I'm not really a big fan of septum piercings and I never have been. Until I got a septum piercing the look of them never really appealed to me. Rob, the apprentice at Perforations was looking for septums to pierce so I thought I'd volunteer mine. I enjoy being pierced and I thought I could help Rob out by piercing me for a bit of experience. However, I only found out when I got to the studio that this would be Rob's first septum piercing and as you would expect I became a little apprehensive.
At A Glance Author Den Contact Den@bme.anon IAM Replica When A month ago Artist Rob Studio Perforations Location Brighton / UK I was in the waiting room with a few of my friends and we exchanged idle banter with Rob and Warren. I became more relaxed as the waiting room turned more into a Jazz club purely because of the gratuitous amount of cigarettes we were smoking. Anyway time was getting on and we knew if we didn't get on and get the piercing done we wouldn't have time for a drink after. Rob and I got to the point where we both finish our cigarettes and looked at each other. Rob looked at me with a confident cheeky grin and I looked back at him seemingly petrified. The words 'Shall we' Rob always spins as he calls someone up for a piercing rattled through me and the thought crossed my mind 'what the hell am I doing.
Rob and I head down the stairs and being clumsy like I am I banged my head on the low ceiling. We proceeded in to the green room awaiting Warren to oversee the piercing. Rob put his latex gloves on and laid out the equipment. We waited for Warren to come down but he was still talking. So we waited a bit more, and decided some music had to go on to pass the time while Warren was still occupied. We looked at the available CD's and we decided on Ozzy. Of course Paranoid had to go straight on and I even got Rob to sing along. I started to feel relaxed as I indulged in some light head banging and toe tapping. So we waited and finally Warren came downstairs to oversee the piercing. I felt anxiety again.
I don't know why but I noticed the noise of the air conditioning system. The noise seemed to get louder and louder as Warren put on some gloves and told me to lie down on the bench. I lay back on the bench style padded adjustable table. I was looking directly up at a light and could see Warren and Rob moving around me. At that point I would have sworn I had been abducted. I could hear Warren instructing Rob on what to look for and how to go about piercing a septum. I felt a finger go up my nose, this was rather disconcerting as it wasn't mine. I felt Warren put the needle in my nose inside the plastic tubing. He was showing Rob how to find a good place to pierce. Rob then took over and prodded the inside of my nose until he found the best place to pierce. This was all rather uncomfortable. I honestly believed that Rob was using the needle to find a place to pierce not the plastic tube.
Rob found a suitable to pierce and Warren then instructed him on how to support my nostril as he was piercing. Rob gave it a few attempts before he was confident he could do it properly. So then came the crunch time. I was going to be pierced. I felt the tip of the needle on the inside of my nose. And then the needle went through. I felt a slight burning sensation and it was over. I thought I was ok but then my eyes started to uncontrollably stream with tears. Everything went all blurry and I felt Rob dabbing around my eyes with a tissue.
Next came the jewelry insertion. I lied there with a plastic tube through my nose waiting for it to be pushed back through. Rob tried to put the jewelry in to the tube but Warren took over. I could feel Warren wrestling the bullet retainer into the tube. He finally slipped it in and eased the jewelry in to place. Out came the plastic tube and now it was time to put the o-ring on the retainer. A finger was put up my nose to hold the retainer while the o-ring was put on the other side. I know from my own experience that o-rings can be tricky but this one seems very illusive. It took a few attempts but it was finally on and I had myself a new septum piercing.
Everything was done and we preceded back upstairs. Once again I managed to hit my head on the low ceiling. But we sat there and relaxed for a bit, had a cigarette and Rob told me about his cat giving his newly pierced septum a knock. I left with a sore nose and about to get a cold as forewarned by several people. I was told if you get your septum pierced you WILL get a cold. I guess I wasn't an exception but I'm glad I had it done.