At A Glance Author ina Contact ina@bme.anon IAM ina When A month ago Artist Quille De Sade Studio Absolution Body Piercing Location Christchurch, New Zealand I stopped in Absolution Body Piercing to pick up a new nostril screw a few weeks ago and spoke to Quille about getting my septum pierced. The piercing itself wasn't a spur of the moment decision, I've been mulling it over for a long time, however I hadn't planned on getting it done that day. I was going to make an appointment for the end of the week but he had the time then so I figured we might as well proceed.
We discussed pricing and Dave, the shop owner and other piercer at Absolution, confirmed it was $50 for the piercing including the retainer I chose. Quille dropped the price to $45 since I also purchased a nostril screw and had bought some plugs for my stretched lobes a few days prior. I prefer the look of a retainer over a CBR for the fresh piercing and, if need be, I could always flip it up to hide it.
Quille stepped into the piercing area and started to set up while I lingered at the counter a little longer admiring a small septum tusk in the display case. He asked me to come around to his workspace and as I hopped up onto the table I noticed the tray next to the table which had been laid out with the needle and septum forceps in autoclaved packs, an alcohol swab and a marking pen. The table was very similar to those used by masseuses and chiropractors—it was higher than normal tables to be comfortable for Quille to work and had a cut-out at one end in which the face or back of the head could rest depending on what body part was being pierced.
Quille pulled on some gloves and began to inspect my nose. He placed two of his fingers up my nostrils and gently felt around the area, pulling down on the loose part to determine the best placement for the piercing. He took a bit of time examining the site and I joked about whether or not I had enough flesh to puncture; I have relatively small nostrils and very little loose tissue in my septum. After a little more prodding and inspection Quille carefully placed a small dot with a marking pen on the left side.
After putting on a fresh set of gloves, Quille used the small alcohol pad to clean the inside of each nostril. He removed the forceps from their packet and, gently clamping them onto my septum, advised that the insertion of the needle might cause my eyes to water and said that some people prefer to close their eyes to stop the tears. Out of the numerous piercings I've had over the past thirteen years, this was the first time I closed my eyes; both times I've had my nostril pierced I've welled up in tears due the automatic reflexes of the body so I thought I might try it and see if the natural reaction was subdued.
As I closed my eyes Quille asked me to take a deep breathe and said he would pierce the septum on the exhalation. I drew in a breath and exhaled steadily, feeling the needle slide through the tissue. I was surprised I felt no discomfort, not even the slightest pinch or poke! Some people who've posted their septum piercing experiences here on BME say it was painful while others say they hardly noticed a thing. While pain is subjective I can't help but think so much of it is psychological: if you fear the piercing or are in any way uncomfortable with the piercer or the situation, the pain will be heightened. Not only my enjoying of being pierced but also my confidence in Quille may have helped in this sense.
I was warned about a slight adjustment that needed to be made and opened my eyes to Quille standing above me giving the needle a little twist to turn the sharp point to the outside thereby protecting my nose from accidently being scratched. I felt a small tickle of a tears roll down my right cheek as Quille stepped back. He viewed the needle from both sides of the table as well as the end of the table, squatting to get a better look, as I laid there calmly. Happy with the alignment, he inserted the retainer into one end of the needle and on the count of three the needle was completely pulled through the fresh hole with the jewelry replacing it. Two large tears to welled up and slid down my face which I carefully wiped away, again this wasn't due to the pain but just a natural reaction.
After disposing of the needle in a medical sharps container mounted on the wall, Quille gently moved the retainer so it sat evenly and asked me to sit up slowly. He again examined the piercing from all angles, declared it a success, and asked me how I was doing. I responded by saying I was feeling great and I wished I could feel that happy all of the time; he laughed and said lots of his other clients say the same thing.
Quille attempted to flip the retainer up into my nose to see how it fit when it was 'hidden' but had some difficulty due to the small size of my nostrils and in trying to avoid irritating the fresh piercing. I told him it could be left down for now; I'm fortunate in that I don't have to worry about visible body modifications in the workplace and didn't want to aggravate the swelling or tenderness of the area so soon after having it pierced by fiddling around with the jewelry.
With that he said I could have a look in the mirror so I swung my legs off to the right side of the table and hopped down. I stepped over to the mirror to admire the glint of steel I was sporting in my septum. He pulled off the gloves and we walked to the front counter where I was handed a small pack containing instructions for cleaning and care along with a generous supply of sea salt. Quille said it normally takes 4–6 weeks for a septum piercing to heal and suggested I follow the instructions for the sea salt soaks to clean the area twice a day for a while it was healing.
The aftercare sheet had information on what to expect after getting a piercing—tenderness, itching and secretions or crusting around the site—and tips on what to be careful of including not touching the piercing with unwashed hands; staying away from hot tubs, pools or dirty baths while healing; and taking care when using cosmetics and hair products as they can cause irritation and possible infection if they come into contact with a fresh piercing.
Absolution suggests doing sea salt soaks and listed the following recipe:
Mix together 1/8 teaspoon of rock salt with 100 ml of boiled water in a clean glass container, the salt should dissolve completely with a few stirs. Wait for the water temperature to cool off to a comfortable level before beginning the cleaning process.It's important to note that sea salt is all natural unlike table salt which contains iodine—too strong of a chemical for fresh piercings. The recipe makes a solution that is roughly equivalent to the salinity of the body and therefore won't cause irritation if used properly. Sea salt acts as a natural astringent and is beneficial as it draws out infectious matter. It has been shown to kill bacteria, increases the blood flow around the piercing by dilating the surrounding blood vessels and attracts moisture which helps piercings to drain excess lymphatic fluid which causes crustiness and irritation.
When making up the solution, I also set aside an additional 100 ml of boiled water, without salt, for rinsing. For the actual cleaning I first washed my hands with an anti-bacterial soap and then dipped small pieces of cotton wool into the saline solution, gently twisted them up into my nose and left them there for a few minutes, the warmth helping to loosen any encrustations. After removing the cotton wool I swabbed around in each nostril removing any mucous or dirt with a clean cotton bud moistened with the saline.
I changed cotton buds a few times while cleaning each nostril to ensure that I didn't push dirt or encrustrations towards the piercing site. With a new cotton bud I carefully removed any matter from the jewelry and then rotated the retainer around a bit to make sure it was completely clean.
I dipped fresh cotton buds in the unsalted water and swabbed the jewelry and around my nose to remove any salt residue. I forgot to rinse after one cleansing and felt a bit of irritation around the jewelry but otherwise had no problems following this routine.
I cleaned my piercing twice a day, once in the morning and again at night, for the first week or so and then dropped down to cleaning it once a day for another week. It's still only a few weeks old so I check on it regularly but only it clean when necessary.
I've refrained from flipping the retainer up and down to allow the piercing to heal completely and for any residual swelling to go down; the bottom of the tip of my nose is still a little tender. I was nervous the first time I had to sneeze, thinking the jewelry might get knocked when I covered my mouth and nose but I didn't have any problems, and I've become more aware of putting on and taking off shirts and jackets to ensure that the retainer doesn't get snagged on my clothing.
I hope this account helps anyone interested in getting a septum piercing understand the process and aftercare involved. While there's no guarantee that the piercing won't hurt, I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the result if you do some research; go to an experienced, professional piercer; and—most importantly—follow up with the aftercare. Keep in mind that there's not one 'right' method of aftercare, so ask questions if you're unsure of anything and have a look through other people's experiences to see what methods have also been successful.
ina, 2004/03/10