Today I got my first ever piercing - my nipple! I've always been fascinated by other peoples' piercings (especially on females) but never really considered one for myself - until recently!
At A Glance Author JHe Artist Kelvin Studio Cold Steel Location Camden Town, London, UK My girlfriend has had her belly button pierced for a couple of years and she fancied having her Tragus done. Naturally I was very keen for this to happen. Then she said "What about you?". Well, this got me thinking. The main dilemma was what to have done. As I work in education, any facial piercing was out of the question as my employers believe this will set the wrong example to the kids!
Then we came up with the obvious answer - my nipples. You see, they are VERY sensitive and my girlfriend loves to play with them (and I love her doing it!). How about increasing the sensitivity and general horniness of my nipple by getting one of them pierced? I thought long and hard about it -for about two minutes! "Why not" I thought. My girlfriend was loving the idea too so without much persuasion, I decided to go for it!
A friend of mine recommended to me a studio in Camden Town, London. I trusted her judgement as she has thirty -six (yes thirty-six) piercings of all shapes and sizes! The studio in question was Cold Steel, Camden High Street. I decided to see if they had a website and they did (and an excellent one it is too). The place looked very professional, clean and full of experienced staff. I Emailed them asking about cost and healing time and I recieved a very quick and informative reply. Before long, I had booked myself and my girlfriend in! I then kind of forgot about until a couple of days ago. That is when I started to get a little nervous but at no point did I think I might back out. I was definately going to do this!
So to this morning! The Camden Town area of North London is one cool place. It has lots of funky shops and market stalls and as for the people, well it is a piercing fan's dream. Every other person you see has a piercing or four (and tattoos)! Anyone who has not been there should go. The vibe is very relaxed and almost Amsterdam like (without you know what - well a bit of it!)
The studio had told us to eat before we arrived so a chocolate bar was in order (got to keep those blood sugar levels high) and I certainly was in need of a couple of cigarettes just to calm my nerves!
As we climbed the stairs up to the studio I must admit I was feeling pretty nervous (so was my girlfriend). The studio was as expected - friendly and busy (a good sign) and so were the staff. We filled in a short form and chose our jewellery. My girlfriend picked a small silver ring for her Tragus and I decided upon a simple but cool silver bar. We paid our money (£20 for the piercing plus the price of the jewellery) and were asked to follow our piercer called Kelvin up to his studio.
The room was spotless and welcoming. We decided that my girlfriend would go first. Kelvin cleaned up her Tragus and marked the spot with a pen. My girlfriend checked that the spot was ok and then lay back. Kelvin clamped the Tragus and inserted the needle. My girlfriend winced but was soon smiling as Kelvin put the ring in. It was so quick and it looked brilliant. But this meant one thing - it was my turn!
Kelvin went through a very similar procedure with me, cleaning up my nipple and marking the spot. As the clamp went on my left nipple, it felt like someone tugging hard on it - uncomfortable but not too painful. Then came the needle. I was lying down and had my eyes closed so I can only tell you what it felt like. To be honest, it was no way as bad as I thought. Yes it hurt, but only for a brief time, maybe a second or so. As the bar was put through, it again felt like a tugging sensation.
I lay back for a couple of minutes and then looked in the mirror. It looked great. perfect. the size of the bar was just right and it did not look strange at all, almost as if it had always been pierced. My girlfriend had a BIG smile on her face as she peered at it! I was pierced and proud of it!
As I write, about seven hours later, my piercing feels sore but not too uncomfortable. My girlfriend's Tragus is the same. It will take between four to six months to heal properly so no playing with it yet. I have got a special liquid soap which I must use twice a day and apart from that it is a matter of leaving it alone to heal up nicely. How it will feel tomorrow is anyone's guess but whatever it is like it will be worth it that is for sure!
I would like to recommend Cold Steel in Camden for all the reasons mentioned above. They are so obviously dedicated to their art and it is clear that they really know what they are doing. There's no doubt that if we require more piercing (and it is a safe bet that will be the case) we will return there. What it will be next I am not sure although my girlfriend wants her nose pierced.
So to all you people who have read nipple piercing horror stories - do not worry. Go to a professional piercer and you will be fine! The piercing experience was not pleasurable in the sense that I enjoyed it but it was not too bad. If you want something bad enough then it is worth it.
Best wishes to all readers,
JHe