Nipple Piercings (after 6 weeks)
 

Ok so at least 8 or nine weeks ago i had my nipples pierced. they healed up fine and I had slightly curved bar bells put in. Well I wanted straight black ones so my bf got me a bunch of different pairs. I changed them last night and put the new ones in hydrogen peroxide to clean them (didnt have anything else). They went in super easy but today the are trender and sensitive again. Does anyone have any knowledge as to why. I'm not alergic to hydrogen peroxide and the jewelry is supposed to be titanium(i am alergic to nickel). Any help would be appreciated maybe this will just go away in a few days.
Thanks Ladies

Its normal. I have had pierced nipples for 2 years or so now. While the surface of the wound has healed all the way through, its a deep wound. It will be more like 3-6 months before you can change your piercings without some sensativity. Spray bactine with lidocaine will disinfect, lubricate and numb them up for a little while.

My current jewelry is titanium and I wont wear anything else! Are the balls titanium or cheap nickel? Youd probably be better off with plastic or hematite or stainless surgical steel.

Hope this helped. :)

I have to 2nd lady sage...I've had min 6 years now and I if I remember right it was about 5 months before mine didnt feel sensitive from the piercing itself and I didnt scream in pain if the bars got got in my bra lol

Well mine havent been sensitive for at least 3 to 4 weeks now. That was until I changed the piercings. Also is it normal to have some clear liquid come out of them now. It hasnt been doing this until this morning.

you may be allergic to whatever you're wearing now...my piercer told me 6 months (because every persons healing time is different...for instance if you smoke it will take a LOT longer to heal) before I tried new jewelry. A natural part of the process for healing any wound includes the secretion of a white-yellow fluid (containing dead cells and blood plasma). This fluid will dry and form crust on your jewelry so always be sure to clean with in a hot shower to loosen it. If you feel that the normal secretion is turning into a thicker and darker discharge, then go to your Dr to make sure its not infected.

Also you mentioned 8 weeks...thats only two months...you are NOT healed yet even if you think you might be....nipples take 3-6 months to heal completely

This thread has removed any doubt from my mind that I don't want pierced nipples. *shudder* You ladies are much braver than I!

I got those same shudders....specially when Shani mentioned getting caught on the bra!:eek:

oh I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I will lose them next month when I have my breast reduction....I will have to wait about a year to get them redone :(

Oh it didnt hurt any worse than getting your ears pierced!

Secondly I had inverted nipples, piercing fixed that.

I prefer captive ball rings (round ones with nothing to get caught on a bra) and have no problems.

Clear fluid is called claret, its your bodies way of flushing the piercing.
Keep it clean and lubricated. Peroxide is a drying agent so get some of that spray bactine!

Thanks for bringing this topic up! I have been considering getting my nipples pierced for about three or four months. I really want to have them pierced, but am not sure about the process of the piercing. I think I can tolerate the actual piercing part just fine, it's the healing process I'm concerned about. When I had my ears pierced they were really sore and tender for about a week, and I'm not sure if I want to go through that with my nipples, as they're a more prominent part of my body and I wouldn't want to be whacking them accidentaly and have them be sore and such.

Hope your nipples heal well tho, LC!

I cringe at the usage of bactine! Ladies! While bactine is slightly better than hydrogen peroxide it's still a rough agent and is very drying. Ideally your piercer should have suggested something to clean them like satin or provon soap. Clean with the soap in the shower, and never EVER wipe with cotton because the threads get caught around the jewlery and cause further problems. For all of my piercings I soaked daily with a sea salt mix that has the salinity of tears, so think 1/4 teaspoon to 1L water. Warm it up and always always use a clean container like a dixie cup or something of the sort.

Really? Maybe it was the lidocaine in the bactine I used because it always left mine soft and lubed. I dunno?

I have basically no problems with them i love mine to death and would definetly do it again in heartbeat. They actually have stopped hurting but my peircer told me that it takes about 6 weeks to heal but who knows i know im not alergic to titanium so maybe it was the peroxide that did it plus i went from bent to straight barwith bigger balls on the end so who knows, but they did stop hurting yea!

