After two years of indecision, I decided to give myself a nipple piercing as an I-Escaped-High-School-Hell graduation gift. I had wanted one for a long while but I wasn't sure where to get it or when. The summer after Hell finished, I decided it was time. My boyfriend and I did some research and found a place half an hour from his house in Cary, IL called Fox Lake Tattoo. Well, we went there on his birthday (July 24) but they were closed for the day (err it was only 5:00...what the fuck) so we decided to go back a few days later.
At A Glance Author SexyAdonis Contact SexyAdonis@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist a nice guy Studio Fox Lake Tattoo Location Cary, IL I was leaving for a three-week trip to England with my family that same week so it had to be done before then. I started to feel the pressure and got sweaty palms thinking about some strange guy putting a needle in my poor nipple...I had only gotten my ears done (three per ear) before. When we got there some handsome latino guy behind the counter asked how he could help me.
"Er, well, I want my nipple pierced," I said. I half expected the guy's eyes to bug and his tongue to loll out of his mouth, dripping drool. Silly me and my imagination. "That's fine, can I see your ID please?" He checked my ID then had me sit down. I couldn't sit still and began leafing through the tattoo flash books while with my boyfriend. The piercer came out and directed me to a counter that had the jewelry. He was tanned and had longish curly brown hair tied back with a flag bandanna. He showed me different jewelry and I decided on a 14ga ring (it was what I had pictured myself with anyway). He didn't have any surgical steel rings, though, and recommended I get that.
Soooo I had to go to some mall that was half an hour away to get the jewelry. Sheesh....by then the sun was starting to set. We went to Hot Topic (which I HATE....stupid store for suburban Goths. Give me Medusa's Circle in Chicago anyday! Ok enough store-bashing...). I got the jewelry from a crabby, snobby salesgirl (another reason I hate Hot Topic...) and hauled ass out of there. We got back to the piercer's in record time.
Well, right away I was escorted to a room...a woman was getting her back tattooed on the other side of the room (couldn't see what the tatt was before the piercer closed the curtain). The room had pictures of tattoos and artwork all over it. I watched the piercer, he wore latex gloves and used equipment from sealed packages, etc etc...he even sterilized a cold can of beer in case I wasn't 'hard enough'. That made me giggle....my boyfriend was there with me and was a little jealous of another guy seeing me but I told him the piercer has probably seen many many nipples. Men are so silly....Anyway, the guy put two dots on my nipple for location, shook his head, did them again, then held mirror up so I could see. Perfect! He held a cork on one side of my nipple and held the needle up. It looked so big and sharp, oh my! I began breathing deeply and relaxed long before he told me "Ok on three breaths...". Heh. He slipped the needle through and it was done. He seemed like he was waiting for something. "You ok?" he said at last. I realized I hadn't made a peep. "Oh yeah I'm great!" I said, probably with a cheesy grin on my face. I didn't feel any pain, it actually felt kind of good... He slipped the jewelry through and placed the ball on the ring.
"Watch that ball, it might fall off," he said. (It never did. I can hardly get it to budge, in fact!) He gave me a care sheet and some Bactine. "Watch her in case she gets dizzy," the guy said to my boyfriend with a wink. I felt just fine...the endorphin rush left me a little lightheaded but dizzy? Nahh! My boyfriend drove home just in case, though.
The piercing healed well, it was a little sore for a couple weeks. I wore a gauze pad in my bra cup the first couple days in case it bled, and it did bleed the first night but only then. I couldn't sleep on my stomach for a week though. I cleaned it and moved the ring around religiously and had no problems except for a small yellow blister near the hole a couple months later. I put a hot washcloth on it for 10 mins a day and applied bactine and it went away after a week and never came back.
One thing I WAS worried about was the metal detector at the airport. I could just imagine my ring setting it off and the handheld detector beeping right at my nipple. "Uh sir it's my underwire bra," I would stammer out with my astonished parents looking on. Well the detector DID go off but my steel toed combat boots were responsible, not the little ring. Whew!