nipple piercing

A piercing through the nipple. Can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, slantways, etc. Applicable to men and women. There can be multiple piercings in the area, though 3 per nipple seems to be the limit.

Jewelry to begin with is usually a CBR (Captured Ball/Bead Ring), but later can be changed to curved bars, straight bars, shields, etc. Mine were done with 14 gauge CBR's, but they grew out. When I get them pierced again, I'll have the guy up the size, because bigger gauges migrate less.

Aftercare list from Stainless Studios. Stolen from BME:

Wash your hands before touching your piercing.
Wash the area surrounding and including the piercing with an antibacterial soap at most 2 times a day.
Concentrate on the piercing itself and soak away the crust (do not pick or pull at the crust -- just like a scab, it is connected to the healing tissue).
Lather up the jewelry and move it back and forth through the piercing six or seven times.
Allow the cleanser to soak in for one minute.
Rinse off the cleanser with some warm water and move the jewelry a couple of times to allow any excess cleanser to be removed from inside the piercing.
Pat dry the piercing – Do not rub with a towel.

If you notice any errors or further recommendations, /msg me, and I'll add them. Or you can too.

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I've heard of skadip's methods, and they work. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I've done it my way, and it works. But I've heard from some people that they like it the salt-water way. YMMV

I don't know if I would consider these errors, but I was taught some slightly different methods.

In general, body piercings -- but especially the more sensitive areas of the body -- dry out and are irritated by antibacterial soaps, or any cleansers, really. The best solution is to soak the piercings in hot water with Iodine-free sea salt dissolved in it. The solution should be about 1 teaspoon sea salt to 1 cup of water. The best way I found to soak nipples is to use two shot-glasses.

danlowlite is right in saying that you should never try to pick off crusty stuff (yum) -- because it reacts like picking off a scab -- it will scar. Also along those lines, when you are soaking, you should not move the jewelry through the piercing -- there is no need, and you will only cause scarring inside. If you soak frequently (two times a day for ten minutes each) in the first month or two, things should heal nicely. Just because you are not turning the jewelry inside the piercing does not mean that it will stick to the skin. The idea that we need to spin our jewelry comes from the piercing gun booth at the mall -- it's not needed, and will cause harm.

After you soak, run warm water over the piercings. Pat the area dry with a clean paper towel -- less chance of germs than from a cloth towel.

Do not allow anyone to put their hands or mouth on your piercings for a minimum of 4 weeks -- longer if the area is not already healing.

And last -- sleep with a shirt on for the first couple of months. Just trust me on this one.