pierced nipples

I received a message from a woman who had a double nipple piercing done in the "iron cross" formation:

I received an interesting question from a piercee who wondered if there was a reason his piercings healed more quickly the second time around:

Hey Elayne,

This might be a dumb question but I was curious as to why piercings heal faster the 2nd time. I had my nipples pierced twice cause I took them out for some dumb reason and then a few years later wanted them done again and I had 10 frenum piercings and did the same thing with those. Both healed alot faster the 2nd time... is there a reason for this? Im just curious... thank you for all your time with my questions and btw im back to work and just got paid so ur book is definitely on the agenda! Thanks. W.

My reply:

I just got an email from a woman who was concerned about the angle of her nipple piercings:

I had a few questions with regards to nipple piercings. I have gotten my nipples pierced before, but they came out crooked. She marked and pierced them when they were erect. But the crookedness really bothered me so I took them out, and got one of them repierced about a month later.

The second time, I got a different piercer, who marked when they were flat. Now, they are even when they are flat, but when the nipple gets erect, they get crooked, which still bothers me.

I am going to get my other nipple repierced, but I was wondering, is it standard to mark and pierce when the nipples are flat or erect? Are some nipples just naturally prone to crooked piercings? Is it not possible in some cases to have the piercing sit straight at both times (when they're flat and erect) so you have to chose? In which case, if I prefer the barbell to sit straight when they're erect, should I redo the first one?

Thanks, and sorry for the multiple questions! I really love the piercings, but when they are crooked, it really also bothers me! Thanks, J.

My reply:

I received a message from a woman who was large breasted and had some questions and concerns about getting nipple piercings:

I was wondering if you could give me some advice on nipple piercings. I am a lady of a larger build, and as such I have quite large breasts. My nipples aren't probably as perky as they should be and sit quite low on my breast. Would it be okay for me to get nipple piercings?

I currently have several other piercings and a few retired ones too, so I'm of age and not concerned about aftercare and such. Would it be better to go and ask a piercer face to face if they think my anatomy is suited to it? Also, does it make a difference what angle the nipple is pierced at? I've seen a few pictures of people with diagonal or vertical nipple piercings and I really like the look of them. Are they more difficult to heal or anything like that?

Thanks in advance for your help, people like you make me want to find an apprenticeship myself!

My reply:

I received this message from a woman I pierced many years ago.

I received this message from a friend and colleague (one of the few piercers on my referrals page), Courtney from Cheap TRX in St Louis, MO.

Her contact info is below.

So I have a story that I thought you may be interested to hear:

Last year a girl came to me after having 3 different attempts at healing nipple piercings. All were an issue of poor placement/poor jewelry. I did them for her a final time that day.

About 8 months later, she came to me almost in tears, as her gyno had sent her to have them removed. She had visited her doc in regards to suddenly beginning to lactate. I told her that piercings don't make you lactate, hormones do, and that she should return to her gyno and request further examination.

She was relieved, but not for long. Her gyno just said "meh" and that she still needed to take them out. As time goes on, my client developed increasing symptoms of hormonal issues. She then sought the help of her regular physician- and they eventually concluded that she had a tumor on her pituitary gland!!

This is an email exchange I had with a piercer who had some questions about his own nipple piercings:

Hi Elayne,

We spoke recently on facebook, I had just finished my piercing apprenticeship. I have a question regarding nipple piercing and since I'm not terribly experienced I figured I'd consult the greatest expert I know: you.

During my apprenticeship, I had my nipples pierced. I have larger nipples which are not very distinctive, ie my nipple blends into my areola creating the appearance of a very large nipple. Anyway, it's been 5 months and they are not completely healed- they still crust up and are a bit scabby at the fistula exit points. My new boss and I were discussing it and after examining them, he thinks that since the piercing goes slightly into my areola that they will never heal and that I might as well retire them.

I, naturally, having withstood the pain of having them pierced and dealing with healing for the past 5 months am not going to retire them without knowing for certain whether or not they are heal-able. After consulting your book and researching the issue a bit more, I disagree with my boss and I think I can heal the piercings. Perhaps this is just stubbornness/wishful thinking, but I really do not want to lose these piercings. As a trustworthy expert, I am asking for your advice. Thank you for your time.

My reply:

I received this email from a piercer:

I written you before on the topic of aftercare products, and the use of pierced ear antiseptic and am proud to say the studio I work in now carries Satin! Anyway the purpose of this email is to address piercing lactating nipples. Over the weekend I had a very nice young lady request to have her nipples pierced, as we began the "paperwork" she informed me she was no longer breastfeeding but was still lactating. I have never encountered this before, so I phoned some of my  fellow piercers with a few more years under their belts, and asked some information. As it turns out this young lady was already at one of our studios on the other side of town and was told no. The other piercers and I all agreed, because we do not fully know what complications could arise that we would not do it. I told the young lady this, and explained why I wasn't comfortable preforming the procedure. I also explained that there could be a potential for mastitis, and suggested she speak with her doctor, or other piercing friendly medical staff. She promptly left in search of another piercer that would do the piercing for her. With all your years of experience, have you ever encountered this before? I've had little to no luck finding information on the Internet and wondered if you could shed some light on this. Thank you for your time, Myke The Piercing Lounge, Madison, WI www.piercingmadison.com

I told Myke that he was correct in declining to pierce someone who is actively lactating and directed him to this information from my book, with info on this point at the very bottom: