I had planned to have my septum pierced for quite a long time but I had to wait till I was 18 to have it done. I didn't think it was simple enough for me to take on myself.
At A Glance Author Josh Haynes Contact Josh Haynes@bme.anon IAM thejosh84 When A month ago Artist TinyMan Studio Art Shack Location Elizabethon TN On my 18th birthday I got in touch with my friend Anthony to head up to Elizabethon to get my septum pierced. I was hella excited. I had been waiting for a few months now and today I was finally gonna have it done. I stopped at the ATM and picked up the 45 dollars needed for the procedure. I went into the shop and started filling out the paper work. I was so glad they checked my idea. I was so proud to be 18 and be able to get piercings. Tinyman was in the process of piercing someone else so I mingled about the shop looking at the flash and what not. In about 15 minutes he called me back to do the piercing. It was on now.
He sat me down in the chair and explained to me how he was gonna do it and all that. I watched him get all of the supplies out. He was very careful not to contaminate stuff. After he did all of that he started examining my nose to see where he needed to place the piercing and the clamps. Next came the clamps. That hurt a lot, it got my eyes watering a little. He used those special septum clamps that have the little receiving tubes on them. Next he grabbed the needles and said "Take a deep breathe, here it goes." It was relatively painless. I didn't mind it very much. Then he put the ring in and opened it up so he could flip it up in my nose. That is when it started hurting. All that wiggling around and shit. OUCH! All of this happened in the course of like 3 minutes. Tinyman is very good and fast. I got up and checked it out in the mirror. I couldn't see it at all and that was the plan. I had to hide it from mommy. I paid him and thanked him and assured him I would be back for more piercings.
I went home and cleaned the little teeny bit of blood off of my nose and then went out to eat with my Mom and some friends for my birthday. I left it flipped up in my nose for about 2 weeks before I even touched it. I would clean it daily with some saline spray. It seemed to work pretty well. After about a month I decided it was time to stretch. I had a 12ga 3/8ths CBR that I bent into a retainer shape. A ½ inch diameter ring is a little too big for my nose. I know it wasn't healed by then but I wanted to stretch it really bad. It went in really easily, no pain, no discomfort. Actually it was a little more comfortable because the ring was smaller. I stayed at 12ga for about another month then I went up to 10. Same thing as the 12, no pain or discomfort. I started getting the idea that stretching septums was easy. I was wrong. After staying at a 10 for about 3 weeks I decided to go up to an 8. This totally kicked my ass. I had made a little taper out of a plastic paintbrush. I put some A&D on that son of a bitch and started pushing. I thought I wanted to die. This hurt really bad. I guess it was starting to get up to where it was touching the cartilage. I finally got the taper in and the ring. I left the ring in for a few hours and then switched to a little 8ga plug. It was easier to conceal. By this time mom had discovered the piercing but she still doesn't like to see it so I would hide it most of the time. I stayed at 8ga for about a month and a half. I guess I had irritated the hell out of it so I decided to leave it alone.
I want a big ass hole in my septum so I just had to stretch it again. Going up to a 6ga was worse than the 8. I know I have been stretching to fast but I wanted it up to a bigger size. Again, I thought I was gonna die when I went up to 6ga. I also put a little plug in it again this time. I am gonna wait til I can remove the plug and put it back without any discomfort until I stretch again. Plus I have stretched 4 times since I originally had it pierced so really it hasn't had time to heal. Now that I am getting into big sizes I am gonna slow the fuck down and wait a while.
I wouldn't advise stretching as fast as I have. I got lucky that I didn't get any really bad scarring or an infection. I know better than to stretch that fast but I did it anyway. I have been at a 6ga now for about a month. Throughout this month I have been babying it and cleaning it frequently. I don't change the jewelry and I try really hard not to get it aggravated again. Here in another 3-4 week I will try the 4ga. I am ultimately shooting for a 0ga. I think it would be really bad ass to be able to fit a pencil through my nose.