The day after I turned eighteen, I did the thing that lots of eighteen year olds do...I got pierced. I started with my tongue. I had wanted this piercing for at least a year, and I was just waiting until I was old enough. As a matter of fact, I wanted it done so badly that I went to the first studio with a cool name that was in the city that I was in. It went extremely well despite the recommendation to use Listerine after any food, drink, etc... It healed normally with no infections. I was very lucky. Since I had what I thought was a good experience with my tongue, I decided to go back a week later when I decided to get a nipple piercing.
At A Glance Author Aerogirl Contact kelly_az@hotmail.com When Five years ago Artist Kathleen Studio The Enchanted Dreagon Location Tucson, AZ When I went back to the studio, I asked if there was a female who could do the nipple piercing because it made me feel more comfortable. There was, and she was willing to answer all of my questions. I knew some of my questions sounded silly, but she was so nice about it. I got all my questions answered and I still wanted to do it, so I picked out a black colored niobium hoop and I got it done. The piercer was really nice. The piercing didn't hurt very much at all. As a matter of fact, it hurt less than the navel piercing I got at a later date at a different studio. One minute I was asking silly questions, and the next thing I knew, I was getting my aftercare instructions. She told me that I should pour rubbing alcohol on my nipple, move the niobium ring around, then do the same with saline solution. She told me that rubbing alcohol was the best thing to use, and convinced me by pointing out the fact that doctors use rubbing alcohol to clean your skin before they give you shots. She reminded me that my mom had always used rubbing alcohol to clean my wounds when I was a kid. This sounded good to me at eighteen years old.
After about a year and a half, my piercing hadn't completely healed. It was constantly irritated. I was frustrated because every source I read said that it should have been healed by at least six months. I finally went into a different studio in the city I was then living in and asked if there was a girl who could just take a look at it. They told me when a female would be there, and I went in to see her. She looked at it for about ten seconds, and then advised me that I should remove it immediately. She said that it was rejecting and if I left it in it would definitely grow out. She told me that if I left it alone I would end up with a "gnarley scar". She said the word GNARLEY! Needless to say, I had her take it out. I, like most girls I know, didn't want something on my nipple that could be described as "gnarley".
Since then, I have done my homework and I know that I got horrible advice. First of all, instead of rubbing alcohol, I should have used sea salt soaks. I should have never used rubbing alcohol. From what I have read since then, I have learned that rubbing alcohol can kill nerves, cause excess scar tissue to develop, and most importantly it hurt like all hell. If you like nipple pain, I highly suggest using rubbing alcohol as a cleansing agent for your nipple piercing, but as for me, I should have done more research about aftercare. The second thing I have since learned is that I should have gone with a barbell. The best thing to get an initial piercing for a female nipple with is a surgical grade, stainless steel barbell. This reduces the chances of rejection for two reasons: 1) The niobium doesn't react well to some people's bodies. It's best to get surgical grade stainless steel for a healing piercing. 2) The barbell is best because a ring can be more easily pulled or irritated. It can also be pulled down because most girls wear bras and the bra pulls the ring down. The top of the ring is then pushed outward, which makes it easier to be rejected and pushed all of the way out. There is a third, more aesthetically based reason to get stainless steel. It doesn't get discolored. My niobium ring became discolored on the part that was inside my skin most of the time. It wasn't a huge deal, but it wan't very pretty any more. The point is that I might still have that piercing if I hadn't been so anxious to get it done. Now I want to get both nipples pierced, but I am afraid that there might have been too much damage done by the bad advice given by a piercer that just didn't have correct, up to date information.