous! I was sitting topless, in front of a complete stranger, as she's putting on a pair of clean, blue gloves. She measures my nipple to get a good sized captive ring for it, and marks a little dot on either side. To disinfect the area, she smears on some orange/brown/red goo on the right nipple. I hated the smell of that stuff, it smelled kind of sweet, yet not too appealing to me at all. Breathing in and out slowly, as she put the clamps on, I was still contemplating in my mind whether I should really do this or not. But it was too late to back out now! I felt a bit of pressure, and a slight sharp pain: my first nipple was pierced! She slid the needle out skillfully while the ring followed. She used the clamps the close the ring so it would hold the bead in place firmly. I couldn't feel much at this point, but I was happy to hear her say that the first nipple was done. She cleaned the smelly stuff off of it, and asked me if I still wanted the second one pierced. I was surprised about how calm I was "Yes, do the other one too". Sandy changed her gloves again, and the same procedure was taken to pierce my left nipple. Since I knew what to expect, I was not as worried. Everything went great! We put some gauze on my nipples temporarily to prevent irritation when I walk. I put my bra and shirt back on, then took a deep sigh of relief! Sandy went over the aftercare instructions with me, and gave me a pamphlet on it. The whole procedure took about an hour. I paid her with the last bit of my summer job money, and thanked her. Before I left the place, I found Taryn and Kristin still sitting, patiently waiting for me (Randy went off somewhere) I showed them one of my nipples, peeling back the gauze slightly, just to prove that I actually pierced them.
We headed back into the cold misty weather, thankfully it stopped raining by that time. We found Randy, and then quickly stopped at Mcdonald's to get something to eat. I ate a plain chicken sandwich on our way back to the GO station. We ran to catch the train, but unfortunately we missed it, just to see the doors close right in front of us! It was definitely not the best day ever: Randy didn't even get around to getting something pierced, Kristin had a family dinner to go to, and Taryn hurt her ankle that day. Everyone but me was in a really crappy mood. We sat around for the next train to come. Finally, the day came to an end.
My aftercare instructions:
- Don't snag them on anything!
- Try to do sea salt soaks twice a day, for the first... Week (lazy)
- No baths for the first month (I did anyway)
- Don't neglect cleaning them
A couple months later:
I'm happy that I pierced my nipples. But if I would have given it more thought, I probably would have waited until I was older. They're almost fully healed now, and I find that they don't hurt at all. I was very lucky to be able to read other experiences on BME, before I got mine pierced. But every experience is different!
I still want my septum pierced, but I'm going to wait until I get more money. Also, one of my next projects are to pierce my cleavage... hopefully. Anything that my parents wont see.