Nipple Piercings

Summary

• Healing Time: From 2 months for small nipples, to 6 months for larger nipples
• Do not touch your piercing, or let others touch it while it is healing
• Clean your healing piercing every day, once only, with antibacterial soap
• Ideally soak your piercing in saline solution daily
• Never use alcohol, Betadine or peroxide to clean your piercing
• Pain, redness and unusual discharge may be due to infection. Consult your piercer or a physician if you develop any of these symptoms
• Take vitamin C and zinc to maximise your healing
• Wait till your piercing is healed before changing jewelry yourself

Daily Care Routine

• Do not touch your piercing unless you are cleaning it. Unwashed hands carry bacteria and your piercing is a point where these bacteria can penetrate below your skin and cause an infection.
• While healing your piercing should be cleaned once daily - whilst showering is ideal. Ideally use an antibacterial liquid soap that contains triclosan (e.g. Dettol Liquid Soap).

  The step-by-step procedure is:

1. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
2. Wet the piercing with plain water.
3. Put two drops of antibacterial liquid soap on the piercing and work this into a lather with a cotton bud.
4. Try to loosen any crusted discharge and float it off the jewelry and your skin with the cotton bud.
5. Leave the antibacterial soap on the piercing for one minute while rotating the jewelry back and forth a little, allowing the disinfectant to penetrate the piercing.
6. Rinse with water for a minute, then dry thoroughly. Pat dry with a paper towel, or air dry.
7. Apply lavender oil with a cotton bud to each end of the piercing with a cotton bud.

• Also of proven effectiveness is soaking the nipple in saline solution. This takes 10 -15 minutes but is well worth the effort.

  The step-by-step procedure is:

1. Put 50mls of Saline solution in a small glass tumbler (ideally contact lens sterile saline solution, or alternatively a pinch of sea salt in a glass of cooled boiled water).
2. Holding the glass upright, bend over the glass and press the rim around your piercing.
3. Lie down on your back and hold the glass(es) against your nipple(s) for 10 to 15 minutes. Read, listen to music...
4. Stand, bend over, and release the glass(es).
5. Afterwards, dry thoroughly with a paper towel or tissue.

Piercing Options and Jewelry Choices

• Suitable Positions
  Piercings may be made at any angle through the nipple, the commonest angles being vertical or horizontal. Our breasts are a different shape when lying compared to standing , so this should be taken into account when you are being pierced.
• Suitable Types
  1. Barbells
     Barbells heal faster because they move less within the piercing. Either choose internally threaded barbells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be sure that no threads are exposed.
  2. Captured bead rings
     Rings are cheaper than barbells but more troublesome. Special pliers are usually required to remove or replace the bead. D-Rings are straight where they pass through the skin so will heal faster. Do not use sleepers as the sharp edges will damage your piercing.
  3. Nipple Shields
     These accessories sit behind the piercing jewelry against the skin of the nipple and breast.
• Suitable Sizes
  1. Gauge
     Only 14 gauge or heavier jewelry should be used. Smaller gauges will migrate out through the nipple and be very uncomfortable to wear.
  2. Internal Ring Diameter
     1/2" for men to 5/8" for women
     13mm for men and 16mm for women
  3. Barbell length
     Minimum 3/8" for men to 1/2" for women
     Minimum 10mm for men and 13mm for women
• Suitable Materials
  Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, titanium, niobium.
  Do not use 9 carat gold, silver (which can stain the tissues permanently), or gold plated jewelry in new piercings. In a healing piercing the gold plating may wear off the jewelry before the piercing is healed. This is not such a problem in healed piercings.
• Changing Jewelry
  It is possible to change jewelry during the first 2 months, but this is best done by a professional piercer. Once a piercing is healed anyone can change the jewelry.
  
  

Other Issues

• Bacterial Infections
  
  • Bacterial infection can be especially dangerous with nipple piercings, as infection can spread to the milk ducts in the breast and then become very difficult to treat. Symptoms may include increased pain, a lump in the breast, increased redness and an increase in the amount and thickness of the discharge. The infected discharge is usually thick and yellow, green or grey and may have an unusual odour.
  • If only the nipple is red or sore, consult with your physician or piercer and do not remove the jewelry until you seek advice. Removing the jewelry may prevent pus draining and cause an abscess to form.
  • If the surrounding breast itself is red, hot, swollen or you feel unwell, this is an emergency: Consult a physician immediately as this could be mastitis.
• Breastfeeding
  Nipple piercing should not adversely affect breastfeeding. There are dozens of milk ducts in the average female nipple, and piercing usually cuts off only a few of these. During breastfeeding you can
  • remove the jewelry altogether, and have the piercing re-opened later,
  • wear a circular bar bell and remove it only while feeding
  • or you can wear a curved or straight barbell which allows the baby to feed normally. In Victorian times doctors would recommend piercings to women with inverted nipples.
• Cleaning Agents
  Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide, methylated spirit, or tea tree oil to clean your piercing. These do kill bacteria but they also destroy your healing flesh. Dead flesh then becomes easily infected.
  Never use a cloth towel to dry your piercing as these carry bacteria. Paper towels are safest.
• Clothing
  Women should wear a plain bra that will not catch on the jewelry. Wearing a bra at night will be more comfortable too. Men may want to put some surgical tape over the piercing at night. Avoid heavy suits and heavy objects in your breast pockets.
• Exercising
  Be careful not to knock the piercing accidentally when playing sport or doing physical work. You can use a bandage to protect it, but afterwards remove this and wash the piercing as soon as possible. Sweat will irritate your piercing so shower after exercising.
• Lavender Oil
  This essential oil lubricates the piercing and is reputed to reduce scar tissue and prevent tightening. It must be used in its dilute form, a drop applied to each side of the piercing with a cotton bud, the excess removed, and then the jewelry moved back and forth through the piercing. The correct dilution is 10 drops lavender oil in 15mls grapeseed or sweet almond oil.
• Sleeping
  Wear a bra or use surgical tape while sleeping to protect the piercing.
• Smoking
  
  1. Smoking slows healing by suppressing your immune system and blood circulation to the skin.
  2. If you cannot stop smoking then you should reconsider having any piercings.
• Swimming
  Swimming is not prohibited while your piercing is healing, but you should only swim for short periods in pools that are thoroughly chlorine- or ozone-treated. Do not let your skin become wrinkly and soft. If you swim in the ocean or waterways, do not swim after heavy rain. Storm water run-off often contains bacteria and parasites.
• Tightening
  Tightening can occur in nipple piercings. The skin at either or both ends can grow tightly against the jewelry. This is not dangerous and will usually resolve if the piercing is rotated or moved a little with each daily washing. Applying some lavender oil twice weekly will also help.
• Viral Infections
  Viruses such as Hepatitis A, B, and C, and HIV can penetrate a piercing that has not healed. These viruses may be present in the blood, saliva, semen, sweat and vaginal secretions of infected persons. Until your piercing has healed avoid any other person's bodily fluids contacting your piercing.
• Vitamins
  Studies have shown that vitamin C and zinc promote wound healing. Aim for about 2000-3000 mg vitamin C and 100 mg zinc daily. Note that these amounts are not available in multivitamin tablets. Ask at your pharmacist or health-food store for advice on suitable products. If you are taking any medications, ask your pharmacist to make sure there are no interactions between them and the vitamin C and zinc you intend to take. For example, vitamin C can delay the absorption of the contraceptive pill - they should be taken at different times.