Well - three years ago I decided I was going to get my right nipple pierced. I spent a lot of time researching the procedure on the internet (thank you bme and others) and decided to just go for it. I talked my friend Jason into going with me to hold my hand. He was rather squeamish about the whole idea, but I bullied him a bit, showed him some pictures of just finished procedures, and he decided it would be okay (he's gay as springtime by the way).
At A Glance Author switch Contact switch@bme.anon When Two years ago Artist Jo Studio Mystic Marks Location TX I shopped around some, which was pretty easy because there were only four parlors in the town. I decided on a studio that I knew pretty well. I'd gone with another friend of mine to get her tattoo there, so I knew it was clean, and they had a working autoclave, etc. Also it was only fifty bucks for the whole thing including jewelry. One of the other places wanted 90 dollars, and wasn't nearly as clean anyway. I walked in, clutching my friend's hand and tapped my foot anxiously waiting for someone to ask me what I wanted. I have no idea why I was terrified, since I'd already had my navel pierced once, my ears twice (and stretched once), and been tattooed. Perhaps it was just that there were so many other things that could go wrong (not all the pics I saw were of successful piercings), or the fact that my nipples are, well, special to me I guess.
So, someone finally came and asked me what I wanted, and I told her, and was introduced to my piercer. She had quite a few piercings herself (I don't really trust piercers without piercings) and she was heavily pregnant. Very, very pregnant.
I found this both funny and frightening, but I went for it anyway. She checked me out to make sure I was a good candidate for the piercing, marked me with that cute little purple pen, and we picked out my jewelry. I went with a curved barbell because I'd heard that they heal better (this was a good and bad decision, because now I find that I can't comfortably wear a circular barbell or a CBR).
Then I laid down on the reclining chair, took my friend's hand, and took a very deep breath. I looked to my right where she was sitting, and all I could see was her very pregnant belly. I tightly gripped the arm of the chair, because I was so scared I would look it and somehow hit her belly.
Then she put on the clamp. That was the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life up to that point.
I said "I don't want to do this" just as she unwrapped the needle. She replied "Yes you do" and she pierced me in one quick motion. And that was the absolutely worst pain ever in my life.
Years after I had surgery to remove a tumor from my cervix. That pain didn't even compare with the pain of having my nipple pierced. My friend looked on very clinically, saying "I thought there'd be blood spurting everywhere." He and the piercer chatted while she installed my jewelry, and I tried to get some air into my lungs. It didn't work for awhile. After she finished messing with the jewelry, I was better. There was hardly any blood at all, about as much as from scraping your knee or something. Of course the pain was nothing like that.
And then, only then, after the whole thing was over, did those lovely endorphins flood my system. I was flying higher than I'd ever flown before. I don't recall getting my shirt back on, or paying her, or even leaving the shop. I know I did these things because my friend told me I did. I just remember the incredible euphoria. Oh, and I remember the moment when I realized it was Martin Luther King day. I laughed like hell.
And my friends tell me that I was insufferable for days, because I was so proud of this incredibly painful thing I had just gone through. I was telling everyone I had ninety pound brass balls.
That day I did take some Naproxen Sodium before I went to bed, just to take the edge off the pain in case I bumped it during the night. It's important not to take aspirin or anything like that because it will thin the blood and could make it start bleeding. For the same reason you shouldn't drink until it's healed some.
The only time it ever hurt after that was some minor pain while cleaning it (my piercer recommended Bactine twice a day, which worked great, plus there's a mild topical pain reliever in it), and every once in a while it would just hurt for no reason. Ice works great for that, just don't apply the ice directly to the nipple. Not because it wouldn't be fun, but because it's not healed yet and ice isn't always clean. After six weeks, I started using my piercing... recreationally (wink, wink; nudge, nudge), and it was so worth it. For awhile I had to wear a bra to bed, I guess about a month. I still can't go topless to bed, because it catches on the sheets. I still clean it once a day in the shower with Bactine, and I have no problems with it. I love it so much. Take good care of it, wash your hands with antibacterial soap before you touch it, and make sure that it's totally healed before you let anybody lick it.