I've been interested in piercings since I was a little girl, but my parents -being relatively conservative – said that I had to wait until I was older until I got any. At the age of sixteen, when I got my nipple pierced, I had only five piercings in total (all on my ears) and had never had sex. I had turned sixteen about a fortnight before and was going to Reading music festival for the first time.
At A Glance Author Helena Contact Helena@bme.anon When N/A Artist Shaun Studio Metal Morphosis Location Travelling studio at Reading Festival When Amberly and I arrived at the festival after having just got our (very pleasing) GCSE results we were in the mood to celebrate and noticed that at the festival there was a travelling piercing parlour. I went along to see what piercings were available and at what prices. I initially planned to get my belly button pierced but decided to read about all the various piercings anyway.
I was in a fairly whimsical mood due to the excitement of having passed all my GCSEs and being at the festival for the first time and the idea of getting my nipple pierced struck me as a fairly exciting and novel thing to get done. Only one other girl I knew had her nipple pierced, but I could think of hoards of girls with their navels pierced.
I decided not to act completely on the spur of the moment as I was scared of how much the piercing might hurt, and was aware of how much of a leap in levels of pain going from ear lobes to nipples was. I decided to sleep on it as well as ask some of my male friends that were there what they thought about nipple piercings. The response I had from everyone was very positive and the idea continued to grow on me.
The next morning, as soon as Metal Morphosis was open I decided that I would go and get it done. I had to lie about my age as Metal Morphosis only performed body piercings on people over 17 years old, but luckily they didn't ask me for any form of ID. I was incredibly nervous, as I have a phobia of needles. Waiting for them to accept my form and for a piercer to become available was the most excruciatingly long wait and I could feel my heart beating in my throat.
My piercer was called Shaun and he was from South Africa. He said that Amberly could come in and hold my hand and no doubt if he had refused I would not have my nipple pierced today. I was also scared about having to take my op off in front of a total stranger as at just sixteen I hadn't been topless with many people. He was very professional and did not seem in the slightest bit interested about the fact that my breasts were out, which made me feel a lot more comfortable.
I told him that I was very scared of needles and he was really understanding. If anyone else has a phobia of needles don't let it put you off getting piercings if you want them but definitely tell your piercer as they can make it far easier for you if they know. Shaun marked where to pierce me and showed me in a mirror so I could say if I was happy with where it was. By this point not only was I nervous but incredibly excited. The adrenaline I felt is definitely what has encouraged me to keep going back and getting more piercings done.
Shaun told me to lie down and relax. He got me to breathe really deeply with my eyes closed so that I wasn't worried about the needle. When I was feeling fully relaxed he pushed the needle through free hand (without a clamp) which meant that the pain came as more of a shock than it does when there is already the pressure of a clamp on the area. There is no getting around it, the piercing definitely hurt but it was not as bad as I was expecting – more like a sharp scratch across my nipple than something actually penetrating it. The worst part of the piercing was having the jewellery put through, as by that point your nipple is already very tender.
I had opted for a bar that went in very easily and allowed for movement when healing. There was a lot of blood but Shaun assured me that this was very normal. He cleaned me up and showed me my new piercing – I fell in love straight away and to this day it is the piercing I love the most. He dressed the piercing and gave me an aftercare pack, which included zinc tablets to help the skin heal. I would definitely recommend taking zinc tablets after a piercing as it definitely heals faster and is less painful than if you don't.
As I was at a festival there was no clean and hygienic way for me to change the dressing on my nipple the next day so Shaun suggested that I come back the following day and he would swap the dressing for free.
Getting my nipple pierced was the best decision I ever made. It gave me so much more confidence – I love taking my top off now and showing it off! Everyone loves it and I like to think it gives me the edge over other girls that have plain, boring, normal breasts. If you are wavering over whether or not to get it pierced I thoroughly recommend that you do – you can decide who you want to see it and it certainly more interesting than a navel piercing. Since getting mine pierced, three of my other girl friends have proceeded to get theirs pierced after seeing what fun I have with mine as well as the effect it has on most men!