I was extremely bored and for once in my life I had a little money to spare, so on a somewhat spur of the moment decision I called up a friend and asked them to accompany me to have my septum pierced. Until then I had only had my eyebrow done a couple of times and various failed attempts at ear piercing by way of a piercing gun. I was extremely nervous about the pain factor, healing, or even just being able to blow my nose (as I am prone to get colds and allergies). Another concern I had was with being able to 'hide' my piercing from my conservative parents and my boss. I had friends that were quite happy with their piercings and the experience in general who offered answers to many of my questions. Every person I asked recommended the same studio, and I felt comfortable with going there after talking to the staff and watching some of my friends get work done.
At A Glance Author k8y Contact k8y@bme.anon Studio Full Color Coverage Location Annapolis I headed to the studio, thinking in the back of my head that I wouldn't go through with it. But no, a few minutes later I was filling out the paperwork and selecting my jewelry. I opted for a 12 gauge septum retainer for the time being- I mean I knew the piercing was there regardless of whether or not it was visible, that's all that really mattered to me... that and piercings are generally frowned upon where I work.
After waiting for the couple of people ahead of me, I was lead to an immaculately clean room and introduced to the man who would shortly have his pinkies jammed up my nose...talk about intimacy. I was obviously a bundle of nervousness at this point, but the artist was very friendly and humorous and brought me back to a relative level of sanity. He examined my nose and felt around the cartilage looking for the right position for the piercing. Next he cleaned the inside surface of my nose with iodine, if memory serves, and had me tilt my head back in the chair as I sat clenching the seat cushion with one hand, and my poor friend's hand with the other.... I'm sure he's gotten the feeling back in his fingers by now though.
Before long, and rather unexpectedly, I felt the pressure of the needle against my skin... being one to panic without just cause I flinched and contorted my face in the most ungodly of manners. My piercer was very patient with me and told me he wouldn't continue until I was fully ready, he further assured me that the anxiety was worse than the piercing itself. I wanted nothing more than to get it over with so I took a deep breath and gave him the okay. The sensation started off as more of an annoying pinch than a pain. It wasn't until he gave me a tissue to wipe away my (involuntary) tears that the throbbing ache set in, as the needle now weighted with a cork still remained poked into my septum. He again waited for my permission before he put the retainer in. As far as I remember, my nose was already mostly numbed to any other sensation by the intensity of the piercing, so the rest of the procedure went about as well as could be expected. He dabbed away small amounts of blood from my nose with a q-tip, then I got up (in my incredibly euphoric daze) and looked at the awkward prongs of the retainer that were sticking out of each nostril. Rather than disturbing my aching nose further, I let the retainer hang outside until much later when I could numb the wound with bactine to maneuver as needed.
For the first week or so my nose ran constantly, which no one had really warned me of before. Another consequence that I was aware of beforehand, but dreaded far more was that any time I so much as rubbed my nose forgetting about the metal now speared though it, I was nearly on the floor doubled over in pain (Yes, I'm a big baby! Yet at the same time I kinda liked it- go figure) The healing time, however, was surprisingly short. After a month I could change jewelry with no problems and within 2 months it seemed to be fully healed. The retainer has also worked wonderfully, and unless someone is looking directly up my nose for whatever reason, it goes completely unnoticed.
Six months and about 4 piercings later, I've grown quite fond of my septum piercing. It's given me the least amount of problems of all the others... half of the time I don't even know that it's there. It was absolutely not worth all of the apprehension and anxiety and I'd do it over again in a second. I don't wear jewelry in it as much as I'd like, since I have yet to find any light or small enough to my liking. I've considered shrinking down to a 14 just because more 'cute' and smaller jewelry is available, but am not completely sold on the idea yet. Either way, I love my lil' metallic booger and plan to keep it for as long as possible.