"I felt surprised, embarrassed, humiliated, scared and angry," said Mandi Hamlin, a 37-year-old from Texas.

"This situation was totally out of control."

"I will not sit quietly."

"No one deserves to be treated this way."

Her ordeal took place at Lubbock International Airport -- although she did not set off the metal detector, officals pulled her to one side for additional screening.

A handheld scanner used by a TSA officer beeped when it was waved over her breasts.

She was then told to remove her piercings, having to resort to asking for pliers when one nipple ring proved hard to remove.

"As Ms Hamlin struggled to remove the piercing behind the curtain, she could hear a growing number of predominantly male TSA officers snickering in the background," said Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing Ms Hamlin.

"Ms Hamlin did not want to remove her nipple piercings."

"After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove."

"In addition, once removed, the pierced skin may close up almost immediately, making it difficult and painful to reinsert the piercing."

The initial response from the TSA was initially bullish.

"TSA is well aware of terrorists' interest in hiding dangerous items in sensitive areas of the body, therefore we have a duty to the American public to resolve any alarm we discover," said a spokesperson for the agency.

But the TSA changed their tune after a flurry of negative publicity around the incident.

"TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself," according to a statement issued by the TSA.

"We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."

Hamlin is now demanding an apology over the incident, one which her lawyer says could have been avoided if the TSA has adhered to proper procedures.

According to Allred, her client should have been offered the option of a pat-down to determine if her breasts were hiding a dangerous payload.

"Had she been told that she had a right to a pat-down, she would have chosen that option," Aldred said.