My decision to have my septum pierced was very spur of the moment. I often hang out at my local tattoo and piercing shop (Chameleon Body Arts), as I'm good friends with all the employees. So on Sunday last weekend I was hanging out, and business was slow. The piercer, Owen, asked me if I wanted any piercings done... as of yet I had no permanent body modifications. I told him yes, I did want piercings... lots of piercings. But I wanted to start with something simple, easy to take care of, and easily hidden. After a lot of deliberation and asking the opinion of everyone in the place, I decided to go for my septum. Owen said "say no more" and got everything ready.
At A Glance Author Nick ElDreado Contact Nick ElDreado@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Owen Beane Studio Chameleon Tattoo and Body Piercing Location Cambridge MA I was very nervous. Not scared, just nervous. I've never been in a great deal of pain before, so this was going to be new for me. I had always thought I'd get traditional earlobes as my first, but that notion was thrown away the instant Owen invited me into the piercing room. I was very surprised that I was not shaking at all. I also briefly thought about backing out. But again, I knew I wanted this, so I stayed. I have known Owen for a while, so that really helped a lot. Trusting your piercer is very important! I noticed my mouth stop making spit, and knew that I was definitely a little freaked out. I figured it would hurt a lot, since it is a cartilage piercing.
I sat up on the piercing table, and Owen continued to get his tools ready. We had decided to pierce it with a small black niobium retainer, since I may have a nickel allergy. It's 16 gauge I think, but I'm not even sure, because by that point I was already in a haze of adrenaline. My parents were not to find out about this piercing, so it was key that it be small and invisible when it was flipped up into my nose. Owen donned a pair of rubber gloves, and stuck his pinkies up my nose. He felt around for the "sweet spot" and eventually found it. It's close to the tip of my nose on me, which I actually really like. Owen changed his gloves, and got out a huge hollow needle. This freaked me out, and I being high on adrenaline still and unable to think straight said "you're going to shove that through my nose?" He said no, it was the receiving tube. Ok, much better.
Once everything was ready Owen changed his gloves again, and cleaned my septum with iodine, which smelled like new shoes he said. Delicious! When we were ready for the piercing, he changed his gloves again I think. He didn't mark it, didn't use any clamps, and I trusted his judgment on where in my nose it would go. We had already established invisibility as a priority, so he decided to pierce it kind of high up. Now is when things get very fuzzy... to the best of my knowledge, he picked up the receiving tube in his left hand, and the needle in his right. He held them both in place, and told me to take a deep breath, which I did. Midway through the inhale, he poked me a little bit with the needle, and said he was lining himself up... and on the exhale it came. It was so painful, I remember saying "fuck, that hurts" and my eyes watered like crazy, just like he said they would. I had closed my eyes, and I opened them briefly to see that Owen's face was about 2 inches from mine and had a look of intense concentration. Ok, close eyes again. I don't remember feeling the needle slide through, like a lot of people do, or even how he inserted the jewelry. I just remember a big numbing pain in my nose and above my front teeth. He positioned the jewelry, and that's it, I was finished. There wasn't any blood.
By now the endorphin rush had settled in too, so I was feeling rather high. I looked at it in the mirror, but I didn't take notice of much. My nose hurt like a bitch... it felt like I still had a needle about to poke through it. Owen gave me a hug and congratulated me on my first piercing. He told me to sit back against the wall, which I did while he cleaned up. Once he was finished, he showed me how to slip the retainer upwards into my nose so it was concealed... perfect. You couldn't see it unless you'd stared up my nose with a flashlight.
I started off taking care of it by washing it every other day and doing a couple of saline soaks with cotton balls stuffed up my nose daily... but that got tedious. So I stopped washing it, and just did one 5 minute saline soak every night before I went to sleep. Now it's been five weeks, and I had Owen change the jewelry yesterday. We decided on a steel circular barbell, 3/8" I think. And good news, I don't have any metal allergies! The jewelry went in easily, and Owen said it had healed well. I was relieved, because I had had my doubts about whether or not it was going ok. Apparently it was just the retainer that was a little uncomfortable. But now that the ring is in it, it feels great. I love my septum piercing!