Thinking about getting your nipples pierced? Then you definitely want to check out this video (with the perfect featured still shot) of Ann’s reaction to getting horizontal nipple piercings done by piercing professional, James, from American Skin Art in our hometown of Buffalo, NY.
Money Shot: 0:30 and 1:08
Healing Time: 6 to 9 months for females and 3 to 4 months for males
Initial Jewelry: 14 gauge solid titanium straight barbells or circular rings with the length or diameter depending on the size of your nipple
Want to hear more about Ann’s experience?
Click on the “Read More” link below to see what she personally has to say about her experience and the healing process of getting both of her nipples pierced. If you still aren’t satisfied on your nipple piercing education after that, check out some of our other blog posts on the subject. Oh, and make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content on body piercings and modification culture for your viewing pleasure!
Hey, everyone! Ann here, and yes, that’s me up there getting both of my nipples pierced. And yes, it definitely hurt as bad as it looks – though I’ll be straight up in letting you know that I thought it would hurt a lot more than it actually did.
Here’s some background on what I’ve done body modification wise prior to this:
- three holes in both lobes with the first hole stretched to 7/16″ (11mm)
- septum piercing
- industrial (double helix) piercing
- two cartilage helix piercings
- a total of ten tattoos (most palm-sized or smaller)
- previously have had belly button and monroe piercings
Honestly, out of everything I’ve had done, I think that getting my nipples pierced probably ranked around the same pain level as getting my belly button pierced, though with these guys it had to happen twice instead of just one simple poke of the needle as with a navel piercing. If you think about it, it’s kind of the same type of flesh going on in both places, so it makes sense that it would have the same pain level for the piercing.
Really, I thought I would never get my nipples pierced. I’ve always been a bit of a piercing obsessed gal, but I told myself from an early age that my nipples were just not something to mess with. So why did I end up getting videoed doing just what I said I would never do? Well, I just decided one day that I wanted a new piercing and I decided that my new piercing should be my nipples. Yeah, I’m kind of impulsive.
My decision to go with getting both done at the same time was due to the fact that I didn’t want to wait to get the other done and I knew I would want both eventually. The only reason I even considered going with just one was because of the potential pain I was about to experience, but I figured I might as well go all out if I was going to go through it at all. I definitely recommend getting both done at the same time if you plan on having both.
I wasn’t nervous about getting the actual piercing until about ten minutes before I was about to go into the piercing shop. I was more nervous for the piercing than the fact that my reaction would be on video, which many of you may think is a bit backward. I was panicking and definitely putting some consideration into going back on my plan, but after some pep talk from my boyfriend and a couple of deep breaths, I was ready.
Thankfully, James, my piercer was absolutely wonderful and is without a doubt the best piercer I’ve ever dealt with. He was patient, calm, and totally gentle. You may think it might be a little weird getting your nips pierced by a dude, but I wouldn’t have had anyone else messing with my girls. Professional piercers really do make a difference in both your experience of the piercing as well as the healing process afterward.
So…let’s get to the good part – actually getting my nipples pierced!
First things first: I had to get my nipples measured. Awkward, right? Yeah, it kind of was, but this is an important step because this is how the barbell length used for your piercing jewelry is determined. After that, my shirt went back on while James sterilized his station and the materials that would be used for my piercings. Then, yep, shirt back off again, and two dots of marker were marked on each of my nipples in the spots that would soon have a needle piercing through them. I took a look, asked my boyfriend for his approval of the placement, and laid down on the table for the big show.
Clamps on…deep breath…nope! I have a lot of trouble with proper breathing in cases like this, so even as James told me to breath in and out, it’s almost like my brain couldn’t process it, so I ended up catching my breath and jumping up quite a bit during the first poke, which James handled like the expert that he is – no messed up nips! It hurt pretty bad, not gonna lie (and I’m sure you can believe me based on my reaction in the video). I wasn’t expecting such a sharp pinch so suddenly and it had been almost six years since my last piercing, so you could say I was due for some pain. It kind of felt like that instant that you feel the sting of a bee and it was over with quickly, so I was ready for the next one right away.
The second piercing went much more smoothly, though I definitely still felt the pain. I guess knowing what to expect this time made it a little easier. Honestly, the part that caused me to grit my teeth the most was when he was threading on the ball ends! I walked out of there with a smile on my face, thankful that my boobs held it out and came out of the experience with some adorable new bling.
After the piercing, aftercare is a breeze…
Even immediately after, as I was getting into my car to drive back home, I didn’t feel much pain at all. It was kind of a dull sense of soreness, and that feeling lasted for about a week or so after getting pierced. The day after the piercing, I definitely found it more difficult to move around as quickly and randomly as I had become used to with unpierced nipples over the years, and one of the biggest challenges I faced had to be drying myself off with a towel after showing – these barbells sure know how to get stuck on things!
I wore compression sports bras and tighter fitted clothing for the first week and part of the second week following getting the piercings, and after that, I went back to wearing my normal clothes and normal bras. One tip for girls out there thinking about getting your nipples pierced: if you wear strapless bras or mesh bras, stay away for a few weeks because these move around more and have more risk of catching on the jewelry in your nipples, which can hinder the healing process.
Oh, and another thing I’ve had a lot of people ask me about is the potential loss of sensitivity in your nipple after getting them pierced. I’ll tell you right now that I was pretty worried about this myself and I can assure you that if anything my nips are more sensitive than they were before getting pierced (in a good way!). As long as you go to a professional piercer who knows what they’re doing and take proper aftercare steps to ensure proper healing of your piercings, you should have no worries about any damage to your precious nips!
The healing process went over pretty well, and I’m pretty sure that my use of H2Ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray was one of the reasons for the ease of my recovery. I can’t believe I’ve never used it before with my piercings – that stuff is amazing! It made the crusties go away without rubbing around viciously with a q-tip and it always ended up making my nips feel nice and cool (a welcome feeling from the soreness of a new piercing). For the first two weeks, I also did some salt water soaks where I would dissolve sea salt into distilled water in a bowl or large cup and quite literally stuck my whole boob in there and let it sit for a minute once or twice a day. After that, I stuck to just sprays of H2Ocean about twice a day (usually before I went to bed or following a shower). I haven’t had any issues at all and I’ve already had them for over a month! Overall, I’m super pleased with my nipple piercings and even happier that I decided to get them done. I feel more self-confident and sexy and I can’t wait to show them off this summer during music festival season 
