So the story begins. Approximately 8 months ago I got my Septum pierced at Steel Lotus. It was a huge step in my life to say the least. I had it pierced at 14 gauge and the day after I realized that this was too small, I simply could not live with such a small hole. Something had to be done and that is where BME came into the picture. At that the time I did not think it was possible to stretch such a piercing ( forgive my ignorance, I was and still am new to the modification world) but upon finding BME I saw it was possible to stretch a Septum, and on top of that to amazing degrees.
At A Glance Author Simon Solari Contact simon_solari@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Rob Studio Industrial Strength Location 132 King St, Newtown The next few weeks I was chomping at the bit to stretch my tiny septum piercing, thinking that it would be pain free, easy and quick but I was so far from the truth. The first stretch I did was diabolical, after school one day I walked down to a local Piercing Parlor and bought a small horseshoe shaped retainer (at this time my parents did not know). I ran home, high on adrenaline just holding larger jewelry in my hand. I got home, ran into my bathroom and proceeded to ram the retainer through my tiny septum hole. Later I would find out that this is definitely not the way to go about stretching your septum especially when jumping 2 gauges, as the shop had muddled the sizing up and had not bothered to check before selling it to me. It was painful to say the least and I could not move it for a week without extreme pressure and a tearing sensation in my nose. Although it hurt like crazy I felt better about myself.
Fast forward a few weeks later, when I had started out on this crazy tale of stretching I had no goal in mind and after weeks of thought and browsing on BME I reached one, 2 GAUGE. It was big but not too big, 0 gauge sounded a little out of my league so from that day forward I had something to work towards.
A few weeks down the track I stretched again using a small 8 Gauge retainer. This was the easiest stretch, I barely felt the taper I was fine the very next day, no pain at all. This planted misconceptions about stretching and would make for a rude shock next stretch.
Fast-forward a few more weeks and I was ready for my next stretch. I bought bad jewelry, mainly due to shallow funds but also bad judgment. I went to the same shop I had used previously on a cold and miserable day, something to set the mood I guess. This stretch was agony, the taper went through but at the end was an immense pressure and a tight pinch followed by a thumping that echoed through my skull. Although I felt awful that day I did feel better the next and was able to show my Dad, who was great through this whole process, allowing me to strive for my goal. This stretch to 6 Gauge really did make me feel better about myself, a few weeks later I bought a single flared tunnel and could gross people out by asking them to look through my nose.
I kept at 6 Gauge for a very long time in my books, the pain I had felt while stretching did not fit well with me so I was quite nervous about my next stretch. Although I was petrified about going bigger, 6 Gauge was not big enough and I felt deflated knowing that my ultimate goal was only 2 stretches away.
Eventually I worked up the courage and me and two friends went on an outing to Newtown, to one of my favorite shops, Industrial Strength. This is the best shop as it has a huge selection of Jewelry, the people are easy to get along with and help with any problems and I just has a cool "vibe" to the place. My pocket had deepened significantly and I had enough to buy a 4 Gauge stainless steel Circular Barbell. After lightening my wallet they put the weight in my nose, something which I had not expected. The whole day I had been waiting for this, the immense pressure, the pinch and then the excruciating pain all day long.
Although I was sore, I could laugh at myself as I had a runny nose that day and it would run along the barbell until falling off the balls. My friends thought it was hilarious.
I was so close although once again dreading the next step. I felt so good that I had almost reached my goal. Every night before falling asleep I would dream about reaching 2 Gauge and how good and bad it would feel.
I left my 4 Gauge septum for roughly 2 months as; a) I wanted to get a good run out of my jewelry and b) I was not ready for the pain.
"The Day" came yesterday, yesterday I reached my goal and I feel great. The same feelings were felt and the pain that followed was almost unbearable except for the fact that I was "there". This is the first time I can remember that I followed through on a set goal and I feel amazing (except for my throbbing Septum of course). I feel more whole as a person and as I match my inside view of myself to the outside world I know I will feel more at ease with myself.
Throughout this period my Dad was extremely helpful and offered his full support but my Mother was dead against it. I remember I showed up one day with my 4 Gauge Barbell in and she threw me out of the house and refused to talk to me. This hurt me as it was something important to me but she just could not understand.
I did not tell her I was stretching and when I told her the following night she once again refused to accept it although she could see no physical difference what so ever and I had been in plain sight of her for almost 2 days now. I'm not allowed to wear any jewelry except for my steel tunnel around her or when I'm going out while living under her roof. This I granted her although it really does make me sad that she can't accept me for who I am and is constantly trying to change me. I will do the things she asks simply to make her ignorant day more happy but one day I hope that she will see through my eyes and stand happily beside her modded son.