Okay, so I've wanted to get my nipples pierced for a while now, since July to be exact, and yesterday; with the help and support of two of my best friends I finally did it!
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Julie Studio Body Art Tattoo and Piercing Studio Location Burlington Vermont The story is a little strange, to be honest I wasn't planning on getting the piercing done until NEXT weekend; but things went a little astray. My friends Carli and Tom wanted to get a tattoo, but didn't know where to go. I have a tattoo, and reccomended Yankee Tattoo in Burlington Vermont. Tom had his tattoo all drawn up and everything, so he and I decided to take a trip up to B-town, and make two tattoo appointments; and I would make my piercing appointment at the same time. Ahhh, best laid plans I tell you.
So we get up to Burlington, and I called my friend Becky who lives in the area, and with whom I jokingly suggested I'd get my piercing. Becky agreed to meet us and so Tom and I went into Yankee and asked about, first the tattoos. We found out that we'd have to make an appointment (which we knew), and also that Tom's tattoo would take roughly three hours to complete. Moving on to Carli's tattoo...they told us that without a picture of what she wanted, it would be difficult to quote a price. The gentleman behind the desk offered to make her an appointment if I'd be willing to put down her deposit and fill out her information. Now I love Carli, but I wasn't sure that she'd reallly want to go through with getting a tattoo. So Tom called her and I asked about getting an appointment to get both my nipples pierced. This is when the guy tells me that they don't do piercings on the weekends, just walk ins M-F. Hmm...this presents a problem, Tom and I don't know if we're all gonna be back next weekend, as the price he was quoted was higher than what he was expecting.
So, we decide to walk up to Body Art, and just ask about getting the piercings. Becky asked the guy behind the Body Art desk about the cost of a standard nipple piercing. The price was reasonable, and she asked if she could be fit in that day to have it done. The answer was yes, so Becky starts filling out her paperwork. Tom looked at me and says "You should do it!" After some thought, I decided that I would. What the hell, you only live once right? So, with shaking hands, I fill out my paperwork and are told that it'd be about fifteen minutes since there were people ahead of us. This is when I decide that I really need something to eat, so Tom, Becky, and I all go back outside and walk nearly all the way up Church Street before I decide on hot cider.
After calling my boyfriend, to calm myself down, the three of us head back into Body Art and wait. Me getting more and more nervous by the second. Suddenly, Becky's name is called and she pulls me into the piercing room with her. Now, this piercing room was super super clean. There was a piercing table, which Julie (the piercer) whiped down with disinfectant in front of us, as well as a sterile tray which held all her pre-packaged piercing equiptment, and a seperate package which held a piercing needle. (AND, there was a very comfortable couch in the corner, where I was able to sit!).
Because I was so nervous Becky went first, and I watched-kind of. I didn't really wanna watch a needle go through my friends nipple so I avoided that part. Before I knew it, it was my turn. Julie cleaned off the table a second time, and went and got a brand new set of piercing equiptment while I stripped to the waist. Then Julie put some new gloves on and applied some iodine type of stuff to my nipples to clean them. After marking the entrance and exit holes with a pen; she had me inspect them in the mirror to make sure I liked the placement. She then sterilized my nipples a second time, and had me lie down. Becky came and held my hand (I was really, really scared), and Julie told me I was going to feel an extended sharp pinch-she needed to clamp my nipple; and said that it might take a second to line up the marks.
After lining up the marks, Julie said, "Take a nice deep breath in....and out..." On the 'out' she put the needle through. FUCK! That hurt. I felt kinda bad shouting like that, but Julie assured me that she'd heard much worse in her years as a piercer. She asked if I was okay, and upon hearing my 'yes, that didn't hurt half as much as I thought!" she put the jewlery through. Then she moved on to the right side. Wow, that one hurt twice as badly I don't know why but it did. Julie put the jewlery through and clamped the bead on to both rings. I was done! I made it without passing out or breaking Becky's hands!
After making sure that I wasn't going to faint, Julie helped me put pads in my bra to catch the (very) minimal amount of blood that showed up; and then she handed me my aftercare sheet.
So far I've cleaned them four times,(using Dial antibacterial soap, and non-iodized sea salt soaks) with fewer and fewer crusties each time, and if I'm very careful, I can spin the hoops without a great deal of pain. :) The only time they really truly hurt, is when a ring gets flipped so that the ball is pointing up my chest. That kinda kills.
I've always been self conscious about my chest, but now, these hoops have given me a huge shot of self esteem. Even though they're only 48 hours old, I can't stop looking at them and I can't WAIT to show my boyfriend! I swore that I was done with piercings after I got my nose pierced, but now that I have these new additions, I'm thinking of what else I can have done.
To those of you out there who are considering this piercing, DO IT. It hurts yes, but the pain goes away very quickly. And the end result is so awesome! Happy and safe piercing to all!