Here's the deal; I know the majority of the body modification community wants to read about a 'spiritual experience' and how putting a hole in my body was some kind of life-changing epiphany. You've come to the wrong place if that's the kind of crap you want to read. I don't get pierced to pretend that it's some soulful journey into another plane of consciousness. I get pierced because it adds something to my appearance. Not to say it makes me look 'better' per se, but it's something I can do to change the way I look. It gives me the feeling that I have control over one of the many aspects of life that you aren't supposed to be able to change all that much. It gives me a feeling of confidence. So if you came here to read about how pain helped take someone on some fantastic journey into the land of make-believe, you might as well close this window and run a google search for 'Motorcycle accidents resulting in near-death experiences.'
At A Glance Author Dokumyoken Contact dokumyoken@aol.com When A month ago Artist Mark Studio The Piercing Emporium Location Worcester, Ma For those interested in learning about my septum, here ya go:
For a long time, I didn't like the way pierced septums looked. Maybe it was the jewelry that was popular at the time, but I wasn't a fan. It reminded me of the bull from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Not too long ago, the Neo-Tribal jewelry became popular and I saw a few septum piercings that looked really good with that type of jewelry. On a whim one day, I decided to give it a shot. I figured it might add a little something to my face and it complied with my 'perfect-symmetry' rule. (All my piercings need to be either directly in the center of my body, or have a matching counterpart on the exact opposite side. It's just the way I am.) I also have a 14 gauge Labret and my lobes are at a 0. I've had many more facial piercings including multiple helix and lobe piercings, my tongue and my nostril. Those were taken out in for the sake of keeping my face simple and not overcrowded. The septum seemed like it was far enough away from the others to not make my face seem 'cluttered.' I d on't like getting pierced for the sake of simply tossing another piece of jewelry into my body. I like it to plan it out a bit. I called my friend Becky and she agreed to cart my ass all the way to Worcester to get the job done.
We showed up at the Piercing Emporium and I talked to Mark, the head piercer, for a few minutes. I told him that I usually do my own piercings and I explained that I was well-versed in all things piercing, but I had never had my septum done, pierced anyone's, or watched anyone else get it pierced. After feeling around in my nose for a minute, he told me that I had a pretty good septum to work with and I shouldn't have too much trouble with it. I told him I wanted to be pierced at a 10 and that I was probably going to gauge it up. After a bit more Smalltalk, he got everything prepped and handed me a Kleenex. He told me that everyone tears up like crazy when the needle goes through. It's a natural reflex. I nodded and waited for him to tell me about how it was going to be a pinch when I breath out, blah blah. I was pretty well prepared to handle any pain he could throw at me and wasn't really worried about it. After all, I had pierced my own frenum two months before, and I did n't feel much of anything when I did it. Finally it was time to stick the receiving tube in my beak and jam the needle through. I breathed normally and felt the familiar cutting and burning sensation from the needle. No big deal, but then I realized that tears were literally STREAMING down my face. It was kinda funny, and a bit unexpected even though I was warned. He asked how I felt. "Eh, no big deal. The tears thing was a bit strange." He just laughed and went into aftercare stuff.
The whole experience was pretty good and I'll probably go back to Mark to get my surface bars and transdermals. Alot of my friends go to Mark for all their piercing needs and I definitely recommend his place if you live in the central Massachusetts area. The shop is very clean and pretty laid-back. It's one of the few places that I was not only impressed with, but sought employment/apprenticeship with. Mark has 11 years of experience and definitely knows his way around a needle and receiving tube!