Tats & Piercings?

I have seen both tattoos that I find very artistic and others that are a total turn-off. I don't have any myself, and have only conventional (single pierce) ear piercings. I wouldn't mind having a design drawn on my body for a party, but would never want anything permanent. I keep growing and changing too much!
 
I can outdo all of you because I have no tattoos and no piercings. I had my ears pierced until I was about 19, then I stopped wearing them and they closed.

If I ever get a tattoo it's gonna be Pac-man on one butt-cheek and one of the blue ghosts after you eat an energy-dot on the other butt-cheek.

Bwahahahahahah..........LOVE IT!
 
I have a few tattoos, some good, some suck, the good, a Cheshire cat with a gold tooth, the japanese symbol for father, with my son's birthdate, a timebomb at the base of my skull, and flaming dice, the rest is just stuff I got in my "poor judgement" days, as far as piercings, both ears are 8ga with cbr, had them pierced at 10ga, then stretched to fit the rings, snakebites 14ga, and I just had my septum guaged to match my ears at 8.
 
I've got ears and navel pierced. One tattoo on each shoulder and your typical butterfly tramp stamp. The photo is from my wedding. I'd like to get another tattoo to tie the gecko into the B&W art on the left.
 

Attachments

  • n1383272902_30191309_7365.jpg
    n1383272902_30191309_7365.jpg
    31.3 KB · Views: 17
I have flowers for my sister's names tattooed on my left shoulder, and stars on my left foot that I got with my best friend of 12 years.
As for piercings, I had to take most of them out, but I had five in each ear, two of which were gauged to an 8, a nose ring, and a navel ring.
I only got to keep two ear piercings and one "bad" piercing....I have a piercing, ahem, below the belt, and no one can tell me to take that one out! lol
 
If I ever get a tattoo it's gonna be Pac-man on one butt-cheek and one of the blue ghosts after you eat an energy-dot on the other butt-cheek.

Reminds me of the indie British film, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. It's from the 80s, about a couple in an open marriage -- but that's not why I bring it up. In it, one of Rosie's lovers asks her about the tattoos on her ass and she explains, "I have a W on each cheek so that when I bend over, it says WOW."
 
Last edited:
Found pics!
blockheaddd145.jpg
ankle

ta2.jpg
back of my neck

Picture12.jpg
the extent of my piercings aside from my ears, which are 8ga

that's what I found, I'll have to take a pic of my chesshire cat
 
I have 3 tattoos and an eyebrow piercing.
The tats are:
On my right upper arm, a Gargoyle head
On my back, over both shoulder blades, a triskele with 2 snakes winding throught it
On my left upper arm, a Midgard serpent and a Thor rune - gonna turn this one into a full sleeve soon.

Putting pics up as soon as I get around taking some :)
 
I have thought of getting nipple piercings. I have checked that it doesn't get in the way of breastfeeding (as long as you take them off) but I am still scared. Any advice or information from anyone on this kind of piercing?
I am thinking of bars, not rings. I have a kind of phobia of getting piercings caught or pulled out so I don't wear any rings or dangling things.

To anyone who has had it done, especially females: is the pain and healing time comparable to other kinds of piercings? Is it better to wear a bra or not after the fact? Any general advice?

Thanks.
 
I don't know anyone whose kept their nipple piercings on for more than a few years. They either get infected, close or the wearer gets bored of them.

From what I understand, they are among the most likely type of piercing to develop infections, but there are probably ways to reduce the risk. Some women I've met say they are fine, that they just didn't want to have them forever. Depends again on the individual, I guess.
 
My husband and I have both had our nipples pierced since early 2005.
He has had beginning infections a few times over the years, I haven't.
The healing time feels like forever because of where it is at.- I preferred to wear a bra almost 24/7 during the healing time as it reduced the chances of the area being jarred.
As for whether to go with bars or rings, it is a personal preference thing. The Wookie prefers bars and I am good with either.

I don't know if that helps you or not but the best of luck, whatever you decide to do.
 
I heard the most likely to develop infections was navel piercings (I heard the figure, and the fact that all the people I know with that kind of piercing had them get infected seemed to support it).
But I can see how this would get infected as well. To heal well, they need to air out and not get in contact with stuff. Breasts being under clothes makes them air out less, and rub against closing more. On top of that they're more likely to get bumped.

The first time I had my ears pierced, they got infected because I thought I needed to move the piercing as often as I could, instead of doing it twice a day and leaving it be the rest of the time. I didn't make that mistake when I got pierced again, and I got no complications. I think I would try to get my nipples pierced when I know I won't have to go out much, so that I can be topless at home more, doing activities that allow me to be sedentary.

When I do go out I can imagine I will want to pad it a bit though, but I'm not sure how bad it is. Infections get the body hotter, and I hear getting it hotter to begin with makes it worse. Not to mention the sweat having nowhere to go if it can't evaporate easily. And since you can't bathe when you've just got a piercing, only shower, I assume prolonged humidity there isn't a good thing.

I'm mostly thinking out loud here. I'm not thinking of having it done right away, in a few months, maybe a year or so, but I like planning and preparing before making big decisions like that.