They heal from the outside in. I hate to use surgery as an example but, for example, my mom had quad bypass surgery. Chest scar: the skin healed first then the muscle under it, the bone under that, more muscle, the pericardial sac and the heart and new grafts itself.

Kinda like when the nipples did the "itching" stage? It was a deep down IN THERE kinda itch. If you knock them against something its still gonna hurt trust me. In a few months you can change the jewelry whenever you want without any discomfort. :)

I loved bactine for my nose piercing, and it didn't irritate or dry at all. The piercing place recommended Dial soap and/or an enzymatic saline solution (H2Ocean?) but I like the bactine.

I've thought about getting my nipples pierced, but ratbastid objects - doesn't want to "mess with perfection" as he says. Cute, but :rolleyes:

Does it hurt more or less than an ear cartilege piercing? That one took about a year to heal completely. Yipe.

It hurt like a 1-2 OW! Then it was all over. Healed in 6 weeks. Healed inside in about 6 mos. It didnt hurt unless you messed too much. You could have oral pleasure or even good tweaks goin on but too much tugging or changing jewelry made it sore for a day or so. :)

Thanks Lady Sage! I'm really looking forward to getting mine pierced now. My husband is all kinds of excited- he's wanted me to get them pierced for about six months now, but I've not been completely for it- just because of the pain. Now I can't wait!

Thanks girls!

A word of warning... you will hate the seatbelt for the first week and the morning after shower... thats gonna sting a bit.

So worth it though trust me.

OK, so the reason I would want my nipples pierced is that I can have AMAZING boobie-gasms if things are done just right, and given how sensitive my earlobes are, and how nuzzling and nibbling on earrings can be super sexy, I'm thinking that perhaps the nipple rings would be equally (or more!) fun toys. I think getting a little captive ring, and having it tugged on (gently) or flicked with a tongue seems like it would be just about the best thing ever. Is it that good, or are they just mostly decorative?

Both! They feel good and look great..... *shudder at the thought*

Ears for you neck for me and trail the way down to the.......... check please!

I just got mine done last week
 

I just got mine done and I can tell you I thought it didnt hurt nearly as much as it did to get some tattoos done... I was told by the guy who did it to use plastic spoons to cover them to protect them from irritation from bras etc, but I found that not to be a problem, as I have been wearing sports bras this week, and there are no seams to annoy the piercings. I have had little trouble with the crusties he said I would have, and I have been diligent in keeping them clean and applying triple antibiotic ointment to them, although I have cut that back to only at night now, to keep from clogging the pores.
He told me that it would only take 10 days to heal, but I knew that would be a little bit hard to believe. I figured it would take at least 3 months for a good healing for them. But would I do it again? YOU BET!!! I did it for my man, I never thought I would do something like this, but I find it highly erotic to look at them now... and like I said, it didnt hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would.

Told ya! :D You will have oodles of fun with them!!

I would really really like to get mine done, but the SO is not convinced.

Anyone got any input as to things I could tell him that might convince him to let me do it?

Its your body and youll pierce what you want to. :D

Tell him if ya dont like it you can always take them out and they will go back to normal.

The first is very much my normal attitude, lol, when it comes to smaller things. But this is a pretty major change to my body, so I'd like him to approve of it first, and since we're not the richest folks in the world, I'd rather NOT have to take them out.

Best 40 bucks I ever spent but most places here only charge 25 now cause its so common. Shop around :)

I would take him to a couple of online places to "shop" for a pair or two of nipple rings that you can wear when youre healed up... let him pick out a pair or two of special pairs that really get his juices going... maybe that will turn him around. There are lots of places online that sell them some are pretty reasonable too. I would recommend some, but I dont think its allowed so I wont just do a search for nipple rings and you will find all kinds of places. There are even some on that famous online auction place... I have two pairs coming from there myself! So you can make it fun and find something cool that might get him jazzed too... good luck!

heya montana!

You're totally allowed to recommend sites, just not plug them in your siggy or anything like that. So, you can totally recommend E-bay, just not flood a thread with repeated ads or put a link to E-bay in your signature.



On another note, I GOT MY NIPPLES PIERCED TODAY! It's really great and awesome, I LOVE my peircer, and it hurt less than getting my earlobes pierced (about 6 months ago).

They look really great, they're achy a bit but otherwise OK. Thanks so much girls for all your posts about getting them done- you inspired me!

Woo Hoo Good for you Sage!!! Yeah I felt the same way about it when I had mine done last week, that getting my ears pierced hurt way worse... go figure! Maybe the skin there is a little thicker or something? But they are so sensitive to touch and all you would think that it would hurt... but it really didnt hurt as bad as I thought it would. I was really surprised! Ok since we can plug stores, the one store I found some cute stuff at was called Body Candy and they seemed to have some reasonable prices compared to some of the others online. And they are fast on getting the stuff to you! So anyway thats my plug since you did e bay for me ha ha... but I am so totally digging my nipple piercings, and so is my boyfriend!!! :D

way to go ya'll!!!

Im totally jealous seeing as I lose mine in 12 days lol

Its a Sage thing muahahahaha! ,,,,,is that Pizza the Hut? :lol:

You wont feel so great in the shower tomorrow but in a few weeks walk through the freezer section with your coat open..... :D

Really? I never noticed anything in the shower... in fact I do a lot of manipulation of the piercing stud in the shower... I think the warm water kind of helps things... hmmm I havent noticed anything particularly painful about the shower... maybe Im just built different?

Its possible I have small B cups and when I went to wash my hair the next morning my arms knocked against them and I about went through the roof.

Maybe... Im a big girl and Im a C cup to boot... the girls are a nice handful the boyfriend says.. lol.. but I havent really noticed anything different in the shower, I have tried to treat them somewhat like my ears though, you know the theory that you have to keep them rotated to keep the skin from growing onto the post? so at least once a day I try to make sure I get the post to do a complete 360 in the hole... which is kind of fun since its a curved barbell... woo hoo... I have noticed the crusties only lasted a few days, and there is no need for the triple antibiotic ointment anymore... Have you noticed that they stay in at least a semi aroused state now all the time?

For about 6 months. After that they will actually be able to get soft again... Feels good though doesnt it hehe.

Mine don't hurt AT ALL and I got them done two days ago. My piercer is AMAZING. I do keep a bra on at all times tho, because I notice that when I don't wear one the weight of my breasts tugs on the piercings a little bit (I'm a D cup). I think they are very aestetically pleasing and my husband thinks so too :)

I'm looking forward to when they can be licked and fiddled with!

PS- yeah, that's pizza the hutt!

Rock on Space Balls!

OMG I wore a sports bra every night for like 6 months...
The night came when I went to bed without it...
I began to wake up...
I felt something on my left nipple jiggling...
My eyes sprang open.... to find.....

One of my cats batting it around with a look on her face that said... whassat ma?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! :O

This thread has been so fun to read. You've even got this chicken-hearted woman lookin' askance at her woefully unadorned nippleage. :p

I remember telling my mother about it shes 64 now so 2 years ago.... and my aunt well into her 70s...

They both called me a liar since I used to be SO afraid of needles(now with 11 piercings and 2 tattoos total of 5 hours in the chair)... I ended up taking them both to the bathroom and showing them.

My mother started pokin one around and said WOW those are REALLY IN THERE! (duh)

My aunt then gave me a pair of earrings to put in them :lol: obviously I accepted them graciously and just laugh about it now.

Oh hon, it's like... breasts are really, really awesome on their own, and getting my nipples pierced is like wearing a really great pair of earrings. It just adds that certian something to make the whole package even GREATER!

You dont notice your boobs seeing them in the mirror they are just.... boobs!

You get them pierced and morning mirror looking turns into..... damn I got sexy boobs!

hahaha! that's awesome...you ladies rock indubitably

Its great for your self image. Self esteem in a piercing needle!

