It all began in College Writing Class today. Well maybe not, I have a lot of other mods but never really considered getting my septum pierced until pure boredom during a lecture. My class is in a computer lab so whenever I'm feeling sneaky I'll just go to BME and scare the kids around me by looking at anything I can find that could be considered offensive to those of a more sheltered upbringing. After that fun had worn off I decided to check out the section on nose piercings which I knew very little about. I got to the septum section and found that some people looked amazing and it completed their face, while others looked like complete tools. It was then that I began contemplating how it would do on me.
At A Glance Author TripnLmnt Contact trifyvsoul@aol.com When It just happened Artist Erin Studio Chameleon Location Cambridge, Massachusetts It took very little convincing for me to decide, what the hell why not, and right as class ended I called up my friend Helen and decided to catch the train to Chameleon in The Garage. I was a little nervous considering that I had never had a nose piercing and had heard from various sources that it either hurt like crazy, or felt like nothing. I gathered that this had much to do with the location on the septum the piercing took place but soon afterwards my apprehensions dissipated and I figured that pain is temporary, but pride is forever.
So we finally got to the shop and I found out that Erin, an awesome piercer and cool chick in general was working that day, making me 200 percent sure I was gonna go for it. Helen actually decided she wanted her eyebrow pierced so we both went and filled out our forms, presented I.D., picked out jewelry, etc. I decided I wanted to get pierced with a retainer instead of a hoop simply for economic reasons as it was 20 bucks saved in my pocket for some other cause or for another mod later on. We waited probably about 30 minutes and finally I was up. Erin was her usual happy and entertaining self so we talked for a while. When I told her I wanted my septum pierced a look of sheer joy ran across her face, and she screamed "Oh, hell yea septums are my f**kin' favorite piercings!" She took a look at my septum and explained to me that it was deviated (meaning uneven in shape) but she just smiled and said it would be more of a challenge for her.
She told me to go in and sit down, and proceeded to walk across the hall to get a drink. Upon her return her smile still remained and I started talking to her about how my vertical labret had healed well and thanked her again for doing it, along with other small talk concerning her band and some crazy drama about a tattoo guy who got fired last week for doing some vile things involving his genitals I wont even get into. Anyways, I noticed she had a huge septum plug and asked her about it just to get a sense of the pain from a pro. She said hers was pretty damn painful considering she scalpeled her own at a 0 gauge. At that point I just felt like a pussy and stopped asking.
The next thing she told me made me even more excited about my choice as she said that septums were one of the first piercings ever and that they had tribal roots. Her next words were,"pretend we're in Africa..." in which I responded to by beating on the doctors type chair in an African beat, well at least I thought it was one. Then she said that she was going to do something that she only does for certain septum piercings. She walked over to a small box and pulled out a large white bone. She then took out her septum plug and placed it in her nose. I just laughed and she began explaining how in many African tribes septum piercings are a symbol of wisdom and experience and were an honor to have, almost like a rite of passage. At this point any butterflies that were in my stomach had flown far away and all I could do was think about how this was definitely by far the coolest piercing experience I had ever been through.
She then opened the needle, put it in some lubricated gel, and proceeded to put iodine in my nose. I always remembered this part except this time the smell invaded my entire skull and I remembered that I wasn't just getting another ear piercing, I was crossing a boundary I had hardly even considered. The butterflies jumped the hell back in my stomach but I just looked up at the giant bone in her nose and began to relax myself. She then put both of her pinky fingers in my nose to find my "sweet spot." She found it and with satisfaction said, "This is the most awesome feeling, it's like an orgasm in your nose." I loved the fact that she was so into this and with that, no markings of any kind like usual, she just placed the needle. I wasn't even concerned with the fact that I had no idea where in my septum it was going to be but I didn't care at all, I left it all in her hands and was more comfortable than I've ever been. I grabbed Helen's hand and she told me to take a deep br eath in, and then a deep breath out and she shoved the needle through like it was nothing. I hardly felt any pain and only noticed my eyes water up involuntarily which I knew would happen. The only semi-unpleasant part was putting the jewelry in but even that was not really painful at all.
The first thing she said was "Wow, that is pimp," and I got up to go look at it and was so impressed. I loved it and am so glad I trusted her decision on where to put it because I have to say I'm in love with this piercing. Helen got her eyebrow pierced after me which I'm really glad I got to see and Erin also did a good job doing that. We hung around and talked about her band and some art people in the shop had drawn. She gave me a big hug and told me to come back for anything else I needed or if the septum had any problems. We headed out and all I could think was how f**kin cool that just was.
For anyone thinking about a septum piercing I wholeheartedly recommend it. I'm sure different people will tell you different things and I'm also pretty sure that it has a great deal to do with the piercer. If anyone asks me I'll tell them it was the best feeling piercing I've ever had on many levels, and to go for it. So in conclusion I have no regrets, and I guess thats my two cents.