'm a 20 year old female college student in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
One Thursday night, a friend persuaded me to go with her to Denver to get pierced. She was hellbent on getting a rook ear piercing, and wanted to get it done before she lost her nerve. I agreed to go, because I had been craving more piercings for a while. I thought that the nipple piercings with barbells on BME were especially intriguing, so that's what I decided to get.

Several friends of mine had recommended Bound by Design (1336 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO, 80218) as the best place in Denver to get pierced (and supposedly far better than anything Colorado Springs had to offer)...Brooke seconded, and so we went to Denver with three other friends. After a boring hour's drive, we were greeted by a large, clean, beautiful store...incense, cases of piercing jewelry, candles, more jewelry, and all sorts of interesting items were on display. After answering some of our questions about jewelry and stuff, the counter girl sent me back to the piercer (Angie) to measure my nipples for properly sized jewelry. The piercing room was spacious and clean, with a beautiful green painting suspended above the piercing table. The piercer was really friendly and nice, complimenting me on my Legendary Pink Dots t-shirt, and chatting with me about bands and stuff to relieve some of my anxiety. After the measuring, I decided on crescent barbells, and the piercer chose 14 gauge, 5/8" long barbells.

After about forty minutes, my name was called and I headed into the piercing room. Angie had me stand with my feet shoulder-width apart and looked straight ahead so she could clean and mark my nipples. Then I anxiously lay down on the table. I admit, I got so nervous that I didn't even look at the instruments, nor did I notice how often or when she changed her gloves. I foolishly kept my head turned, and just trusted in Angie that everything was safe, clean, and uncontaminated.
(Not a very smart move, but everything so far is fine. I've also vowed to be less trusting and naive).

Anyway, Angie placed the clamp on my right nipple, explaining her actions step-by-step. "Okay, this is just a little pinch, that's the clamp," she explained. "Okay, I want you to take a deep breath..." I felt a sharp object against the side of my nipple, and then a searing pain as the needle passed through. I gasped, "Oh my god!" as I tried my hardest to remain still. Then a worse, harsher pain came as I felt Angie inserting the jewelry. I could feel the barbell being pushed through and the needle being pushed out. "Breathe!" Angie commanded. I clenched my eyes shut as I forced myself to suck in air. The bead was screwed on the end of the barbell, and Angie gently swabbed my right nipple with some sort of antiseptic solution. "Is that one done?" I asked, a bit hoarsely. "Yup, that one is all done. Time for the next one." Angie replied. The pain was so bad that I was tempted to tell her to stop and not perform the second piercing, but I (fortunately) wasn't quick enough--Angie rolled the equipment table to the other side of the piercing table and prepared for the second piercing. I forced myself to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and tried to clear my mind. I'm sure I was panting like a woman in labor, but I didn't want to thrash around on the table at the wrong moment and lose a nipple.

The second nipple piercing hurt just as badly as the first one did.
Like my tongue and the first nipple, the worst pain came when the barbell pushed the needle out of the piercing. I whimpered, but finally it was over. "Go ahead and look at them." Angie said. I slowly got up and checked out my new piercings in the mirror. My grin was so big, it must've wrapped twice around my head! My nipples were finally pierced!
The rush left me feeling a bit faint, I lay down again. Angie taped gauze over my piercings "like some sort of evil science project".
Fortunately, I didn't bleed much, which seems to be the case with all piercings I've had so far. My tongue only bled a drop or so, and that was pierced with a 10 gauge needle (November 1994). I have a Celtic knotwork tattoo on my left shoulderblade (July 1996), and that only bled a drop after the tattoo artist (Donald Purvis of Indiana...I highly recommend him because he's fantastic!) was finished. If I did bleed during my nipple piercing, it was washed away when Angie swabbed the piercings. I certainly didn't find any blood on the gauze or on my clothing. That's another reason I'm glad to have gotten the barbells...they're less likely to tear or move around during the healing process.

After thanking Angie for such a pleasant piercing experience (on the whole, it was excellent!), I went back to my friends, who were sitting on couches in the store. My nipples throbbed with pain. Brooke asked, "So how did it go?" and the only reply I could muster was a whiny sort of groan. I headed back to the counter to buy Bactine and discuss the best methods of aftercare. Angie explained how to clean my piercing:
antibacterial soap only once per day in the shower (rinse really well afterwards), Bactine (no more than twice per day, and rinse afterwards!), and warm salt water soaks (1-3 times daily, 10-15 minutes per soak, 3 teaspoons of salt per quart of water).

Afterwards...the ride home was hellish. My nipples felt like they were about to fall off. Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with seat belts because I was sitting in the back seat (I rarely wear them in the back seat, anyhow). We stopped at a gas station and I picked up a packet of ibuprofen, to relieve the swelling and pain a bit. I suppose that swelling is the body's natural defense mechanism to prevent foreign bodies from entering the wound, but the swelling was getting to be seriously painful. I took two tablets of ibuprofen once I got home, and left the gauze on until the next morning. To avoid catching the barbells on anything, I wore a tight-fitting tank top to bed (I still do, and probably will continue to wear it until they're fully healed).

It's only been a few weeks since I got pierced, but so far things are great! Twice-daily hot salt water soaks have been keeping the piercings in good condition, too. I couldn't remember how long I was supposed to use the Bactine for, so I called Bound by Design. Angie told me that "your body will tell you when to stop using the Bactine". She said that my nipples would get red and slightly swollen when I was over-cleaning the piercings. I used Bactine twice a day for the first two weeks, but now I've slowed down to once per day. I guess it will take a couple of months until I can stop using the antibacterial soap on them, too.
After they've healed, Angie said that I might wake up one day to find the piercings crusty and angry-looking...-she said to just soak them in hot salt water (for 10 minutes once per day), and they ought to be fine.

It will take about two months before my nipple piercings heal. My nipples were never really sensitive before, but their sensitivity has greatly increased because of the piercings. Most people I know wince in pain whenever I tell them about (or show them!) my newly decorated nipples, probably because very few of my friends are pierced or tattooed. However, I am very happy with my latest piercings. The pain of piercing and inconvenience of aftercare have all been completely worth it. If you're pondering getting your nipple(s) pierced, I fully encourage you to get it done!

email: ducatigirl@hotmail.com