6 months ago, I got my septum pierced at Cold Steel in San Francisco. It was my first "real" piercing (I already had 4 holes in my lobes from a gun), and since I have gotten my navel, one helix, two industrials, and two conch piercings. My septum was – by far – the least painful. What is to follow is the way it happened:
At A Glance Author Naomi Contact Naomi@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Tam Studio Cold Steel Location San Francisco For years, I had seen the occasional person on the bus with a septum piercing, and I was fascinated. To my parents' chagrin, I would – in response to seeing these people – periodically mention that I would like my septum pierced. Assuming it was a phase I was going through, they would just say, "Not until you are 18, dear" and leave it at that. Little did they know that each time I heard that it reinforced within my little sub-conscious my plans for my 18th birthday.
Fast-forward to February 2003. My boyfriend of 13 months breaks up with me, I'm getting ready to graduate high school, and college is a huge thought in my mind. As is my rapidly approaching 18th birthday. I start to think more seriously about getting my septum pierced, and on my way home from school on the bus, start to visit piercing galleries in the Haight Street area. I look at portfolios, cleanliness, and jewelry options. I inquire about sterilization procedures, and about the actually piercing procedure itself. I compare prices, both of the piercing alone and of jewelry. In this way, I spend my next 2 months, trying to fully understand what it is I'm going to be putting myself through. I also tell all of my friends that I plan on having my septum pierced and try to solicit people to go with me.
April 2003: My birthday finally rolls around and it is a busy week. I am stage managing the annual musical at my school, which means that my waking days that week averaged about 20 hours apiece. Still, my birthday is Saturday – closing night – and I'd been able to sleep as much as I wanted since the show the night before ended at about 10:30 and I wasn't needed until about 6 Saturday evening. I woke up and told my mom that I was going to get my septum pierced at Cold Steel and asked if she would go with me. I had already established that the rest of my friends were exhausted from the musical and wouldn't be able to go with me, but they had already assured me that they were with me in spirit. My mom, however, wasn't nearly as excited as I was. She ended up talking me out of getting it done that day, and gave me a lecture on her negative opinion about facial piercings. I was sorely disappointed, but agreed that the day of a closing performance and an all-night party was not the best idea. So I put it off.
The next day, Sunday, I wake up in my bed around noon after having partied the whole night until about 6 AM. I was tired, but knew that if I slept all day I wouldn't sleep at all that night, and couldn't afford to lose anymore sleep what with school the next day and all. So, I called this guy who'd asked to hang out (little did I know that we would officially start dating the week after that), and asked him if he still wanted to hang out. He did, picked me up, and I spent that day with he and his friends. Around about 6 he brought up that I'd mentioned the day before how I had wanted to get my nose pierced and asked if that was still true. I told him yes, and he offered to drive me to wherever it was I wanted to get pierced. I told him where on Haight Street Cold Steel is, and he, his friend, and I went out there.
When we got there, I was informed that my school ID was not enough of an ID for me to get pierced. I had completely forgotten about this, as I hadn't been planning on getting pierced that day, and was once again disappointed because I thought that that meant I wouldn't be able to be pierced that day. How wrong I was. Chris offered to drive me home so that I could pick up my passport (which is valid ID), and my mom even gave it to me without asking why. Then we drove back to Cold Steel where I triumphantly presented it to the girl at the counter there, along with the 10% off jewelry card that she had given me as a consolation.
Again, I told the girl at the counter that I would like to have my nose pierced. She asked me what kind of jewelry I would like, and although I had previously thought about this question, being posed with it for real caught me completely off guard. I asked if a circular-barbell would be hideable and she said yes. That cemented it for me, since I wasn't sure how my family would take it, and I couldn't predict what might happen before it healed completely that I might want to hide it for. She gave me a price of $64. Apparently the quote I had been given before was for a CBR, and the price, too, caught me off guard. I emptied every last penny out of my wallet, but was still $3 short. Thankfully, Chris had some cash on him, and spotted me the $3. So, now I was good to go. I filled out the paperwork, and we sat on a bench chatting for 20 minutes before Tam called me into the piercing room. Alone I went, since I didn't feel comfortable asking these guys I barely knew to watch me have a needle rammed through my nose.
The room I entered was brightly colored, smelled of antiseptic, and was immaculately clean. Tam pointed out me that everything she was going to use was sterilized, as she washed her hands at the sink in the corner and put clean gloves on. I sat at the table in the center of the room. Then Tam came over with some antiseptic to clean out my nose. She warned me that everything would probably smell like antiseptic for a few days, and I told her that that didn't bother me. She looked at my septum and, using tube-like clamps, lined up a straight passage against the sweet spot in my nose. She didn't ask me to check if they were straight, but they felt straight and I was so excited I forgot to ask. (By this point, she had changed her gloves several times. Essentially each time she touched something new she would change gloves.) Now for the best part: once the clamps were aligned, Tam told me to breathe in and out deeply three times. She didn't tell me that one the third b reathe she would pierce me, but that is exactly what she did. My eyes started to water a little, and as Tam grabbed the circular barbell to follow the needle I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror with the needle in my nose. It was an amazing sight that I wish I'd gotten a picture of. Then Tam asked if I'm ready for the jewelry. She warns me that this will probably hurt the worst and that it will probably make my eyes water even more. I quietly assure her that that's fine, and she threads the jewelry through, and screws the beads on. The she looks at it again to make sure that it is wide enough to flip up. She's already bent it out slightly to make that an easier process, and is satisfied with what she sees. I gentle poke on the tip of my nose, practically giggling at the sensation I am feeling. I turn, look in the mirror, and am instantly in love. It looks great, I am certain, and walk back out to greet my friends. Their looks were priceless and I as adrenali ne-giddy and very proud of myself. Aftercare was simple, and involved warm sea-salt soaks once or twice a day as well as using an antiseptic solution, both of which I purchased at Cold Steel.
Now, 6-months later, my septum is beyond being fully healed and my boyfriend and I are still together. In July I went back to Cold Steel and had a "septum circle" put in. (Some people call them tusks, but unlike any other tusk I've ever seen, this one is flat on top so that it doesn't need o-rings.) I've picked at my septum so much, though, that the originally 14g hole is much bigger. A few days ago I managed to put two 16g rings in the hole at once and have decided that with minimal stretching I will be able to put a 10g ring in. So, I just ordered one, and we'll see what happens when it comes. I'm looking forward to it. I love my septum piercing. It was painless, healed in about a month, healed straight no less, and looks great! If you are thinking about getting yours done and have questions, feel free to email me, just please put BME somewhere in the subject line. Also, if you want to know more about hiding a septum piercing and dealing with parental issues conc erning piercings, feel free to email me about that too!