At A Glance
Author	Ice_Pick_Abortions
Contact	Ice_Pick_Abortions@bme.anon
IAM	Ice_Pick_Abortions
When	Three months ago
Artist	Donal
Studio	Skinworks
Location	Belfast, Northern Ireland

Background

My nipple piercings were different to all my others. I didn't see them and immediately want them and the whole experience was nowhere near as pleasant as all my others. To be honest even now I'm not too fussed over them. Unfortunately I don't get the sense of female empowerment that others get, nor do I take pleasure in having a mod that no one could possibly know about unless I told them. I was madly in love with my breasts before these piercings so maybe that's why there was no difference.. Everything about them has been mediocre.

The decision came about as Valentines Day fast approached. My boyfriend and I both decided to get something of a sexual nature but nipples were actually last on my list. I didn't feel ready to get a genital mod so I choose my nipples instead. Despite not desperately wanting them, I was sure of one thing – I was going to get them pierced at a larger gauge. My breasts are on the larger side of average and after reading through the QOD archive and experiences I decided that bigger would indeed be better. Unfortunately this made my whole experience more complicated.

There are essentially only two decent studios in my area and naturally I went to my regular studio, Otherside. I asked about nipple piercings and Stuart gave me prices but once I mentioned getting them done at a size larger than 14 gauge (1.6mm) he began to make excuses, such as the don't make titanium jewellery in larger sizes, which is obviously ridiculous. I left disheartened (and more wary of the studio) and went to check out the other studio, Skinworks. My previous experiences with Skinworks had not been good and I was a little reluctant to go there but there wasn't really any other option. Despite the piercer there, Donal, also being a bit apprehensive about doing larger sizes, he eventually agreed to do it at the size of 2mm after my persistent insisting that it was what I wanted and I would only go and stretch them at a later time. The only downside was that he would only pierce them with rings. I wasn't too sure about getting rings as my research had indicated that barbells were better for this piercing. I decided to leave it for a bit and decide whether to get it done with rings and then change to bars myself or travel 100 miles and go to Dublin.

I eventually decided to go ahead and then change the rings to bars as soon as it was possible. My boyfriend and I were to get pierced on the same day but in different studios. Once he had gotten his mod (which was hilarious to watch) we made our way over to Skinworks. When I got there Donal was away to lunch so there was a lot of waiting to be done and there was a queue ahead of me. After waiting about 45 minutes Donal arrived and began working on the backlog. After another 20 minutes and a girl fainting it was finally my turn.

After signing the necessary forms I was led into a small, clean room and told to take off my shirt but leave my bra on while Donal got the supplies ready. I wore a button shirt as I figured this would be less painful to put back on after getting pierced. After supplies were gathered I removed my bra and stood while Donal marked me up. I was worried about feeling really embarrassed but it really wasn't that bad. It was very professional and having my boyfriend there made me feel better as well. I think he felt more uncomfortable than me! After marks were rubbed out and remarked I was good to go. To take my mind off getting a needle shoved through my nipple I started blabbing about a nightmare I'd had the night before where my manager had pierced my nipples with a screwdriver. Donal laughed, shook his head then told me to take a few deep breaths. Slow breathing definitely made the experience much more bearable. I barely felt a thing! The insertion of the ring was definitely more uncomfortable than the needle. The second nipple wasn't any better or worse than the first. This may be because my nipples weren't very sensitive to begin with. I had a look in the middle and I was satisfied with them. I redressed, said thank you, paid and left. Then the fun really started..

Aftercare

Straight after:
Getting my nipples pierced in February wasn't a good idea in hindsight. As soon as I walked out of the studio the cold immediately made my nipples stand to attention, in turn making the rings jut out a bit and rub against my bra. It was really, really uncomfortable. It wasn't painful, more stingy and itchy. My boyfriend and I must've looked quite funny. I was all hunched over and he was walking like a cowboy.. Anyhoo, we got on the bus and started to head home. Every time the bus stopped and vibrated the rings in my nipples also vibrated. It was not pleasant. After I while I was just sitting there clenching and unclenching my fists in an effort to distract myself. It was horrible.

