Last week, I had a random idea which turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. I only have my ears pierced, as my mother is fairly conservative and would absolutely flip if I came home with any obvious mods. Or any, for that matter. My dad is much better about body modification, he goes for the "hey that would look cool - it's your body, I don't care as long as you don't hurt yourself" approach. The only thing he doesn't want me doing is my tongue, because he is a dentist and sees a lot of chipped teeth/gum problems from barbells. However with acrylic he might be okay... but anyway, I was at lunch with a group of friends one day when I decided that I wanted a mod. I didn't want to go for genital piercing as my first, it would be a little too scary. I have looked through many pictures of nipple piercing on BME, and I decided that that's what I really wanted. All I see are horizontal and vertical piercing, and I wanted something different. I saw a pic of a diagonal barbell, and I fell in love. I had been thinking about placement for awhile, and I knew as soon as I saw the pic that I wanted a left diagonal barbell.
At A Glance Author j.ho When A week ago Artist Alex Studio Loonar Location Hadley Mass My friend Weezer said her boyfriend was coming up for a weekend, and would take me to get pierced. We were going to Loonar, in Hadley, Mass. Weezer had her eyebrow, tongue, and nipple done, so she helped me prepare myself mentally for the piercing. She had taken some other friends to Loonar to get pierced, and she really liked it and had her eyebrow done there. It was a Sunday morning, and I was eating breakfast and talking with her and some other friends. I remember distinctly that I was eating blueberries and kept dropping them because I was so nervous. Many of my friends didn't believe that I would actually go through with it. It's not a very common piercing, and I didn't have any other piercing, so nobody expected me to go for the nipple first. When I really want something I will try my hardest to get it, and I knew that I would get my nipple pierced, goddammit! Even if the rest of the world didn't agree with me, I wanted to follow my heart (or hypothalamus, o r whatever controls your emotions). Too many times have I listened to society and been unhappy. This would be a triumph over both my dislike for constraint and dislike of needles.
We set off after making a run around the dorm for a tank top, a shirt (to bite), ibuprofen, and keys. We finally set off. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and birds were singing and my heart was racing. I listened to loud music and sang on the way there, and it really helped to take my mind off of the coming stab of my nipple. When we got to the studio, I almost fell out of the car out of nervousness. I walked in, and filled out the paperwork, nearly forgetting my own name. I was told to wait in the waiting area, a girl was getting her tongue pierced in the back. The studio was very comfortable, with little divided areas for tattooing and the piercing rooms separated by blue curtains the in back. I was distracted by the TV and fish tank. Thank god for ADHD. One thing I will definitely recommend: DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. If you think about what is happening, every atom of your body becomes anxious. I pretended I was just chilling with my friends. Finally my name was called, and I was led into a room in the back.
After the walk of doom past the miles of flash on the walls, I sat down in a white leather chair reminiscent of a dentist's chair (which was strangely comforting - it reminded me of my dad). The walls were white, and the counter holding all the equipment was clean and neat. Everything looked sterile and nice. My piercer introduced himself as Alex. He himself had many facial piercing s, and was comforting. He asked if I would raise my shirt, and that would be awkward for me, so I just took it off. I have never been uncomfortable being naked in front of strangers, and I figured that he has seen (and pierced) enough boobs to be used to it. He was. I sat down, and we talked while he prepared the equipment. My stomach went all funny at this point. He used a toothpick and violet to mark entry and exit points, and they looked good to me. He rubbed some anitseptic on my nipple, and pinched it a little to get it where he wanted. This tickled. I laughed. He said to rela x and he would line up the needle. My natural needle reaction kicked in: squirm, laugh, breathe shallowly, squeak. I can't help it at all. Finally I calmed myself down enough and said ok, go for it. I held a rolled up shirt in my mouth, which I bit down on. Hard. He said to breathe in, then he would pierce on the exhale. It went as planned, except for my exhale. I screamed, grunted, groaned, squeaked, and yelped, muffled by my shirt which I nearly bit a hole through. The pain was excruciating, and I silently promised my nipple never to do such a horrible thing to it again. After 3 seconds of pain, it was over. I was shocked. After the burn, nothing. I looked down and there was this huge needle sticking through my nipple. That was a little unnerving, as I couldn't feel it at all. I shivered and looked back up. I could hear Weezer laughing through the curtains and across the store. I was quite loud, I guess. For me, a combination of biting something and maki ng loud noise is how I best deal with pain. Alex said "ok, now I have to put the barbell in. I said go for it. I bit my shirt again and wasn't very loud, but I made a few weird noises. It hurt a little and was fairly uncomfortable, and probably lasted for about 6 seconds. He said ok, done and screwed the ball on the end. I looked in the mirror and couldn't stop smiling. I had a beautiful, new shiny barbell through my nipple!!! It looked amazing! I left the store grinning like an idiot after giving my piercer a huge hug.
A week and a half later, I am doing wonderful. I have gone for the leave-it-the-hell-alone approach for the most part, and it works. I wash my piercing in the shower twice a day with Dial soap, and do warm salt soaks twice a day, or whenever my nipple is feeling a little sore/funky/unloved. Other than that: NO TOUCHY. Well, I touch it sometimes (with clean clean clean hands) to adjust it if it feels weird. The first day it was a little sore, but putting pressure above it helped. Now, there is no pain, just a wonderful feeling! There's a tiny bit of crusties, but I wash this off in the shower. A tiny bit of dried blood the first couple days, which washed off easily in the shower. Tank tops with shelf bras have been my best friends, they're all I wear during the day and to bed. I have been in excruciating pain only twice, once when I accidentally snapped my shirt up and it caught the bottom of the barbell and yanked it up, and once when my friend accidentally did the same thing with his elbow. Just be careful, and you should be fine. If you are at all considering this piercing, DO IT!!!!!!!!! It is only a few seconds of pain, and you will be so so so happy. Please, everyone, go and get your nipple pierced. It is the best thing ever.