I have to tell you I stood outside in FREEZING cold weather yesterday for 3 1/2 hours for a funeral (Im part of the Patriot Gaurd) and we had to do a funeral on the desolate plains of Montana right before it snowed... If you dont think it was incredible to feel the nipples pucker up from the cold with recent piercings in them... woo hoo.... Oh I tell you what I had to put warm compresses on them last night when I got home just to be able to manipulate the studs! But in a way it was kind of erotic... maybe Im just too weird... lol... But I gotta tell you they are really much more sensitive to things! And the boyfriend is really digging it! :D And youre right Lady Sage, I can no longer look at them in the mirror without thinking how sexy they are... I walk around with a secret smile now knowing I have them because I havent told anyone but my boyfriend about them. Well him and the ladies here of course! I feel sexier knowing I have them. I dont know why or what it is about it that makes me feel that way but I just do. Im glad for this place that lets me share how I feel about it.:p

Hehe! Didnt I tell you? :D

Youre right it IS erotic... distracting as all getout. I have had mine for bouts 2 years and the other night Pan and I were outside and I got the stiff breeze perkies and immediately stated how odd it felt... its a sensation youll have for a LONG time. It wont be so intense though after the first 6 mos.

Darn we have to figure out a way to keep it intense lol ~ tell me how did you get your picture to show next to your text? I have asked twice and they wont respond. Maybe someone who already has theirs up can tell me how to get mine up...

As your number of posts goes up you earn new titles... eventually you earn an avatar... when you do you will see a button on your User Cp and you can pick one then. When you see the button shoot me a PM and I will help you find one. Eventually you will be able to pick your own title and have access to extra forums and threads. Its actually quite a neet process to watch. :)

Oh so I have to keep posting here and there and everywhere and does journaling count too?
And I have a question about the piercing... I didnt have a whole lot of crusties or anything did I just get lucky or what? Right now I know that the itchies I have is the healing going on inside but that is to be expected its not constant its just from time to time. But I was expecting a whole lot more complications than I had for some reason. Did I just get lucky?

Not just post but post posts that count. Journaling does not count as far as I know.

You were very lucky and the deep down itch isnt gonna go away! Cool rags help though. Sea salt soaks do too.

Ok well at least I know that I got off a little lucky anyway... must be because the girls are a little on the fleshy side or something... I dunno :D SO can I ask you a personal question since you have had yours for a while? Do you wear rings for daily wear or bars? Which do you find easier for wear? When I look at nipple rings on the websites, I dont really know what they mean by captive rings... I know Im kind of ignorant in that respect but Im new to all of this... So far the ones I have bought for future wear are bars but I wonder about rings I have seen a few that have caught my eye and wonder if they would be easy to put in too?

i love it, too bad I am too much of a wuss

Captive ball ring are a circle with a bead that both ends of the ring go into. I only take mine out to clean them. With a circle it is harder to catch it on something than a bar which has ends that can snag in clothing or on a towel after a shower.

What gauge do you guys have your piercings at? or is there even a specific one? I may have already asked this once but I am curious because none of my other piercings are gauged.

Women should have theirs done at a 14G. The bigger the number the smaller the needle. 16G has a history of complications in female nipples.

Mine are a 16 according to th eguy who did them... I didnt even know enough to ask~ so when I was looking at jewlery at different sites I noticed that there were some that offered different sizes. So I called and asked him what the gauge was and he said 16. Great now you tell me that I might have troubles. Is there something I should do to maybe increase the size or should I go to another piercer and see about getting a 14 gauge stud to stretch them? Or should I leave them well enough alone since I have had no problems? Here I was thinking they were pretty standard and then I found out on the jewlery sites they arent. Oh happy happy joy joy. lol :D

The fastest way to break something is to fix it when it isnt broken. So if your 16G are doing well and you have smaller nipples then you should be fine. :)

I dont know how big my nipples are... sheesh Im a C cup and the whole nipple area is rather hmmm...... let me look.... lol....... well heck I would say my nipples are about the size of large peas... bigger than a mans nipples anyway! lol :D the whole area around them isnt small either... you know? I mean the pucker zone... or the part that gets hard when aroused... thats about as big as an old silver dollar or so...give or take... So let me ask you this, if I accidentally bought some jewlery that might be a 14 gauge, can I substitute a 16 gauge bar in there and will it still work? Im talking shields here....
or will it just hurt a little to wear a 14 for the first time?
or dont wear a 14?

Dat's your areola. :)

Can't help you with the rest of that. Carry on.

Thanks I couldnt think of the word... its been a ROUGH week lol :D

Haha okay thanks Sage, I"ll be sure to get 14g. I wonder if anything bigger would be a problem? I'd imagine that there is a limit to the sizes you can use with out problems. I was thinking 12g originally but 14g will work too. :)

Montanas Heart: If you put in a 14g it will hurt, I made the mistake of doing that to one of my ears. You can stretch piercings out that way though so if you really want to then you can try it. I wouldn't bother seeing as there is a pretty good variety of sizes these days. Maybe nipples are more flexible than upper ears though, I don't know.

Your piercer will know best. If you have huge nipples you can probably support a 12G. Or you could always stretch it out later if you like.

Actually I went to another shop yesterday where the piercer is liscenced and reallly knows her stuff I found out that I got really lucky where I went, the guy who did mine was just thrown into the job and didnt really know what he was doing.... I shold have done a little more research before getting it done. I should have gone where my tatooist had gone and I would have had it done right by this lady. But I got lucky anyway and she said not to mess with it. She gave me some antibacterial soap for cleaning it and said to watch to see if they start to get feeling tight because the studs or whatever he used were not the best either. Normally they use rings. So I will do follow ups with her. She told me that he should have done a few things prior to piercing that he didnt do, and now I feel like a dope, but at least things are ok.

I am glad that the things I have said led you to do that. :) If you havent had complications by now you shouldnt have any but just to be safe follow her instructions to the letter!

Yeah Im glad I went to see her she explained how she went to New York and took this course and learned all about the anatomy and everything... she is the only liscenced piercer in town. I really wish I would have known about her before I did it. But she was really nice and everything and explained why they use 14 gauge instead of 16 and stuff... She even said if I had any problems at all to come to her. Told me to get contact solution and dixie cups to soak the girls in and everything, a normal saline solution, as long as it doesnt contain iodine she said. She was shocked that the guy didnt give me a whole lot of aftercare instructions! I guess I really am lucky! :D

Montana, you bring up a really good point. If you're planning on getting pierced, RESEARCH THE PIERCER! I'm glad you found someone to talk to who was liscensed and knew their stuff- it's SUPER important! You wouldn't go to get a pelvic exam from someone who wasn't a liscensed doctor, right? Just something to think about for all you ladies who are thinking about getting something pierced!

When I went to get pierced I called all over 3 counties to find a female piercer. The only ones around were men who told me to suck it up or get over it. WRONG ANSWER! I finally found one male piercer who was not only willing to address my concerns but made me feel so comfortable I made an appointment for the next day. If they dont have time to talk, you dont have the money to waste!

Well I was in such a rush to surprise my boyfriend and all thats why I didnt do the research. I knew that the place I went to did piercing because I had my tattoos done there. I just didnt know that the piercer was not the one that was there when I had had my tats done. The tattooist I had used had moved on to a new studio and the piercer followed him, but I was unaware of it. I found out after the fact. But like I said I got lucky and she is willing to do follow up with me and make sure things are ok. She is really a nice lady. I feel kind of bad that I didnt go to her in the first place, but I will definetly go to her to buy some jewlery! (Its the least I can do for her concern!) :D SO far so good with the piercings, everything seems to be going ok. Im still digging it and so is the boyfriend so I will take it as it is and be happy. I guess I will have to look for 16 gauge bars for some of the stuff I bought though to make it work...some of the shields etc... any idea where to look for some of them? Thanks for the support by the way Sage and Lady Sage you two are the greatest! :D

*Blush* Youre too kind...

