Hi there!
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Michelle Studio Retro Rebels Location Aberdeen, Scotland This experience, like many, is really just to tell people and put people at ease about piercings.
Before I get any piercings I usually come onto BME and read the stories that have been submitted, just to get an idea of the procedure and how much it hurts! I also find it helpful when people give "problem shooting" tips - to save me the trouble of experiencing them themselves!
This all starts at the end of summer, 2003. I had been thinking about getting my nipple pierced for a while, and one day while on a break from college, I just went for it.
I didn't want to spend too much money as I didn't have it (first mistake), so I just went to a small shop which had a sign outside advertising piercings at a relatively low price (second mistake).
When I went in, I asked the man if he was doing piercings that day, I was then led to a small back room (more of a walk in cupboard).
The usual happened; sat on bed, took off top, marked where piercing was going to be etc. However, when clamping me he just sort of, clamped it, literally grabbed a chunk of flesh - or a at least this is what it felt like. I was then pierced - which was not overly painful, and shown the results. At the time, I was quite pleased, but after the first time of having a needle put through your nipple thinking straight is not particularly high on the agenda.
I paid up and left. The cost was a mere $15 (please excuse me, my keyboard does not have a pound sign! But I did mean that figure in British pounds).
My piercing was quite painful throughout the day, I was very aware of it most of the time. This was the same the next day, and the next day, and the next day.
Although I cleaned it twice a day (okay, sometimes I only did it once, or I forgot, but almost twice a day every day), my nipple never seemed to heal. I figured it was just because I was a slow healer.
This carried on for a few months, even though it stopped being painful, it never appeared to be healing, and was extremely sensitive whenever touched - as if it had just been pierced recently. For some reason, although it bothered me, I never thought too much about it - I was more concerned with the fact that I was convinced it was squint.
Finally, six months after getting my nipple pierced, I was at a different piercing studio, getting my belly button done.
It was here I finally asked about my peculiar nipple. I originally just showed it to her to ask if it was squint or not and why it wasn't healing.
Her jaw dropped when she saw it (didn't fill me with hope). Not only was my piercing squint, at was also done far too deep, which is why it never healed. I was advised to take it out immedietly and clean the area every night until it had healed.
Nine months passed, my nipple had healed within three or four weeks of removing the piercing (it would appear I am not a slow healer!) and I decided I wanted to get it redone.
This time, I visited Retro Rebels. As I buy clothes and bags from there I was already familiar with the staff and knew that they were experienced and friendly. I had also heard nothing but postive feedback from friends who frequently visit there.
It was quite busy on this day, so I had to wait before seeing someone.
I went through to the room where they do the piercings. I was once again met with a small room, however this time it was very clean, hygenic feeling, and had an ace proper chair/bed thingy (yes, that would be the technical term).
Once again, I got my top off and laid on the bed/chair thingy. I had already told Michelle about my last experience and she had said the reason it was so sensitive was because it had been done so deep.
However, when she saw the small scars from the last one (thankfully they are really really tiny and hardly noticable unless you are looking in detail)even she was shocked and said that he must have just grabbed a chunk of flesh. Which he did on looking back. Michelle must have fiddled about tucking and squeezing for a good 2 minutes before finally being done. As I had it done on the same nipple, there was a bit of scar tissue to get through, it hurt a tiny bit more than expected because of that, but it only lasted about 5 seconds and just felt like a pinch that was held on too long!
The end product was completely and entirely different than the last time. I have a bar in just now, even though I prefer hoops as I was advised the piercing heals better due to the bar being the same shape as the wound (the horizontal needle making horizonal "tube" through the nipple). I found the old hoop that I used to have, thinking I might be able to use it again later, but found that it was much to big!
Needless to say, I am much happier with this peircing than I was before. If you look really closely you can see one of the scars...five millimeters below and to the left of the current hole at the same side! Within minutes I couldn't feel any discomfort, and although only being two weeks old it is well on the way to being healed. It is not unbearable to touch and is on whole, completely different to the last time.
What I have learned from this experience is mainly, not to go to somewhere just because it is cheap. You get what you pay for.
Even for a tenner more, go to a somewhere that you KNOW is good and will give you what you deserve.
If you are not happy with it at first, say something, or get it checked out immedietly. If it hasn't healed in three months or is still painful, there is something wrong. In my case it was too deep, which can be damaging to internal parts of the nipple.
Don't be afraid to get up and walk out if you feel at all uncomfortable or if you do not like the look of the place. It is your body after all, so who cares if you piss the guy off?!
My apologies for such a long winded story, thanks for taking time to read it! Happy piercing!