The fact that it can be removed is actually why I'm drawn to piercings more than tattoos. I like the ephemeral nature of them. I think I would probably get bored with a tattoo that's always the same, while piercings can be changed and removed easily. I might still get a tattoo at some point, because I change my mind a lot, but so far the fact I change my mind a lot has caused me not to get one :p
 
I totally understand the ambivalence around getting a new piercing!
Tonberry..... You raised a great point about healing and fresh air. I had forgotten about that little detail. I am at home most of the time so had forgotten about running around topless....good point!
What I do remember is that, for me, the nipple piercing was particularly painful...and I am not a very sensitive person.
I have my navel pierced to and remember how many times I fought infection before it healed. I was bad though and used neosporin when that occurred. Doing that is supposed to be a big no-no but I did it anyway and it worked for me.
Honestly, the nose piercing seems to the most challenging one for me. Getting that sucker to heal up without infection has been the longest process so far. I am on my second time around with having that one.
The temptation to rotate piercings is to be resisted! I am an old fogey (42) and grew up in the days when rotating new piercings was advocated. Now educators discourage doing it, and I can testify that they are giving good advice as scar tissue develops more when one plays around with the jewelry during healing.
Also, Changing out the jewelry before a piercing is 100% healed is generally a big mistake...equals more chance of infections and development of more scar tissue.
 
Yes, my eyebrow one is still healing (I got it less than two weeks ago), and I'm definitely not changing it for a while! They told me I can change the balls after a month, but the bar itself will have to wait for two months.

The piercer told me to simply push a bit on one side when I clean the other side, which makes it move a bit, but that allows to clean better. He gave me a bar that's a bit longer than needed, which was good for the swelling and also meant that when it bled (on the second day) I could push on one side and clean the other side's wound without the ball getting in the way.

I didn't get any infection at all so far, I'm using the product they gave me on a Q-tip as I get up and before going to bed. Then they said to use saline instead, from next week until forever although it only needs daily cleaning for another month. After that I assume it's if it gets dirty or something.

I'm afraid I'll be in a lot of pain, but what reassures me is that my memories of getting my ears pierced were horrible, but when I got my eyebrow done it didn't hurt for more than a second. I did nearly faint, but it's because I ended up skipping lunch, which was stupid. I'm also prone to vasovagal episodes so it wasn't anything I wasn't used to. I've had that happen from feeling overheated, from being on a plane or even from getting my period. So while I understand it's scary for other people to witness, it's really no big deal for me anymore.

I'll probably tell the piercer about my background, so they know what to expect and can act accordingly. My only fear with walking topless at home after the fact is that they will jiggle too much and bump into things.
 
I wonder if putting nursing pads in your bra would help? You'd get some cushion/padding, and they're designed to absorb moisture. If you get a set of the reusable, washable cotton ones they breathe pretty well (the disposable ones with the adhesive do not) and it might also cut down on chaffing because the pad kind of conforms to your breast and doesn't always move every time your bra shifts.

I don't have any experience with nipple piercings (the very thought makes me cringe!) but I have LOTS of experience with having to keep that area as dry and happy as possible to avoid cracked nipples and infections while nursing my two kids!
 
I have 12 piercings, 4 tats, and a brand.

The piercings are: 3 in each ear, right eyebrow, labret, both nipples, navel, and below the belt.

As for care of the nipple piercings: salt water is your friend as is antimicrobial soap. You also /really/ want to wear a tight tee, tank, or sports bra to sleep in for about three weeks. It literally takes MONTHS for them to heal. Thankfully, at the time I got them I was single and celibate so I didn't have to worry about anyone wanting to play with them because that is a really, really bad idea.

The only infection problem I've ever had was the first time I had my navel pierced. It was done with a CBR. I'm pretty sure that's what caused the issues. This time (Aug 2011) I had it done with a curved barbell. It took a while to heal, but no infection.

As soon as I figure out how to post pictures without first uploading them to a website I will post pics of two of my tats. One needs to be re-done. It's on the inside of my wrist, in a delicate tissue area and the stupid ink mostly fell out : ( The two I'll show off are left ball of upper arm and tear-drop muscle on right leg. There's one I got as a present to Bear; only he, my gynecologist, and our lovers will see it! LOL
 
I had one of my favourite, calming mantras tattooed on my rib cage, on my left side, close to my heart. Surprisingly, this didn't hurt as much as I thought it might; just a couple of brief moments of hold-your-breath discomfort. :)

"This too shall pass." Like NYCindie pointed out to me once, nothing says "Nothing's Permanent" like a tattoo! :D
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20120419-00032.jpg
    IMG-20120419-00032.jpg
    83.7 KB · Views: 13
As soon as I figure out how to post pictures without first uploading them to a website I will post pics of two of my tats.
There are two ways to do that. When you post a message, scroll down the page and select "Manage Attachments." A pop-up box comes up where you can choose "Upload File from your Computer" and find your images to upload. They show up in posts as attachments when you do it this way.

I believe you can also create an album in your profile here, let it be public and not private, upload pics there, and then link to them with the "Insert Image" button just above the editing window. Doing it that way embeds the pic in your post rather than as an attachment.
 
Back
Top