No use peroxide! It breaks down tissue! Also, your body's more likely to reject a straight bar. Bad idea.

I'd never pierce my nips though. Reverse navel and horizontal hood is good enough for me.

Yeah but for the few hours or so of special occasion wear its ok to wear a bar right? Thats what I was looking for some replacement bars for... I bought some nipple shields before I got pierced and Im sure they are more than likely 14 gauge... so I will need to get some 16 gauge bars to wear them with... and I dont plan to wear them for extended periods of time... maybe only a few hours... just to heighten the awareness of the boyfriend... oh by the way he is so turned on now that he is talking about getting one of his done but only one!!! :D Oh well I think its kind of sweet that he wants to see what I went through and Im willing to let him only do one... lol. I will make sure its done right though!!!

It IS sweet and probably hot, but be careful changing jewelry before it's totally healed! (Says the uber paranoid chick.)

I'm sorry, please don't take this the wrong way, but are you saying that you have pierced your vagina but you wouldn't pierce your nipples? Why is that? I'm just curious. Perhaps even intrigued. :)

I'm going to have my clitoral hood horizontally pierced. From what I've read, it heals better than the nipples. It's a brief, intense pain as opposed to a slow, constant one.

*gulp* okay, thanks!

Slow constant pain? I must have missed something important after I got my nips pierced!

Don't use hydrogen peroxide
 

Hi,
I'd be too chicken to do that, but to each her own! :) Anyway, part of the problem may be that you used hydrogen peroxide. I learned in school in my first wound care course that hydrogen peroxide is a non-selective debrider.
That means that it not only kills 'bad' bacteria or germs but it 'kills' good tissue as well. You should only use hydrogen peroxide when you initially get a cut or scrape or 'wound', just to clean and sterilize the area. After that, use maybe an antibiotic cream or the solution that we all used when we had our ears pierced.
I hope this helps.
abigail

According to my aftercare guide that I got from the piercer, which was put together by the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) (yes, there is such a thing- make sure your piercer is certified!), the ONLY thing to put on a piercing is saline solution. It's also ok to wash GENTLY in the shower using mild soap. That's it. No antibiotic ointment, no peroxide, no nothing. Salt water is your friend.

The reasoning behind it is akin to what Abigail just said- you want the GOOD bacteria to still be around to help your skin heal AROUND the piercing instead of thinking the piercing is a foregin object that needs to be rejected. Your body is the best healer there is, which is why you keep the area clean and avoid fiddling with the bars/hoops before 6 or 8 weeks (the shortest amount of time recommended before a jewelry change). Also, my piercer said to come back to her for the first jewelry swap, so she could show me the right way to do it and make sure that my nipples are ready for it.

If anyone would like, I can post the entire part of the pamphlet from the piercer's association on nipple piercing aftercare. Or go and check out the APP website: www.safepiercing.org

Yes Sage, please do!! I went to talk with the other piercer today because the bars were getting a little tight and told her I wad getting some rings from e bay and she was glad to hear it. She offered to GIVE me some of her single captive ball rings if I was going totally crazy and I said I thought I could handle it for another week... how is that for a business woman? She didnt even do the work and she is offering to give her stuff away!!! I told her about this e bay purchase because I was going to give her the excess... I got 30 pairs of rings 3 sizes 10 of each size for 10 bucks and I told her that I was going to give her the extras for her trouble and kindness so she could use them on eyebrows and stuff. I thought it would be fair. Anyway I would love to read that stuff you have Sage! Anything to further my education would be greatly appreciated! :D

Im so excited....my plastic surgeon said I can put my bars back in!! I dont have to wait a year to get pierced.

Oh thats great news!!! Is he going to pierce them for you post op? or what? YAY for you!!!

no, I had to take them out for the surgery yesterday. If I had taken them out at the hospital and had them with me he would have put them back in...since I left them at home he said I could do it myself.

