Have you thought about nipple piercings, but were worried about having a larger chest? I put off piercing my nipples for over 10 years before I popped into my local piercing and tattoo shop one day on a whim, and never looked back. I had a great experience with the piercing process, healing, and experienced positive effects! But there were absolutely NO resources for getting piercings as a plus size person before now. Here’s everything you need to know about plus size nipple piercings, from pain to healing to pleasure!
Quick Tips
Get pierced in Spring/Summer. You don’t want to have your most intense healing done in the cold and dry winter months. Hello dry and painful cracked nips. Late summer is a great time to get your nipples pierced so they have time to heal while it’s still warm and humid.
Use a piercer who is fat or fat-friendly. Having a piercer who understands your body is key! They’ll know where to place your piercing based on the size/shape of your chest and the direction of your nipple.
Don’t wear too tight of a bra during healing. This comes from experience! I wore a sports bra during healing and ended up embedding my piercings, which were already too tight. Wear a supportive bra without any compression.
Have access to your piercer during healing. You never know when your barbell will be too small, if there’s an infection, etc. And you don’t want to play around with this stuff! So make sure you’ll be by your piercer for any follow up appointments you may need.
Listen to the healing instructions! This one is hard. You’re feeling sexy af with your nips and want someone to enjoy them. Well STOP RIGHT THERE. No touchy touchy until you’re at least 6-9 months in your healing process. You don’t want any germs getting into your piercings.
Use gentle saline solution. Learned this the hard way! Remember what I said about try and cracked nips? A strong saline solution makes this 1000% times worse. I like the NeilMed Wound Wash or the CVS Wound Wash.
Stick with barbells- no matter how tempting rings may look. After I was fully healed, I visited a piercing studio and asked to change my (very long) barbells to rings. My piercer put in a ring as requested, but when I say this ring was big I mean BIG. Like I looked like a farm animal. No good. My piercer offered an alternative: horseshoe rings bent to accommodate my flat nips. They looked smaller but ultimately, they moved around too much and were so uncomfortable. I ended up going back to buy myself barbells (with really beautiful end caps) and learned that most people ALWAYS stick with barbells anyway. So learn from the $100 I lost and stick with barbells.
[RELATED POST: 6 Brands to Shop for the Best Plus Size Bralettes]
Q&A
Do your nipples need to be a certain shape? No, any nipple can be pierced! Even flat ones.
How long did the pain last? The immediate pain lasted a few days. I experienced some pain through dryness from saline solution and the dry cold winter.
Does it hurt to sleep on your stomach? Yes, for a long time. I usually sleep on my back and sometimes my side, but I had to wait a while to be able to sleep on my side.
How uncomfortable were the piercings while healing? I didn’t feel uncomfortable but I did became very aware of them. Sometimes I would accidentally graze my nipples which was very painful but I have south-facing nipples so this didn’t happen too often.
Are you able to wear bras/bralettes after the piercing? Yes and you should! And here are 6 brands to shop for plus size bralettes, which I found to be the most comfortable during the healing process.
How long does it take to heal? 6-12 months is the general timeline for the healing process. For folks with bigger chests, it’s usually on the longer side.
Does the sag of free boob cause discomfort? No but you do need to be cognizant of your piercing migrating. My piercer told me that larger chests with downward nipples can cause the piercing to migrate down out of the nipple because of gravity! It doesn’t always happen but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Does it change the sensitivity? It can but it’s not guaranteed. It did for me though, which was great because that’s why I did it!
Pain level? Definitely an 8. Most painful piercing I had hands down.
Are your nipples always hard? They aren’t always hard but they get harder more easily.
Are they hard to clean? Nope! Just squirt them with saline wash, let them sit, and q-tip away those crusties.
Do they hide under clothes or stand out? Mine hide usually because my nips are so low. Depends on your clothes and bra thickness!
Does going braless = piercings getting stuck to my stomach? Not for me! I mostly get stuck to my partner if we are cuddling naked.
Are nipple piercings cute on droopy boobs? YES YES YES. Very cute and very sexy. I felt a confidence boost immediately.
How do piercings work for people with large areolas? Exactly the same as people with small areolas! Your piercer will still only pierce your nipple, not your areola.
I hope this helps you decide if nipple piercings are right for you! Getting plus size nipple piercings was one of the best things I did to boost my self confidence and I recommend them to anyone who is interested. If you have any questions about plus size nipple piercings, you can always reach out on Instagram @maggiemcgill!
This post was all about plus size nipple piercings
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