I decided to write about my experience because I know what it's like to surf the web looking to read other people's experiences and finding many more horror stories than positive reinforcing ones. A month ago, I was in that exact position. To be honest, I almost didn't go through with the piercing because of the many bad stories I had read. So, I've decided to share my story to comfort those that are "freaking out" like I was.
At A Glance Author Amanda Contact Amanda@bme.anon When A month ago Studio Tattoo Factory Location Ledgewood, NJ A little background on me, I am your average 18 year old girl. I have wanted to get my nipples pierced since early on in my senior year of high school. I opted to wait for two reasons; one, at the time I really said I wanted to do it, I wasn't 18 yet, and the second being that even after I had turned 18 I was worried about getting them done and still living at home with my parents. If my parents ever knew that I was going to get them done, they would disown me! So this past fall I went off to college, and that's when I made my decision. I set it up so that I would get them done, and know that I wouldn't be going home for at least 3 weeks (giving them time to heal) and then I didn't have to worry about my parents finding out. Okay, moving on to my experience...It was totally random when I decided to go. I had called my fiancé one night and asked him if the next weekend he was coming to visit if he'd take me, and he agreed. The next challenge was finding a piercing parlor. Luckily I was going with my friend from college who lives around the school, and she knew of a clean place to go. Basically, after I arranged for my fiancé to come up to take me, and had called the parlor for pricing, I started getting really nervous, even to the point where I couldn't sleep the night before going! The last time I had gotten pierced, I was about 6 years old getting my second holes done in my earlobe, so you can imagine how nervous I was (all for nothing).
The Day Of: I was completely off the wall all day... jittery, stomach ache, the whole nine. The entire ride I couldn't sit still, partially because I was anxious, but mainly because I was petrified. We walked into the parlor and the first thing I noticed was four people sitting down waiting. Immediately I took a deep breath, thinking I was going to have some time before it was actually going to happen. As it turned out the four people waiting were wating for tattoos. So, we went up right away. The first thing I noticed when we walked into the room was the cleanliness. Everything looked very clean, organized and reassuring. The first thing that happened was the piercer put on a clean pair of gloves! Next, was the hardest part, taking off my top. I wore a sports tank with a zip up sweatshirt over it, that way I didn't have to be completely topless in front of him, instead I was able to unzip the sweatshirt and pull the tank down. I was so nervous about it being uncomfortable having a male piercer touch my breasts, but he was extremely professional about the entire situation. He then took a look at my nipples to decide the size ring, I believe I was sized with a 12 gauged hoop (its small). Before I had come I was really worried about the whole sterile/cleanliness issue, the rings and needles he used to pierce me were all individually packaged with a "sterilized" label on both, which made me feel much better. The next thing he did was clean me. He cleaned me with several different things to assure that I was completely sterile. Then he changed his gloves and it was go time. He clamped the first nipple, which was uncomfortable but not painful. By this point, I was shaking! Next thing I know he was ready to put the needle through, he told me to take a deep breath, and blow out as hard as I could. As I blew out he pushed the needle through. To be completely honest here, it didn't hurt all that bad. Pushing the needle through happen so quickly that my endorphins blocked out the pain! It reminded me of"\ÃwPXî the pinch you feel before donating blood when they check your iron levels. It was quick just like that. When he slid the ring in, it hurt a little more, I promise it was not bad! The second one was just the same. Again, before he pushed the needle in I got all tense and jittery (my endorphins) and so it didn't really hurt! I am not a big fan of pain; many people would consider me the "girly girl" type, so for me to say it wasn't bad, it really wasn't! After he was finished we started going over cleaning instructions. One thing my piercer suggested to me was after every shower, put a little dab of KY Jelly on the ring and spin it. What this did was prevented my body to form a "scab" directly on the ring. Because the KY is a water based solution, it allowed my skin to heal without actually binding to the jewelry. Later that night they tingled a little, more like an itchy feeling though. The worst part of the entire experience was my first shower. I would suggest sitting down in the shower the firs If I could go back, I would do this again in a heartbeat. The minimal amounts of pain are well worth it! I think what's most important is that you getting pierced because you really want to, with that said your excitement overwhelms your amounts of pain. I hope my story helps out a little, and gives some encouragement to go ahead with it!