Nipple The Second Time Around

I first got my nipple pierced in March of 1996. I was stupid, I had no internet access, and did no research, so obviously I went to the worst shop in town just by pure chance. The experience was quite terrible (I spent the first 24 hours in complete pain, unable to sleep) and after a year I removed the piercing.

Getting my nipple redone was always a goal, and I had meant to do it on a couple occasions. However the first experience always hung heavy in my mind, and I guess the best way to put it was that it totally scarred me. How was I supposed to know that piercing a nipple wasn't supposed to be as painful as the horrific first time that I had?

Fast forward to January 31, 2004. A new Way Cool Tattoos had just opened in Kitchener. I had checked it out once, bought some jewelry there, and talked to one of the artists. The best things about Way Cool for me was A) it's located down the street from my place, and B) they're open to 9 every night. That means even on a Saturday I could get off work and get pierced. That's exactly what I did.

A friend from iam.bmezine (JJJewels) had come down to be with me for this experience. I had shared with her the details of my first time, and how bad it was. I told her that I would probably need someone to keep me from chickening out, and (as lame as it sounds) to just hold my hand. I won't lie at all, I was scared lots! I can't put into words how bad my first time was, and I'm sure the intervening years only blew it up in my head.

Julie arrived in town at 6:45 pm, and we drove down to Way Cool. We walked into a bright, clean shop with very friendly staff. We stood around a bit as I hesitated. I will be honest about one thing, Julie went back on a deal we had. The deal was, I would get my nipple, and she would get her lip. Well, she ended up getting her lip done two days before! This changed everything in my mind, I no longer felt committed to getting a piercing. But Julie pushed me, albeit gently. "Do you really want this?" she asked, and I answered yes. I filled out the consent form, paid my $50.55, and was escorted to the back room by an artist who was doing a tattoo when we walked in. He was the only piercer on hand that night, so he interrupted the tattoo for my piercing.

He was a friendly guy, obviously very experienced. My first question to him was, "Will the scar tissue from my previous piercing effect this one at all?" He looked at the nipple and reacted with, "What happened here!?" I told him that it was a long time ago and I didn't know very much back then, but I thought that I was pierced with something large gauge, like a 10. I also told him about the pain I was in, and he told me that was not normal at all, and this time would not be like that.

He cleaned the area, asked me to relax. I had a hard time relaxing, even sitting straight was a chore. He was very patient. I am 100% certain that I was the biggest wuss he had ever seen sit in his chair, and I have no shame in admitting that. All my other piercings were very easy on me, but that first nipple experience had really scarred me emotionally!

Eventually he put the clamps on. It hurt, a lot. I expressed this to him. In an effort to keep me comfortable, he tried again. And again. And again. Then he experimented with clamping my other nipple. It hurt as well. He went back to the first one. Finally he told me just relax, because this was going to be an extremely fast piercing, and I would be fine in just one moment. I said OK, I was ready. Julie came over to hold my hands. (Like I said, I have no shame in admitting this.) I calmed my breathing, until I told him I was finally ready. He asked me to take a deep breath, and exhale slowly.

And what do you know? It hurt no more than my nostril, my lip, or any other piercing. I was truly and totally amazed. This was not what I had expected based on my first time. The jewelry was in before I knew it, and he was cleaning the blood. I was quite a bleeder, but cleaning all the blood gave him time to explain aftercare in detail.

He encouraged me to purchase a product called Betadine solution. It is applied once per day, in the shower. You move the jewelry and allow it to work itself into the holes. Then, equally as importantly, you make sure you rinse carefully, getting all the solution out again. I purchased a bottle for $8, left a tip for him, and walked out very happy.

As I mentioned, my first nipple piercing throbbed so much that I could not even sleep for 24 hours. This one, I forgot about immediately afterwards. We went out to grab a bite to eat (during which I lost the ball to my labret stud, drat!) and hang out for some movies. I didn't even think about my nipple piercing at all, except the odd time when I accidentally leaned it against a pillow every now and then.

The moral of the story is this: Don't let your fears keep you back from getting a body modification that you really want. Whether based on fact or fiction, I think your fears have a way of blowing themselves out of proportion. The other lesson is that my first piercing as Way Cool was extremely positive, and I'm sure I will be back sooner rather than later!