I've long thought piercings are hot--on other people. I've at least mildly considered piercings for myself in the past, but mostly in the context of, "I'm John and I'm not gutsy enough to go get anything pierced, nor do I know anyone who might give me the proper motivation to ever get anything pierced." I was safe.
At A Glance Author theblueone Contact theblueone@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Two great piercers whose names I was too nervous to recall. Studio Mill Ave. Ink Location Tempe, AZ, USA Then I met Jane. We're in several classes together at college, and we've worked on projects and studied together quite a bit in the last few months. We came to discover that we share similar backgrounds and views, so suffice it to say, we clicked. A couple weeks later, I was completely shocked to find out (the fun way) that she has her nipples pierced.
After some serious playtime with the newfound treasures and a couple days of piercing talk-time, I told Jane that I've always considered getting piercings myself. She got pretty excited about me just considering it, so we discussed the pros and cons of different piercing types and locations. We talked about everything from my eyebrow (I can't have visible piercings at work), my tongue (I'm a saxophone player and a tongue piercing might interfere with it), to genitalia (I thought this might be a little extreme for a first piercing). I decided that I'd get my nipples pierced because Jane's first piercings were her nipples and she did just fine with that. The minute I decided on my nipples, Jane got me up on my feet and walking towards Mill Ave. Ink.
I'm not normally a spontaneous guy, so that presented what seemed like a problem. It turned out to be a splendid opportunity. After much hemming and hawing, I "ultimatum-ed" her and told her that if I was going to get my nipples pierced, she'd have to get something (my choice) pierced too. We discussed this possibility for a couple minutes before we agreed that a same-day decision/genital piercing might be a bit too quick. So Jane's deciding on whether she wants her clit pierced, a Christina piercing or both, and in what order she wants to have them done. Pretty sweet deal, I must say.
Fifteen minutes into our negotiations, we arrived at Mill Ave. Ink. My mind was racing. I'll admit that I was terrified. I kept asking all kinds of questions of the staff (partially to allay my fears, but mostly to delay the then-inevitable) like about their sanitation practices (hospital-clean everything), whether it'd hurt (duh) and how much it'd cost (not as much as I thought). They took about fifteen minutes to finish some middle schooler's (not really, but she was pretty young and she had her mom in tow) navel and to prep the room. During this time, Jane soothed me with a good backrub and talk of shiny metal through her genitals.
When they were ready, the piercer (I feel bad that I forgot his name, but my mind was focused elsewhere at that point) introduced himself and invited me back to the piercing room. He explained all the sanitization procedures and aftercare. He introduced me to another piercer who would be simultaneously piercing my left nipple as he pierced the right. Then it was time to get me marked up for the piercings.
"How do you want them?" he said.
"Huh?" It then occurred to me that my nipples are round and that each has 360 degrees of pierce-able-ness. "How about up-and-down?" I said. I watched for Jane's reaction and it was pleasant. That decided it.
"Vertical?" Piercer guy said.
"Yep" Said I. I won't pretend that my voice wasn't shaky as I said it. He took a couple minutes and marked me with that blue meat-marker thing, erasing once when he thought the marks on the left nipple looked a little off center. He fixed it and I approved after getting a good long look at the final seconds of my non-pierced nipples. I laid down on the table. He and She(the other piercer, a female) stood on either side of the table and clamped my nipples. They took one last look to make sure it was all straight. The needles looked huge, like nails almost. I closed my eyes and they counted to three at which point I was to breathe out. I did.
The pain (I call it pain, but the feeling wasn't all pain) was weird. It was a burning accompanied by the feeling of cold steel. Had it not hurt so much, it would have probably been pleasant, if that makes any sense. They inserted the jewelry, 14 gauge barbells. That part hurt, too, plus it didn't have the cold steel feeling of the needles, so it was a little worse. Then it was done.
I stood up and looked at my nipples, which looked uncharacteristically cool for me. I liked it. The female explained the aftercare again and sold me some special orange soap (Dr. B-somethingorother) that burned a little when I used it, but it apparently worked. I had no trouble that I could detect. I cleaned with the orange soap and soaked with sea-saltwater twice daily. I had crusties and the slightest bleeding for a couple days, but that has since stopped.
My piercings have had some cool effects. First, when I tell people I have my nipples pierced it surprises them. I really don't seem like the guy who would get his nipples pierced. I'm pretty straight-laced and kinda nerdy, so it's not very characteristic of me. Also, I'm actually aware of my nipples now. I always knew I had nipples, but I never really saw the point of them, therefore, they never really existed in my head. Now the point is obvious (to have pieces of steel shoved through them and to attract girls at the pool), and I can actually feel them.
I'm not telling my family about my piercings. All that would do is get them to wonder who corrupted me and it would get them to hate Jane, whom they have yet to meet.
It was a great experience, and I highly recommend it to pretty much everyone. If a guy like me could have a positive experience from it (on many levels), anyone could.