I was looking this morning though...when they moved my nipples up the holes are kind a crooked now, so I dont think I'll be putting them back

Oh that sucks so does that mean you will have to re pierce then after all?

not sure yet, when Im able to take a shower tomorrow and get them all clean I will check to see if the holes are actually crooked or not. I only saw them when I was having my bandages changed and I wasnt really coherent hehehe the morphine and demarol could have been screwing with my vision just a tad :lol:

Wow good luck! Hopefully you will be back among us pierced girls soon like you want to be!!! I know you went through a lot just now with your surgery and you have my sympathies... I know you will feel a lot better not having your bra straps digging into your shoulders!!! I havent had that problem myself, but I have a few friends that did... I know what they went through. Good for you! Take care! :D

Cool Shani!

Alright guys, ALL of this info, plus a lot more, can be found online at www.safepiercing.org, which is the website of the Association of Professional Piercers. But, some higlights (based on what we've been talkign about here) from their "Suggested Aftercare Guide for Body Piercings":

Use either one or both of the following solutions for cleaning body piercings:

• Packaged sterile saline solution with NO additives (read the label); or non-iodized sea salt mixture (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of iodine-free sea salt into 1 cup of warm distilled or bottled water). A stronger salt solution is NOT better! Strong saline can irritate the piercing

• Liquid anti-microbal or germicidal soap

Instrictions for cleaning and normal reactions to piercing can be found on the website. There are also sections on what to do and what not to do with your piercing while it's healing.

"Unless there is a problem with the size, style, or material of the initial jewelry, leave it in place for the ENTIRE healing period. A qualified piercer should perform any necessary jewelry change that occurs during healing."

And the care suggestion for nipples in particular: "The support of a tight cotton shirt or sports bra may provide portection and feel comfortable, especially for sleeping."

Again, check the website www.safepiercing.org for all the info that's in the brocure. Also, I highly suggest making sure the piercer who does your next piercing is certified by the APP, and has done whatever piercing you're having done at least 100 times before they lay hands on you. If you're in or around the Asheville, NC, area, I can DEFINITELY recommend my piercer in a PM because she is the MOST AWESOME piercer ever. She's got the bedside manner of a really good doctor, is really reallly nice, and is extremely professional (she always shows people the autoclave marks from the packages that the needles and jewelry were sterilized in).

The More You Know!

Thanks Sage! I just cruised the site, I think I learned a little... I will be talking to the lady at the tattoo parlor a little more in depth I think... hmmmm but thanks for the information! Have a great weekend! :D

Have your friend go back to the piercer- better yet, find a piercer that's Association of Professional Piercers certified and send your friend to them.

I don't know the answer- better to ask a professional!

Also, remember that there's different jewelry- perhaps some other jewelry could suit your friend.


And as a PS-

My nipples are doing OK after three months. Still have some crusties, but my piercer said that's normal. I think I ripped the right side of my left nipple a little bit because it was inflamed and irritated for a while and I couldn't figure out why, but then when I really looked at it I noticed that the hole on that side seemed a little bigger than it was supposed to be. I have been doing saltwater soaks for a week now and it's MUCH better! I think it's amazing how saltwater makes things so much better!

I don't know if this helped anyone else, but my piercer instructed me to use Tegaderm bandages until they are healed. He told me to just leave them on until they start peeling off and then put some more on, and to put a piece of gauze in there if I knew I was going to be very active to catch sweat. Also, the shop I go to encourages everyone to keep piercings dry and only clean them if they get bumped around or dirty. I haven't had the displeasure of any catches or anything like that yet, and I am very glad for it. All of their technique and aftercare info is on their website, which I can give in a PM if requested.

only clean them if they get dirty? Geez

I've never heard a piercer that didnt recommend cleaning and turning at least once a day

how does one determine if its "dirty"?

Well, or if it gets wet...basically if its a ear piercing and hair products get on/in it...stuff like that. They say that turning hasn't proven to be good or bad, so they say it isn't necessary and they say the body's the best healer/cleaner and to just leave it alone. I don't know how much crock it is or not but I haven't had any trouble yet.

Oops--I didn't notice that this thread was in the Ladies Lounge. A TFP lady was kind enough to let me know.

My apologies.