Female Nipple Piercing | Elayne Angel's Piercing Bible

Whether you prefer the angle of your piercing to be horizontal, vertical, or somewhere in between, it will work best if it is placed in the natural creases of your tissue.

Whether you prefer the position to be horizontal, vertical, or somewhere in between, nipple piercing works best when placed in your tissue’s natural creases. Depending on the angle and shape of your breasts or pectoral muscles, the “horizontal” placement may be more visually appealing if the outer edge is just a bit higher than the inner side. This tilts the jewelry up at a slight slant that often frames the area nicely. A geometrically horizontal placement can look a little droopy at the outer side on certain chests.

If you have well-developed anatomy, the piercing should be placed in the grooves at the base, where the nipple rises from the areola. If your nipple is defined with substantial height, the piercing can safely go in as little as 5⁄16 inch of tissue. If you have flat nipples, the piercing should generally encompass a minimum of 3⁄8 inch between entry and exit when the area is relaxed. However, some practitioners will pierce the nipple through much less skin, which raises concerns over safety and long-term durability. If your nipples are featureless, without an elevated tip, the tissue in the nipple’s visual center might be pierced so that the jewelry rests evenly within your areola. (While this type of piercing routinely extends into the areola, especially on very small anatomy, it is still considered a nipple piercing.)

If you want a pair of piercings and have large, protruding nipples that are uneven in size, it is often best to position the jewelry at the natural base of each nipple, and not make one side shallower (or deeper) in an attempt to make them match.

Multiple Nipple Piercings

A nipple can be pierced only once in a session; however, after healing, depending on its configuration and dimensions, it may be pierceable a second time. Few nipples are substantial enough to accommodate more than two piercings. Typical arrangements include two horizontal piercings (ordinarily moving closer toward the body for the subsequent hole), a cross (usually with a horizontal placement in front and a vertical behind it), or an X shape formed by two diagonal barbells. Exceptional skills may be required to place additional holes accurately in an already-pierced nipple.

Inverted Nipples

When performed on suitable candidates, piercings can be a remarkable resolution for inverted nipples. If the tip can be coaxed out sufficiently, then the nipple can probably be pierced, and jewelry will block it from retracting. 

The medical community assesses them using three different levels of severity, and they are not all equally pierceable:

• Grade 1: The most minor form in which the inverted nipple is easily coaxed out with minimal manipulation. Once out, the nipple maintains its projection fairly well, but usually reverts to its inverted state after a short period of time. In general, this anatomy is well suited to piercing. Placing jewelry in the right spot is usually an effective cure for the inverted nipple.

• Grade 2: The inverted nipple can be pulled out, but not as easily as in Grade 1. The majority of inverted nipples are in this category. More forceful manipulation is required to bring them forth, and after releasing the traction, the nipples slip back to their inverted state quickly. If they can be brought out and kept that way for the procedure, they may be pierceable. It is critical that the skin at the deepest portion of the inversion can be elevated beyond the level of the piercing, or you may end up with a partial piercing that misses the center of the nipple, or a shallow one that migrates through it over time.

• Grade 3: The nipple is severely inverted and very difficult or impossible to pull out manually. It won’t come out all the way and won’t stay that way on its own. These are not pierceable.

Some inverted nipples will pinch up only at an angle that is not standard for a nipple piercing. It is best to let the tissue be your guide and if you won’t be pleased with jewelry at that angle, you should forego piercing. 

The nipple pictured below is Grade 1: only slightly inverted and the tip everts easily. It is no problem having this type of anatomy pierced.