Hi. About a month and a half ago I was out of town with my band. Anyways, we all decided that it would be a good idea to all get our nipples pierced. You know, sort of a band unity thing.
At A Glance Author fiftytwochameleons Contact fiftytwochameleons@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Cheryl Studio This one girls's house Location Shhh.... We all headed down to a local record store to buy jewelry and the needles. I took one look at the 14 guage piercing needle and felt nautious. I made a big mistake and went with the 16 guage. I'm kicking myself still for that one. Another bad decision was opting for the 1/2" horseshoes ("I think those'll fit...yeah...that should work.") Altogether the whole ordeal cost me about $25. Now, from what I've experienced, seen, and heard, I can tell you that with bodymods, most of the time you get what you pay for. It sounds stupid, but I can also tell you that it's easy for one to mistake the size of one's own nipples.
We went to pick up Cheryl. She's been piercing other people and herself for a few years now. We went to Cheryl's friend's apartment. You see, at the time you'd think there'd have been a few red flags that would have gone off, but no.
Cheryl boiled all the jewelry for 10 minutes to disinfect it, washed her hands, and pulled out an armchair. Our fiddle player was up first. I watched it being done and felt sick.
I was gagging into the toilet when it came around to my turn. I clutched our drummer's hand and chewed on a bandana as the most searing pain of my life grabbed ahold of my erogenous zones and slapped me the fuck upside the head. After the left nipple, I was pretty impressed with myself for not weeping like a little girl. The right nipple was a little trickier. The needle went about halfway in and WOULDN'T GO THROUGH. There was an audible *POP!* as it finally jabbed through. It bled like a BITCH. They looked wonderful though, it was such a rush.
Our guitarist was up next. The other guitarist pussed out (he ended up doing them 3 weeks later with 14 guage...damn him and his smart decision.) After that, we went back to the studio (err...basement) where we were recording and finished up some tracks. My right nipple was bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. It was sort of scaring me. It kept soaking through all the tissue paper and into my bra. Owies...:(
Anyways, surprisingly, the next day it felt fine. Better than fine. Cleaning them was mildly arousing. Ever heard the phrase "hurts so good?" Yeah...well, this was the literal application of it.
When I got back home, I was cleaning them religiously. Antibacterial soap every morning in the shower and salt soaks and bactine at night. I did a little bit of research and found out this was an EXTREMELY bad idea. All the text I looked at strongly advised against cleaning more often than once a day after the first 2 weeks, and definitely not moving the rings through the holes so much.
Unfortunately, by this time the left nipple had already started to reject. Hardcore. This was EXTREMELY painful. Since I live in a small town and I am a long ways away from a reputable piercer, I didn't know what to do. Research I did was conflicting. Should I take it out? Is it infected, or rejecting? A few days ago, I went into our local "piercing studio" (they do navel piercings, an an occasional nostril) and asked for some advice. The lady said to just still a 14 guage barbell through it. Now, thankfully intuition spoke to me...it said, "ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?" Something told me that shoving a 14 guage straight barbell through an overly-curved (because of the small jewelry) REJECTING, MIGRATING 16 guage piercing was a bad idea. It had dropped so low that it looked bad anyways...it was at least 3/8" below its original position, so I just took it out a few nights ago. The hole closed up almost overnight. The next time we're out of town, I'm going to go to a STUDIO and get it done, providing they will accept a signature from a non-guardian (ie, one of the guys in the band). Definitely with a 14-guage.
Now I'm concentrating all my energies onto my left nipple. Operation: Save the Piercing! Since I went through such an phenomenal amount of pain to get them done, I want to save at least half the work. Getting a needle shoved through scar tissue can't possibly feel good. It has migrated a little downward, so it's slightly crooked, but it still looks fairly good. At this point I am looking for suggestions. I have read that it's not a good idea to be turning the ring, or loosen crusties and things, as it's been likened to picking a scab over and over. Someone with experience, please tell me, should I replace it with a 3/4" 16 guage CBR, or does the size not matter (I've read that it affects healing time if the jewelry is too small). Should I just leave it? I want to keep it in if at all possible, but I would consider re-piercing at a later date if there is no other way.
In closing, let me just remind you...go to a studio to get piercings, please. Make sure the piercer knows what they're doing. Ask to see a portfolio. Don't fuck your nipples up. They're your friends.