Nipple piercing is a practice that has been around for more than a century and you can always get it done for beauty and self-esteem, or for increased sexual sensitivity in these areas. Rihanna has been revealing nipple jewelry in sheer outfits since 2009 and it seems this trend is growing among celebrities and anyone else who has the guts for sheer fabrics and going braless.
Nipple piercing is a quick and easy procedure, but you have to be extra cautious about who does it on you and how you take care of your piercings to emerge from the process successfully.
Your nipples are more delicate than your ear lobes because they’re a meeting point of important nerves, milk ducts, and blood vessels. You should therefore seek the services of a professional nipple or body piercer such as Infinite Body Piercing, a member of the Association of Professional Piercers. Don’t let your friend puncture your nipples, lest you end up with a painful and destructive wound.
Here is the Table of Contents
Is Nipple Piercing Painful?
Brian Keith Thompson, the proprietor and Chief Piercing Officer of The World Famous Body Electric Tattoo has been in this business for decades and he opines that pain only exists in the client’s mind.
Nipple piercing takes less than a minute and so even though there might be some sharp pain, it goes away so fast that many are left wondering “wow, that’s all?”
So don’t let pain scare you. Go for what you want because it won’t be messy as long as you get it done by a reputable professional.
How Long Do Nipple Piercings Take to Heal?
According to Thompson, after piercing, your nipples may continue to bleed for the first week and feel pain for a couple of weeks.
Proper healing can take 6 to 9 months, but this will depend on factors such as the size of your nipples and how you take care of the piercings. Maria Tash, a professional piercer, advises that the larger your nipples, the larger the amount of skin scared during piercing, and the longer it’ll take to heal.
Your nipples may stop hurting after a few days and you’re tempted to get back to wearing tight or rough fabrics, applying lotions, getting your partner to caress your tits, and so on, but all these will prolong the healing process.
Do’s and Don’ts of Aftercare for Nipple Piercing
DO’s
1. How do you shower with a nipple piercing?- Use mild soaps for bathing
Dermatologists advise that you should use gentle soaps for bathing, such as Cetaphil cleanser to avoid irritating the sensitive wounds. When cleaning your nipples, rub a dab of the cleanser mixed with a little warm water between the palms of your hands and apply the lather to your piercings using your fingertips. Do not rotate or move the jewelry as you clean.
Rinse your nipples with warm, clean water, and dry them using a soft paper towel.
2. What helps heal nipple piercings faster?- Wash them at least twice daily with a saline solution
You need to start soaking your nipple piercings in a saline solution immediately after getting them done. The saline solution can be a pinch of non-iodized sea salt dissolved in a glass of lukewarm water. Immerse one of your nipples into the solution and let the wound soak for 5 to 10 minutes. Do the same for the other piercing. You can also soak a piece of clean cotton wool with the saline solution and dab it on the piercings. This helps to prevent bacterial infection and promotes faster healing.
3. Wear loose-fitting and breathable clothes during the day
Tight garments will not only rub and hurt your scars, but they also make your body stuffy and sweaty, creating a perfect environment for bacterial buildup and infection. Loose-fitting and lightweight clothes during the day will keep your piercings aerated and irritation-free.
4. Wear thick and tight clothing while you sleep
As you sleep, you may turn to sleep in an awkward position that may shift the nipple jewelry or make it hook onto blankets and other items. A figure-hugging cotton tee shirt and a padded bra such as American Trends Sports Bra with removable padded cups underneath would be good for holding the rings or barbells in place all night.
5. Dress up and undress carefully
Always take caution when dressing up and undressing, lest your garment grabs and pulls out your jewelry, or simply hurts or irritates the piercings.
6. Check for changes regularly
As the piercings heal, they may regularly ooze waxy discharge, whitish or yellowish in color, which becomes crusty after a couple of hours. This means that they’re recovering healthily, so you shouldn’t panic. Apply a gentle cleanser and warm water with your fingertips to wash away the discharge. Avoid picking the scabs as it may worsen the wounds.
However, if your nipples turn reddish, hot, sensitive, smelly, or start swelling, these are signs of an infection and you should consult your doctor.
DON’Ts
1. Ditch alcohol and smoking
Substances such as excessive alcohol, caffeine, and overdosed medications such as aspirin can thin your blood, slowing down the clotting and healing of the piercings. Nicotine is also known to distort the body’s immune system, delaying the healing of and increasing the infection of wounds.
2. Don’t use bar soap
Since you shouldn’t apply lotion to the pierced scars, washing with a bar soap would make the skin there dry up and crack, increasing the likelihood of an infection.
Continue washing the scabs away with the saline solution or pH-balanced cleanser until you heal.
3. Don’t pick the scar
Just like acne and other wounds, there will always be that temptation to pick away the healing scar but you should resist it because it will only enlarge the scar, expose the piercings to infection, and delay the recovery process.
4. Ditch the spas and swimming
Public swimming pools may be contaminated with a big amount of bacteria that will infect your piercing.
5. Don’t remove or move the jewelry during cleanup
You shouldn’t mess with the metallic pieces as you wash or soak the nipple piercings. They’ll mess up with the delicate skin and tissue.
Your significant other should also not fondle your nipples until the piercings have properly healed.
6. Don’t use just any type of jewelry – best jewelry for nipple piercing
Brian Keith Thompson of the renowned Body Electric Tattoo studio has pierced almost everyone who’s famous in L. A., from Beyoncé, Bella Thorne, to Jennifer Lawrence.
He cautions you against using stainless steel jewelry because he has seen many of his clients become sensitive to nickel in the steel. He prefers titanium, gold, platinum, and anodized titanium, for which you can get a hue that resembles gold.
Pro-rated nipple piercers such as Maria Tash and Matt Southwood recommend barbells over nipple rings, if you want your nipples to heal faster. A ring is more likely to rotate and bend, thus stressing or even destroying the delicate tissue.
Wrapping Up
Nipple piercing is the in-thing for anyone who wants to look sexier and confident and you shouldn’t be left out because of fear since many clients have reported that the process wasn’t painful for them. The healing process is long but it isn’t torturous.
Here we have revealed all the key hints you need to take away on how to take care of nipple piercings.