My experience with nipple piercing didn't go quite as planned. I am not writing this to scare people or make them chose NOT to get pierced. I believe that everyone makes this choice for their own reasons - just as I did. I just wanted to share my experience because it ended up quite a bit different than I had expected and I think it could be helpful for a woman thinking about making this choice or, perhaps, is experiencing something similar to what happened to me at this moment.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Jo Studio Body Piercing Shop Location Canada I had thought about getting my nipples pierced for quite a few years. But, it took talking to a close friend, who had his done, for me to finally do it for myself. He always talked about how good they felt and how much his wife loved them. I knew that I wanted them for myself because I have always loved how they looked on both men and women and couldn't wait to get mine done. I researched the topic endlessly (weighing the pros and cons)and finally settled on a shop that I felt was reliable, clean, and which had a great reputation.
Jo did everything perfectly, he wore gloves, used sterile equipment, was very precise with the location of the rings and very exact about the aftercare I was to give my piercings. He talked me through the piercings and said that I did great - and that women seem to be able to handle the pain better than men, anyway!
The actual piercing wasn't very painful - Jo put the clamp on, stuck the needle through and then followed with the ring. Same for the other side. I felt myself holding my breath but was surprised that the pain was so minimal! However, about an hour after the piercings were done and I was relaxing at home my nipples came alive - they felt like they were on fire! I took a couple of Advil and tried to have a cautious sleep (no tummy sleeping for awhile!). Thankfully, by the next day the pain had settled down and I was extremely happy with how they looked. I spent about a week or 2 being very careful as I put on or removed my bra or other clothing. Anything catching on the rings could be quite tender, at first. But, they looked great and I loved how you could kind of see them through my clothes -there yet not TOO there!
I was meticulous with cleaning them... followed all of the instructions Jo had given me to the letter. I loved how these little circles of metal looked so sexy in and out of clothes! I felt strangely giddy whenever I looked at them and they were such a turn on to feel.
However, about 6 months after the piercings, when everything was healing up great, my husband found a lump in my right breast (at 9 o'clock). I went to the doctor's immediately and he sent me to have an ultrasound of the breast. That report came back stating that there was a mass in there but the radiologist could not say, for sure, what it was. All he could say, for certain, was that it was not a cyst. Two weeks later I was sent for a mammogram (PAINFUL!) which concluded the very same thing that the ultrasound did. I was also seeing a breast specialist and he was very concerned by what he saw and felt. By this time I had grown another lump right next to the first - just under my areola and neither were painful and the 2nd lump was causing my right nipple to invert slightly (both signs of breast cancer).
Since the specialist was so concerned he said I should have a lumpectomy. He decided not to do a biopsy, first, because he was not comfortable leaving those lumps in my body any longer than they had to be. They appeared much too suspicious to fool around with. I went ahead and had this surgery on March 28, '06. Thankfully, the results came back cancer free. However, what had caused the lumps to form was that bacteria entered one of my milk ducts through the piercing site and caused a major infection. Over the next 6 months my body built thick capsules of scar tissue around the infection to keep it from spreading through out my body. The specialist said that, even upon removing the lumps, he was sure that they were cancer as they felt and looked just like the real thing. Thank goodness they weren't.
Anyway, for the most part, all of you will have a great experience with your piercings... they look and feel sooo sexy. But, just beware that there are risks no matter how well you take care of them. Make an informed choice before you pierce! I loved mine while I had them but I'm not sure if it was worth the scare and the scar I ended up with!