I decided about four months ago that I wanted my left nostril pierced. I read and looked around at various materials, and decided that I could handle it. I was most nervous about dealing with infections. I'd had both of my ear lobes pierced, and both were hell to deal with. I ended up just letting both earlobe holes close up. My mother wasn't totally supportive at first, but she realised that nostril piercings are pretty acceptable nowadays.
At A Glance Author sawdust Contact sawdust@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Kelly Studio Celebrity Piercing and Tattoo Location Lakewood, Colorado I was pretty nervous. I paced around a bit and clicked my tongue, but the enviroment of the place was pretty comforting to me. I was pleased to see how sterile everything looked, and it appeared that great cares were taken to ensure the health and comfort of the clients. I wandered around and saw other people being pierced or tatooed, and giggled with my friends.
When the time came I picked out a normal 18g screw made of surgical steel with a little fake emerald set in it, and marked on my left nostril where I wanted the hole with a little blue marker. I really wanted a ring, but my piercer stated that she didn't think rings were good for the first jewelry (this spawned a lot of later confusion on my part...). She told me that rings were hard to clean and maintain, and that they were just a little too much for the fresh piercing. I was bummed out, but I was okay with the stud. I just told myself that green was my colour.
I sat down on chair wrapped in paper (like in doctors' offices), and Kelly (the piercer) asked me if I was ready. I replied yes, and she preceded to stick a hollow needle through the dot I had previously marked on my left nostril and voila, I had a hole in my face. I can honestly say that the experience wasn't painful. I'd heard stories that it was painful as hell, and an ungodly experience. My left eye watered a bit, as is common, but that was it. About five minutes after the piercing I felt a little light headed and dizzy. This type of reaction is a normal occurance in my life, so I can't say it will happen to everyone.
I ready to go after I sat down and got a drink of water. I was totally satisfied with the piercing and the way it looked. I was totally surprised at how easy it was to aquire the new hole.
My nostril remained numb and red for a few days, but the numbness soon went away. Even after cleaning with antibacterial soap, I still had a little circle of red around the piercing. This wasn't too bad. I was annoyed with people constantly feeling the need to tell me things like "HEY, YOUR NOSE IS A LITTLE RED! DID YOU KNOW?"
Soon after a tiny little bump appeared. I wasn't too alarmed at first. I was confident in my piercing hygiene, and figured it would go away soon enough.
Well, it didn't. It turned out to be a keloid and I started to panic. I started to get very self conscious and humiliated to be in public. I was reassured it wasn't that bad, but it looked like a balloon to me. Looking back on it, I guess it wasn't that bad. However, I'm still very glad that I decided to call my piercer.
My piercer advised me to drain it (grossewwyarg), and soak it in sea salt and green tea occasionally. That's helped, along with placing powdered aspirin on the keloid area. The hole really flared up after I drained it. For the first time I was finding dried crust and discharge oozing from the hole along with the occasional drop of blood. The aspirin powder really took care of the keloid tissue. After a while it just seemed to 'die' and drop off. This all sounds disgusting, but you might have to deal with it yourself.
It still remained red, even after the keloid went away, and the piercing is getting flared up again since I just put in an 18g surgical steel ring. I'm finding the occasional crust, and of course I have a pink ring around the piercing. I'm just sticking to my antibacterial soap, green tea, and sea salt plan. I use the sopa two times a day (morning and night), the sea salt once or twice (whenever), and I put a green tee bag on my nose when I soak in hot baths. I believe it's getting better, and I love the way the ring looks.
I've considered just giving up, but I'm confident that the piercing will heal up eventually if I continue to care for it properly. My advice to anyone with a keloid is to keep your patience. My keloid was a worrisome pain in the ass, but I continued to be scrupulous and attentive until it went away. Green tea and aspirin powder also really help in reducing swelling and taking care of dead tissues that may gather round the piercing.
Despite the difficulties I've encountered, this piercing has really sparked an interest. I'm training to become a professional piercer, and I'm considering getting more piercings myself. As well as piercings I'm interested in corsetry. I plan to get down to an 18 inch waist. Since starting in corsetry I've gone from 27 inches to 23 in three months. Yarr.