Where to begin? Before I had my nipples pierced I had only had my ears, cart and navel done plus two tattoos. My interest in body modification had mostly been involved with ink, but for some unknown reason I developed an interest in piercing- especially the rush you get straight after a piercing.
At A Glance Author BackyardBaby Contact BackyardBaby@bme.anon IAM BackyardBaby When Six months ago Artist Marina Studio The Australian Inkspot Location 145 Ryrie St., Geelong Victoria, Australia. I've never been into facial piercing or mods that others can see during every-day life, so getting my nipples pierced seemed like the natural thing to do. I'm very thorough when checking out something I want done so I went in and saw Marina from the Australian Inkspot a couple of times before I actually got pierced, as well as reading other people's experiences and looking at pictures on BME.
My first nipple was actually done by a chick called Tania, who I had never met before and because she worked for this studio I assumed she was good at her job. (I've had everything bar my lip piercing done at this place, including ink). Maybe it was because I was nervous, but I still have bad vibes from this piercing, possibly because I was not familiar with the piercer. I was stupid for going to get it done when I did, it was on the spur of the moment, I had a free period during my last year of high school one particular wednesday and had not really prepared myself which added to my nerves. The procedure was okay, I'm sure anyone who's had this done would agree that the clamp hurts more than the piercing itself, the piercing is relatively pain-free. Tania talked me through everything she was doing and did her best to relax me. There wasn't any bleeding with this, it was 14g and nothing dramatic happened at all except for the usual crustiness during the healing process and a little swelling.
I tell you what, nipples are great when they're newly pierced, I went to a concert two days later and you could feel the vibrations from the speakers!!! Fantastic...but not so good when the weather is particularly cold, be sure to wear a few layers!! :)
I went in for a two week check up, mentioned the swelling and found out that Tania had put in a barbell that was too short, so Marina switched it over (free of charge). I discussed my thoughts on getting the other one done and she gave me all the necessary information i.e about milk ducts, breastfeeding etc. All was fine and dandy so I made an appointment. An interesting fact to point out is that when a female's nipple is pierced in the majority of cases, the bar will go through the milk ducts which don't produce but secrete milk for breastfeeding. When they're pierced, the body will produce more of these ducts and they form around the actual piercing.
How clever is the human body??
I walked in three weeks later and got my left nip pierced. I don't know why but this hurt a bit more compared to the right one, who knows why (this might be too much detail for some readers but it is entirely relevant: Marina said that it might be because of my menstrual cycle, don't get pierced a week before you're due because you are extra-sensitive). There was also a lot of bleeding, during and after the procedure. I got the right-sized barbell this time too which was great. This nip healed a lot more quickly but was quite tender for a while, I was obsessive about following the aftercare - I applied triclosan twice a day for six weeks and then benzalkonium chloride twice a day for three weeks. I had to use aftercare other than tricoslan because although I was healing fine, it was taking a while so Marina gave me something not so harsh to use. I left the barbells in both nips for about five months and then thought about buying decorative jewellery.
I bought this great spike with little clear crystals around the base. The whole set-up was a bit dodgy though because it was from a market-stall at a music festival -( Australians would know The Big Day Out, I assume? ). I got it put on right there in the stall and was guaranteed that it was sterling silver. Three weeks later my right nipple became itchy, and nipples aren't very easy to scratch.
I went in and saw Marina. She confirmed that the spike was in fact sterling silver but the reaction may have been due to the piercing not having healed properly yet. I said "fair enough" and changed back over to the orignal barbell for a while. After letting the right nip settle down, I can now wear quite a variety of jewellery. I think I was just a little over-eager to change jewellery in the beginning and that was the reason for the reaction. Other than that, everything has been smooth sailing and I'd recommend this procedure to anyone.
Sorry, just another little note of interest for people with inverted nipples or semi-inverted. This procedure brings your nips out big-time and increases sensation dramatically, so it is very beneficial.