I can remember a vague time during High School (aged between 13 and 15) when I thought to myself how cool having a nipple piercing would be. I can remember a slightly less vague time during 6th Form College (aged 17/18) when I thought how cool having a nipple piercing would be. I can remember thinking all the way through University how cool having a nipple piercing would be. And yet, for all my musings I never really thought about getting one.
At A Glance Author Povallsky Contact Povallsky@bme.anon IAM Povallsky When It just happened Artist Kate Studio Holier Than Thou Location Manchester UK And then I found BJS.
Through asking questions and making friends on the forum I came round to the idea of actually getting my nipple pierced. Those of us who lived in and around Manchester (UK) decided to meet up at Holier Than Thou and get new piercings together; I got my septum done and we had a great time. Based on the success of this we decided to do it again, only this time it was going to be bigger, better and wetter than last time!!
And so it came to pass that we all ventured through the rain, 11 like minded individuals from a mix of backgrounds and cities, some as far off as London itself, to Holier Than Thou, its white sign and scarily clean entrance foyer drawing us closer like moths to a flame.
As per usual the entrance of HTT was exceptionally clean, the alcohol soap dispenser getting its usual workout as Lou checked people's napes and what not. When it was my turn, Kate called me into the piercing room which was again so clean it's almost a little frightening. She donned a pair of gloves as she readied the equipment she would need, cleaned a few things and made the final preparations; once finished the gloves were in the medical waste. After this it was time to mark me up. Once it was announced which nipple and which way (the whole process of getting a nipple piercing reminded me of ordering breakfast in America; what kind of eggs? What kind of bacon? What kind of bagel? Buttered? I JUST WANT AN EGG AND BACON BAGEL!!) we had a few stabs with the cocktail stick to get me marked properly. Once she was happy with the marks I was asked to check them to make sure I was happy with them, which I was. And so it was on to the piercing.
Up until about 10am on Saturday morning I had been pooping myself about getting my nipple pierced. With so many different versions of how it feels and what it is like I wasn't sure what to expect, which lead me to expect the worst. I calmed myself on my journey to Manchester and when I met up with everyone we seemed to calm each other down nicely. I had a friend from the meet in the room with me taking photographs and between the three of us, her Kate and I were talking and making light hearted jokes throughout the whole procedure. Kate apologised profusely as she continually failed to line up the marks we had just made with the clamps, I think she could see it was starting to hurt more and more. After we trimmed some of my chest hair to aid visibility (I'm not ashamed, it kind of helped keep the mood light and fun) we got it in two or three tries, and it was time to breath in and get ready.
I took a deep breath in, exhaled as instructed and felt the needle pass through my body. It was quite a slow piercing, a lot slower than my septum, and on a par with my vertical lobe. Yet, for its lack of speed there was nowhere near as much pain as I'd expected. Truth be told, my septum hurt the most of the four piercings I've had so far; ranking a nipple 4 out 10 on a pain scale would see the septum score a clear 7 or 8. It bled a bit after we cleaned up the blood I was given as much time as I needed to sit myself up and look at my new piercing in the big mirror. I was then given a dressing (I think Kate may have changed her gloves again at this point but as I was too busy lying back thinking "that was cool!" I can't be sure) and sent on my merry way.
I can't thank Kate enough for making me feel so relaxed and happy and ready to go through with this. I've got my nipple piercing I've waited years to get and it's every bit as cool as I thought it would be. Well, except the blood on the sheets, chest and hands this morning...
So stage one complete, stage two pending. But what is stage two I hear you all cry. That's the tattooing my new shiny nipple into the shape of a star. But as they so often say, that's a different story.
Men of the world put your collective mind to rest; nipple piercings do not hurt anywhere near half as much as you think. They are remarkably easy piercings to get, and you'll thank yourself for it in the future.
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