I had never really thought about getting a nipple piercing until that 'itch' came to me again. I woke up one day and said to myself "I want another piercing." I had already self pierced my ears twice, but I didn't want another ear piercing, they were too common. Plus, with my psychotic parents, I had to get something that could be hidden. I then asked my sister, and she gave me the answer "well, if you need to hide it, either get your belly button done... or... nipple?" I didn't really even think about getting my nipple pierced until I realized that my mom would most likely find out about a metal bar sticking out of my stomach. That's when I said "Hell yeah! Let's stick a hole into my nipple!"
At A Glance Author Vodka Contact mechanical_candy@hotmail.com When Three months ago Artist Myself Studio My bathroom Location ON, Canada I called up Stinger Tattoo and asked if I would be able to bring in an older sibling to accompany me instead of a parent (my sister is 19). The chick on the phone then asked me how old I was, and I replied 15, which she then answered with "you have to be 16 to be able to get your nipple pierced." I then hung up, swore a little, went to my sister and said "one way or another, I'll get that piercing." I had just moved to this area a short while before, so I didn't really know of any other piercing studios, and if one studio wouldn't allow me to get my nipple pierced, I figured other's would do the same.
So onto Ebay I went (oh Ebay, what would I do without you) and searched for piercing kits. I found one, bid on it, won, and waited for it to come to my aid. It included a 14 gauge needle, a barbell, a little cork for the needle, latex gloves and some stuff to clean my nipple with. NONE of this had ever been opened / used before. When the kit came, I left it in my room for a little while, and would occasionally look at it until I was ready to do it... And I was pretty much never ready to stick a needle through somewhere so sensitive.
One day I was sitting in the living room, and I randomly got up and went to my room, took the kit to my bathroom, and started cleaning the area around the sink, where I would pierce at, right in front of the mirror. I got all the equipment ready, unscrewed the barbell, took off my shirt, etc. I then took the needle, after cleaning it, and put it right beside my nipple, where I wanted to pierce. 3...2...1, and I started to stick it in.
OH.MY.DEAR.FREAKING.LORD.PAIN.
It went in about halfway, until I couldn't push it anymore. First of all, I was flooding the place with sweat, and I barely ever sweat THAT much, second of all, it just wouldn't go. THIRD of all, I was getting really dizzy, so I sat down on the floor. I kept trying to push it, until I just said to myself "fuck it, I can't do it," and I took the needle out. What was the point of that? I will never know, because about 3.2 seconds after taking the needle out, I KNEW that if I didn't do it at that moment, I would try again the next day. So I shoved the needle back in, all the way through. Oh, the blood... and pain.
I waited a few minutes before taking the needle out, and sticking the barbell in. It was a bit difficult, since I couldn't see the hole with all the blood in the way, but it went in. After cleaning up, and checking myself out, I put my shirt back on, and went downstairs to find my sister on the phone.
"I'm a crazy person," I told her
"Why, what did you do?"
That's where I flashed her, and she said "OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD, LINDSAY, I'LL CALL YOU BACK, OH MY GOD," hung up, and sat there laughing for a good 10 minutes. I then went to the kitchen and put some semi - hot water in a cup, and held it to my nipple, to ease the pain a little. I still didn't have sea salts, which I bought the next day.
A few weeks passed, and my nipple was healing quite nicely. I would flash myself in front of every mirror in the house that I walked passed. The whole procedure of piercing had taken place while I had a school break. Well school had started again, and one day my beloved alarm clock decided not to go off. Both my mom and sister came into my room, and yelled at me that it was 7:20, and I had to be out of the house by 7:30. I panicked and told them to get out, because I usually take about half an hour to get ready when I'm NOT being slow. I was taking my top off when suddenly I felt one of the most excruciating pains I had ever felt and started to squeal. I went to my bathroom, and saw that my shirt had somehow gotten caught on my barbell and had ripped it halfway through my nipple. I then panicked some more and gave it a sea salt soak. I also noticed that the barbell wouldn't lie flat like it used to, and was more in the air on the ripped side than it was on the other, so I cut off a strip of the sticky part on a band - aid, and stuck it on that side of the barbell and went to hell, a.k.a. School. I had taken my sister's H2Ocean that she used for her belly button, and went to the bathroom at school a few times to spray my once - a - lovely piercing.
The rip had started to form a scab after a few days, which made me think it was healing. One day in the shower, that scab fell off, and the rip opened up again, which made my barbell come up through the middle, again. I then decided that it was best if I just retired it. I cried a little, and took it out.
It's been about 4 months since then, and I still really miss my piercing. My nipple has healed, but I don't think I'll re-pierce it, not myself at least. I'll go to a professional next time. If you want to pierce yourself, go ahead and do it, but ONLY if you know what you're doing and you have the right equipment. I had done A LOT of research on nipple piercings, and had looked at many pictures of where the jewelry went in, before I did it myself. I took the time to find a right needle for it, instead of using a dirty safety pin, like many people have done. All in all, be freaking careful with your piercings, or they'll turn out like mine did.