I've been into piercings since I was about 13 or 14. When I turned 18, I finally got my first real piercing, my septum. I still have it (a year and a week or so later) and I still am in love with it! I've wanted another piercing since then, but I didn't have a job till this past August.
At A Glance Author Katie Contact linkingbiscuits@yahoo.com IAM bettiepage468 When A week ago Artist Greg Q. Arbuckle Studio Arbuckle's Tattoo and Piercing Emporium Location Cedar Rapids, IA I was driving past Hardcore Tattoo (not my normal piercing joint) in early September and saw that they had a 10 dollars off all piercings sale. I thought "hey, that's perfect, I just got a job. I should get something pierced." At my job, I can not have visible piercings other than ears, small nostril studs, etc. So I was trying to figure out what I wanted to get that I could have at work. Finally I figured it out!! Nipples! Yay!
I called my mom and told her what I wanted done. (She had taken me to get my septum done and also had a tattoo and genital piercing of her own.) She told me she'd be glad to come with me so I could have a hand to hold. I knew I'd have to wait till I got paid, so I waited about a week and the day before payday, I called Hardcore to make an appointment. First I asked how much it would be. Seventy dollars! That's 5 dollars more than it costs at Arbuckle's. And they were on sale at Hardcore! Ridiculous. I'd much rather go to Arbuckle's, I was just planning on Hardcore because I'm poor and I thought it would be cheaper. So, scrap that, I call Arbuckle's, talk to his wife and get everything settled.
Jump to Thursday afternoon. I'm at work, watching the clock drag around to 5 o'clock. Finally I get off work and drive as fast as I can to the bank to cash my check. Brilliant me, I was thinking it was open till 6 on Thursdays, but it isn't. It's Fridays that are that way. So, I frantically fish out my cell phone and call my dad. He agrees to lend me the 80 dollars (hey, I like to leave a tip). So I race home and get showered and changed.
My mom shows up around 6 and we drive down there. I'm freaking out. My mom keeps telling me it's going to hurt really badly (she doesn't have hers done, she just watched my dad do his). We arrive and I tell Greg what I want. He says it's easier to get it done with a CBR, since it is way easier to clean. I reluctantly agree. We head into the private room and I hop up on the chair. He explains the procedure to me and tells me to "hurry up and get them off." I laugh nervously and take off my shirt and bra. Normally, I'm a horribly shy person, but come on, he's like 65 years old, and he's done a bajillion nipple piercings, why would he care? He tells me to lean back and relax, then wipes my nipples down with iodine. He then turns on the fan that's pointed at me and HELLO... my nipples are rock hard. My mom mentions that the fan is a good idea. Greg says "yeah, one of the complaints I hear most about the other guys is that they play around too much." I say I've heard the same thing, which is true. Any of my friends that got pierced at Hardcore got seriously groped. Greg is always very professional. He may be moody and make jokes sometimes, but he's not going to touch you where he shouldn't.
So I'm sitting there, topless, holding my mom's hand while he gets his supplies ready. I'm breathing slowly, trying to keep from freaking out. I ask if it's going to hurt and he says "you have your septum pierced, if you lived through that, you'll live through this. Just think of it like watching the Discovery Channel." I laugh again. He marks me up and puts the clamps on. I've had guys pinch my nipples harder than the clamps were. I close my eyes as he lines up the needle. The feel of the needle going through isn't quite a pinch like most piercings or shots. I can't exactly describe what it felt like, but I can say getting my lobes pierced hurt more.
I tell them how much it didn't hurt. My mom laughs and said she thinks she squeezed my hand harder than I squeezed hers. I agree and say that I've heard the second nipple hurts more. Greg agrees and says that he thinks it's because you know what to expect and that most shops in the area use the same needle for both nipples. He then gets out a fresh needle, lubes it up and shoves it through. Everyone was right. The second one does hurt more. Not much more though. I still think lobes hurt more. I take a deep breath and look down and my nipples. Hey, I think, there are needles in my nipples. I giggle nervously. Greg slides the rings in. I'm expecting it to hurt since it hurt so much to get the jewelry put in my septum but it doesn't hurt at all. I can't even feel it. For the rest of the night, I can feel a slight sting in my nipples, but nothing too bad. When I shower before bed, I give them a quick washing with 3 parts water, 1 part Dial. I'm supposed to do that 2 times a day for 12 weeks. At the end of that time, I can switch to barbells if I want to.
I called my boyfriend as soon as I got home from the shop. He was thrilled. He's now thinking of getting his done when I go visit him for Christmas.
So, in conclusion, if you're considering getting your nipples pierced, DO IT! I've had mine since Thursday night, it's now Tuesday night. They've stopped hurting for the most part. They still occasionally bleed a tiny bit, generally at night if I bump them. I definitely recommend wearing a bra or something while you sleep. I put Band-Aids over mine. They're big enough to keep it from getting caught on things, but small enough that air can still circulate easily. I do think I might have to go get my rings changed soon; I think they're a bit too small. So, if you're in or around Eastern Iowa, go see Greg. He'll pierce anything and do a damn fine job.