In the past I have considered several piercing, but always chickened out. Even though I love the look, the idea of having a large needle in my skin never seemed like something I would want to go through.
At A Glance Author SkyeTrinity Contact SkyeTrinity@bme.anon IAM SkyeTrinity When Three months ago Artist Jason... Studio Rebel X Tattoo Location Silver City, NM In May of 2006 I had an appointment to get some more work done on my full back tattoo. However, when I got to the studio my tattoo artist said he was really tired from the tattoos he had been doing all day. I, wanting to be nice and maybe was a bit concerned about the quality I'd get, said that was okay and I would reschedule.
A piercer who was semi-new to the studio asked if I wanted to get a piercing instead. I quickly said, "No Thanks." Of course my tattoo artist had to pipe in, "Haven't you always wanted your nipples pierced." I asked a great deal of questions of the piercer about the process, healing time, possible problems, and aftercare. Jason and his apprentice answered all of my questions and seemed very patient at dealing with my lack of knowledge in this area. (I guess I might note that they directed me to BME to get more information). After a while "No Thanks" turned into "I don't know" and then "I am scared" and finally "Okay. Lets do it."
Jason the piercer was great. I had thought that he was a little weird when I had been in the studio before, but when it came done to business he was very professional and helped me feel calm. The only clear part I remember was that he told me, "Its okay to be scared". For some reason this made me feel calm and good inside.
His apprentice watched/assisted as he proceeded with the piercing. Jason marked the placements and then had me lie down. His apprentice explained to me that I should exhale my breath hard when the needle went through to help the pain. When the first needle went through I was shocked with the pain that burned in my nipple. It was at once worse then I would have imagined, but not as bad as I had feared. While definitely not pleasant it was tolerable. Jason quickly moved on and pierced the other side. I would have to agree that I think the exhaling helped the process for me and I was proud of myself for not squirming or backing out before the second nipple was done. When he put the jewelry in I did not really feel anything. I do not know what size my piercing is, except to say it was done in a standard size.
It was now time to go home and tell my husband that I got my nipples pierced! He was pleasantly shocked, but wished I would have told him before hand.
The piercing was almost pleasantly painful for the rest of the day and most of the next. After that they did not really feel like anything. I followed the routine that was suggested to me for after care. Twice a day for approximately two months I soaked in iodine free salt water. At this point they are not completely healed, but when I stopped in to the studio to ask about new jewelry, the apprentice checked them and said they appear to be healing very well (which was also a huge worry of mine).
A somewhat humorous part of my whole experience was dealing with my daughter. She loves my tattoos and understands about getting them. I had never before talked to her about piercings. At first my husband did not want me to tell her about my nipples saying, "It is private". I am not modest in front of my daughter and she frequently comes into the bathroom when I am bathing to "talk" to me. After about a month I decided to go against my husband and talk to my daughter. She is nine-years-old and I thought she would handle it okay.
I told her about what I did and explained to her that it is similar to my tattoos and to her ears being pierced. She asked to look at them, but did not really say much of anything else, but that she thinks her mom is weird sometimes. A few weeks later she became a bit more enlightened. I was getting ready in the morning when she walked up to me and said with a look of complete seriousness. "That must have really hurt!" I love my daughter.
Okay, here is my only semi-complaint about my piercing. A few friends who have their nipples pierced told me it increased their sensitivity. As I breast fed my daughter, I have lost a great deal of sensitivity in my nipples so I had hoped this would help. I have not noticed any change in sensitivity after the initial healing began. Its okay though, I overcame a big fear of mine and am proud that I have ventured into the world of piercings and hey, I feel like I came in with a bang.
So my nipples are now pierced and even though I think it might have been an odd piercing to be my first "real" piercing I am glad I have them. The only future plans I have to "change" this piercing is to get new bars. I am looking at order a set of 14k gold bars with real garnets set in the ends. In other words no plans of stretching or anything in the future. Hmm...now what should I get pierced next.