As soon as we got to my house I zoomed up to my room, took off my shirt and bra and just lay on the bed. I asked my boyfriend to go and make up a salt bath solution and bring some shot glasses. When he got back upstairs I poured some of the solution into the shot glasses and placed them over my nipples. Sweet relief! It felt so good. These soaks became my best friend for the first month of healing. The next day, after measuring the ring diameter, I ordered some 16mm bars and an insertion taper from Wildcat with the intention to change the rings when they came.

Week 1 - 2:
The rings were horribly uncomfortable. Looking back I realise it was because the diameter wasn't big enough. I did salt soaks in a shot glass three times a day for 10 minutes each time. It was time consuming but necessary. It provided such a relief I really couldn't do with out them. I also wore sports bras often as they were far more comfortable than regular bars and prevented the rings from moving around too much. I also returned to Tae Kwon Do and was surprised that it didn't hurt but luckily I managed to avoid being kicked in the chest.

Week 2 – 3:
My taper and bars came and I decided to go ahead and change the rings. This probably was not a good idea in these early stages but I felt confident enough to do it myself but obviously it's better to go to a professional. I washed the bars and taper and got some saline, a clean towel and a pair of latex gloves. I placed the bars and taper onto the towel and lay down. I then popped the beads out of the CBR's and removed the rings. That was pure agony. I then soaked the piercings in a salt bath for a few minutes to makes sure the fistula was clear and then lined up the taper and the bar. As the taper went through there was a slight burning sensation. This was due to me not using any lubricant, which was a stupid thing on my part. I screwed on the balls and did the same with the other nipple. Once I was done I looked at the bars and realised that even with my nipple erect there was no space in the bars which meant they were too short and boy did I feel it when my nipple relaxed. My right nipple appeared to be a bit wider than my left and the right ball of the bar started to imbed itself into my nipple. It wasn't painful but it was making a crater and I knew it wasn't good. Unfortunately I couldn't get the rings back in because it hurt far too much. At this point I really should have gone back to the studio and got it sorted but I'm stubborn/stupid so instead I just ordered some 18mm bars off Wildcat and prayed they'd get to me fast.

Week 3 – 4:
My piercing weren't draining properly as the piercings were so tight against my nipples that crusties built up very quickly which meant no more lymph could escape. If I was home, I was doing salt soaks. Eventually I taped the right bar so that the ball wasn't so embedded into my nipple. There was a rather large crater at this point, which was ugly and painful but for some reason I just didn't want to take these piercings out. My new bars arrived and I changed them the same way as the last time. There was far more room and I felt instantly better. I kept taping the ball away from the crater in my right nipple to ensure that the new bar didn't settle into it. Surprisingly the crater healed up in about two days and there's not really any noticeable scar tissue. I just continued my soaks but took it down to two soaks for 5 minutes each day for the last week of the month.

Second Month:
I stopped doing the salt soaks and just paid special attention to the piercings when I was in shower. I started to notice just how sensitive my nipples had become. The would get hard at practically anything which can be kind of annoying when not wearing a bra as my nipples just get chaffed. Luckily I only go without a bra at night so I'm not really doing anything.

Nothing has really changed since the second month. I still only clean them in the shower and they're well on their way to healing. I don't know how long I'll end up keeping these piercings. I find the extra sensitivity to be annoying more than beneficial or pleasurable. One thing I learned during this experience though is to be persistent and don't take a piercers word for everything. If you know that something a piercer says is wrong or it just doesn't feel right, don't just go along with it. If I had been more insistent about using bars maybe a lot of my problems could have been avoided. Maybe if I'd gone down to Dublin a lot of this could have been avoided but I think I've managed to heal these piercings quite well despite everything that went on with them. It's made me more confident in my own abilities and knowledge. I'm not going to pretend these are the best piercings ever and recommend them to everyone because to me, they're just mediocre. That being said if you do want it, go for it and don't make the mistakes I did!