I had always thought that even ear rings on guys was a bit 'sissy' (how that opinion sure has changed!). Obviously my conservative upbringing and my career as a Naval Officer had a lot to do with this rather staid attitude. My interest in nipple piercings was pricked when I was about 30 years old after I had read an article in a 'gentlemen's magazine'. The article described the procedure and made much of the heightened sexual stimuli that was provided. The article included some good photographs. I think the sexual aspect of having a ring through one's nipples was what I found attractive. I dismissed the possibility of having my nipples pierced on three grounds: the Navy would forbid it, my wife would forbid it, and I was afraid of any pain whatsoever.
At A Glance Author Hoppy Contact Hoppy@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Andrew Studio Adrenalin Body Piercing Location Canberra, Australia About six years later my car needed new tyres and as I opened the telephone directory near the Ts the page opened at the section of "Tattooing". There I saw a very striking advertisement for "Adrenalin Body Piercing" here in Canberra. I saw that there was a web address so which I noted for checking later. I checked out the site (which also lead me to the BME site) and so begun my education into the world of body piercing.
I had just recently been divorced and so the first reason was removed. Perhaps this change in life situation and a desire to be a little rebellious got me to begin to seriously consider the option of obtaining some nipple rings. I had been in the Navy for 18 years and with only two years to go before I planned to retire, I was sure I could keep the rings 'secret'. Hence reason number two was now no more.
I had chatted to a friend about the my desire to get a nipple pierced and she confirmed my feeling that having both nipples pierced was a bit 'over the top' and that one was definitely sexy. I felt that the asymmetric look was also quite artistic. I have no idea but the left one seemed the obvious choice. (Afterwards I kept seeing guys at the local pool with just the left pierced and thought I had perhaps joined a 'club'?)
I called Andrew at Adrenalin and he answered my questions regarding cost and more importantly to me ... the pain. He said that it hurt about as much as a 'cripple nipple'; that technique were someone squeezes your nipple between thumb and forefinger ... for fun. I knew I could handle that. In the end he convinced me with the statement that "it was only a moment in your day."
I made an appointment for the next afternoon; which meant I had to worry about it for all of the next day. The fear and apprehension gradually built just as it does for me before an appointment with the dentist although I knew that I could just change my mind at any time and just forget the whole thing. I rang the doorbell at Adrenalin (located in a lovely home in a lovely suburb of Canberra) and was soon greeted by Andrew. I cannot say enough about how relaxing is Andrew's quiet spoken manner. He showed me the jewellery, discussed aftercare and had me sign the form.
I selected a 14 Ga CBR made from 18 carat (I think) gold but to keep the price down I selected a titanium bead. Andrew explained that his normal aftercare solution (Betadine Surgical Scrub) would stain the gold so I had to use a different type (Medishield T). After paying I was ushered into the room where I nervously removed my shirt. I am sure he could tell I was very nervous caused he asked me lots of questions (with his soft calming voice) about my work, interests and where I had heard about his establishment, while he made all the preparations.
I was told to lie down on the table and he placed the clamp on my nipple. I had read that this has been unpleasant for many BME contributors but I experienced no discomfort at all. I was pretty nervous about the pain to come so this was nothing. I had also read that the piercing would take place during one of my exhalations so when he asked me to take some deep breathes and think of something nice I was pretty nervous about letting the breathes out again.
If I am sounding like a big baby then now you know me better. In - out, In - out WHAMMO! The breathe came out of my mouth in one long whoosh! Although not unbearable, the pain was much much more than I had expected or had ever experienced. I now expected the lovely surge of endorphins that almost everyone mentioned ... but I felt nothing like that. However, the feeling that came from overcoming fear and doing something I wanted was quite euphoric!
The pain was over quite quickly as the anaesthetic on the needle took effect although I didn't really want to see what was happening down there. In a couple of minutes it was all done and I was on my home. The dull ache began about thirty minutes later and lasted a couple of hours. I had done it ... I was DIFFERENT!
I would love to surprise people with the fact that I was pierced because nobody would ever suspect that a then Naval officer and now respectable and mild mannered accountant would do such a thing. Many would ask me why and not matter how hard I thought about it or applied many theories (tribalism, rebellion, narcissism etc) but the only reason I could come up with was that I just wanted it.
I followed the aftercare directions religiously but unfortunately, about five or six months later it began to be a bit 'weepy' and this never went away. I believe that the cleaning solution that I was using was not as strong as it needed to be but because I had a gold ring I could not use any better. In the end I gave up and removed the ring to allow it to heal. The healing began immediately which was the good news. The bad news was that when I looked at myself in the mirror ... I was ordinary again. I was surprised at how much I had enjoyed having that body modification and how upset I was to have lost it.
After another five months I felt that my nipple had healed sufficiently to try again. Despite my memory of the pain of the first piercing I knew I wanted my modification back. Luckily for me ... I think the second piercing went mostly through some 'tunnel' left behind by the first effort. All I experienced was a sting. That euphoric feeling once again and I was off. This time with 14Ga titanium ring instead of the gold.
What followed was a pretty interesting five years. I had just become accustomed to having some body jewellery and days would go by and I wouldn't give it any regard at all. However, during the past five months or so I had begun to think more and more about getting the other nipple pierced with an identical ring. To be honest, once while inline skating I saw a guy with both nipples pierced and I began to suffer nipple envy. Unlike the experience of many contributors of these stories, I definitely lost sensation in my pierced nipple. I thought about this when considering the second piercing and rationalised that the amount of pleasure I would lose in stimulation was more than compensated by the pleasure I would receive by the sight of two rings instead of one.
I rang Andrew at Adrenalin once again and made an appointment; making sure it was for that afternoon, as I didn't fancy the prospect of being nervous for more than a few hours. This time I had decided I would try some pre piercing anaesthetic and purchased some EMLA patches. This worked quite well as the piercing this time was more 'uncomfortable' than it was painful. Despite being very very nervous before the piercing, I actually promised myself I would watch what was happening this time. The sight of the needle actually through my nipple was pretty cool.
It has been three weeks since my third nipple piercing (which was really my 41st birthday gift to myself) and it seems to be healing nicely. No 'crusties' nor discharge as yet; just a tenderness to knocks and bumps. One sure gets an appreciation of the space immediately in front of ones chest!