Suddenly Septum

At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon Artist Sharon Studio Checkered Past Location New Cumberland, PA

To start off with, I'm still fairly new to the body modification community. I started with mods about 7 months ago. In those 7 months, I got a tat on my back, one on my crotch (that hurt like hell), a PA pierced at 10 ga., then stretched to 6 ga. and a cutting.

I was in my favorite studio, Checkered Past, chilling with the employees, when I got an itching for a piercing. I talked it over with Sharon, who did my PA, and decided on a septum. Septums can be easily hidden with a retainer, so it would be ideal at work. Plus, it would be my first facial piercing. Needless to say, I was excited.

She set up all her tools while I sat on the doctor-style bench, trying to syke myself up for the pierce. I was pretty scared. It had been 6 months since my first, and last piercing (my PA). I had begun to forget what it was like, so it was as if it was my first piercing ever all over again. Sharon tried to calm down my jitters, while I sat there and argued in my head if I was ready.

Give it 5 minutes of debating, and I finally tell her to pierce on my third exhale. I take 2 deep breaths, and then breathe in extra deep on my third, then let it out as the needle passed through my septum.

Thinking I was in the clear, I started to lift up my head.

"No no no, not yet, it's not through yet."

Apparently, the clamps she was using were juuuuust large enough to fit the 10 gauge needle going through it, thus providing some resistance. So, I grumbled some more as I put my head down. Total piercing time: 8 seconds. The pain was tolerable. It felt like a hard hard pinch. I pretty much groaned the whole time it went through.

I think it was due to the length of time it took to pierce it that gave me such a huge endorphin rush after the needle exited my septum. I whited out a bit, my hearing was muffled, and I felt soooooo fucking high. It was terrific. I smiled and told Sharon to give me a hug. She slid the jewelry through, and I was the proud owner of a 10 gauge septum w/ a circular barbell. I also bought a 10 ga. retainer to go along with it, as I would probably be wearing the retainer for work and such.

After discussing aftercare with Sharon, I realized I'd want to wear the retainer 24/7 while it healed. It's not that I didn't like the circular barbell, but that I shouldn't switch jewelry so much while it healed. So, the retainer was put in when I got home and I went to bed.

In the middle of the night, I had the misfortune of turning over and plopping my face on the pillow. Boy did my nose bleed! I cleaned it out and went back to bed with a bit more caution.

Healing went nominally. My septum was sore for about 3 days, then began to die down. Cleaning was a bitch. I soaked it once a day in a sea salt solution and picked at it with a Q-Tip twice a day w/ an anti-microbial soap.

Here's where it gets fun. I wake up about 2 weeks into having my septum. I'm still getting crusties, but it's easier to clean because it's not swollen or sore. Anyways, I wake up and feel something tickling the back of my throat. So naturally, I swallowed. Just after I did that I thought "Fuck me, I just swallowed my retainer". I feel around my nose and sure enough, my retainer is now gone. So, I put my circular barbell in and go back to bed.

Having the circular barbell flipped in my nose wasn't concealed enough at the office. It would shine a little and attract prying eyes. So that night, I called my local piercers and asked around looking for 10 gauge retainers. Nobody had retainers that large except Nick from Visual Addictions in Carlisle, PA. Great guy. He has his own personal collection of jewelry that he sells to customers on a need-to-have basis. We talked a little on the phone and I went down to his studio.

He showed me the jewelry he had, and I decided on an 8 ga. glass retainer. He didn't have 10 gauge, and I didn't mind stretching up, so we went for it. It slid in with minimal pain.

I get home and take out the retainer to compare it to my 10 gauge circular barbell (since glass isn't an exact science, I wanted to see how close to an 8 ga. it really was). Well, I dropped the glass retainer and broke it into two piecese. After a bit of cursing, I put half of it in my septum and call Nick back. He works late for me so I can get another retainer. And at half price! What a guy!

I get back to the studio and look at his other retainers. I found a sweet, HUMONGOUS glass retainer. Out of his collection, it seemed to be the most viable choice. But, it turns out it's a 6 gauge. Well, I already stretched it to an 8 gauge, let's go for a 6. So we follow the new retainer through, a bit of pressure, a bit of pain (it was tolerable), and WHAM, in an hour's time, my 2 week old, 10 gauge retainer is now at a 6 gauge. And boy was it sore!!!

I so do not recommend stretching it so much so soon like I did. I know it sounds hypocritical, but I know that I shouldn't have done it. So call me stupid. :-P It's still sore 2 days later, but it shows promise. I'm cleaning it twice a day with salt water soaks and anti-bacterial soap. It feels sooooo nice just after it's cleaned. I can't wait for it to fully heal.

I'll probably stretch my septum again after it's healed. 4 gauge sound appropriate. I don't think I want to go larger than a 4 gauge, but only time will tell I suppose!