By looking at me, I would be the last person you'd think who'd have pierced nipples. I have two grown kids, have been married to the same woman for 30 years, am somewhat over weight, and just generally does not look like the stereotypical person that would have body modifications. In fact, other than one tattoo, these are the sum total of mine.
At A Glance Author Old Dude When N/A Artist self I decided to pierce my nipples as a surprise for my wife after she saw a picture during a visit to the tattoo shop to get her 15 year old tattoo touched up (another story in itself) and she mentioned that she thought they looked sexy. Because of my age at the time, 36 years old, and because of the fact that I'm somewhat self conscious of what my body looks like, I decided to do it myself and gathered the necessary pieces to get the job done. When I pierced them 14 years ago, there were not anywhere near the number of shops available that there are now and piercings themselves were not as readily accepted in public. Besides, if my wife decided she did not like them on me, I would not be out the cost of both time and money spent to have them done professionally if I did them myself. How hard could it be?
I picked a day when she was at work, the kids safely off to school, and I had the day off to myself to do it. I laid out my needles and large gauge earrings I had acquired on a paper towel in the bathroom, opened the bottle of alcohol to sterilize my nipples, and then wondered if I was going to have enough nerve to follow through with the plan.
Those of you that have had your nipples pierced know that they're not the most pain free piercing you can have done, right? Well , I did not know that tidbit of information and did not know anybody who could enlighten me, so I lined up the needle to where it looked horizontal in the mirror, pinched my right nipple top and bottom and pushed.
It was about this time when I wondered what the heck I was thinking. The needle was halfway through and I was beginning to doubt if I had the where-with-all to finish the job. But I could give up and quit, remove the needle and have endured what pain I had already inflicted upon myself for nothing, or suck it up and finish at least the one side. So after a few deep breaths, I pushed until the needle made it all the way through. Man that hurt! Following the needle with the ring was also, umm, interesting.
Here is where having a professional pierce you is a really good idea. When you have a professional pierce you, he/she is not going to chicken out halfway through the job and is going to make sure things are perfectly straight and level. When I started, stopped, and started again, I let the angle of the needle change and ended up with the exit hole slightly higher than the entrance, but I sure was not going to start over! Close enough for me. But take it from me, there is no excuse these days to do it yourself. Do yourself a favor and do not do it yourself, go to a professional.
After a few minutes to gather my wits, I had to decide if I was going to call one good enough or if I was going to brave round two. I am the kind of guy that likes things balanced and equal, so I decided 'no guts, no glory'.
The left side was pretty much the same as the right. I spent the rest of the day making sure nothing touched my chest and worrying what my wife was going to say when she got home from work. Luckily, she loved the look and could not wait for them to heal so she could touch them.
That brings us to the main topic, living long term with pierced nipples. As a general rule, I bet most men do not know how much feeling and pleasure nipple piercings can bring. Before piercing mine, nipple play really did not enter the sexual experience for me. But I soon found out exactly what I had been missing. My wife really loved the look of them and would touch my nipples and rings through my shirt after they healed. That light touch was enough to drive me crazy, and it was not long before she learned to use that to her advantage. She learned to turn a two hour drive in the car into a two hour foreplay session that has me ready to jump her the minute the car stops. That touch, tugs, licks, etc. during lovemaking are hard to describe. Although the intensity of the sensation has diminished some over the years, it still is a lot more than before, and well worth the pain investment all those years ago.
The downside for me was, and is, dealing with the questions and ribbing I get from others when they find out a guy of my age and background has pierced nipples. I guess they are expected and accepted pretty easily if you're in your teens or twenties and have six-pack abs, but we older guys can not have them? At least that has been my experience. I work in a blue collar environment and hear a lot of crap from the younger guys after wearing a too tight t-shirt to work one day and someone noticed my rings showing through. Going to a public beach or pool gathers a few sideways looks and so forth, also. For quite a few years, if I was going to be somewhere that questions could arise, I would remove the rings or barbells until I got home so I would not have to deal with it. But I have come to the realization that I am the same person either way, so people can accept me or not, their choice.
The main thing that counts for me is my wife loves them and she is the one I really want to please. The ones that giggle and point do not get to feel the pleasure and experience the joy they bring to that special woman.