I never really liked the septum. When I saw it the first thought that popped into my head was bull. But the more I looked at it the more interested I became. On some girls it looked really good. So I began researching here on BME. I read stories and looked at pictures trying to get a general idea of the answers to my questions i.e. procedure and mainly the amount of pain I would experience. I went to the shop I wanted to get it done at with my mom and we got the waiver and asked questions about it. The piercer said that he thought the septum would be overpowering on my face, that I should get a center lip ring. But I definitely wanted the septum. We went home I thought about whether I really wanted it done or not. I borrowed a fake ring and decided that I like the way it looked and I didn't care what anyone else thought. So after a couple of months and a reluctant mom I finally got my waiver signed and headed to the shop with my boyfriend.
At A Glance Author candious Contact candious@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Phil Studio 8th Day Tattoo Location Jacksonville, FL First let me tell you what my piercer said. He told me that the septum is a painful and difficult piercing. That no one's septum is the same and no septum piercing is perfectly straight. He also told me the healing time was between 4 to 6 weeks. He asked me if I had eaten and I said yes but about 2 hours ago. So he told me to go next door and get a coke to help relax my nerves while he set up. He decided to pierce me with a 14g and told me he does not pierce with retainers, only captives. This was fine with me because I have no need to hide it.
So he had me sit down in front of him and he used his fingers to feel my septum and find out where he would pierce it. He then cleaned my nose with a q-tip and some yellow stuff which didn't smell bad at all... it reminded me of a dentist. While doing this he explained to me that the most important thing was to stay completely still during the procedure and that any movement could mess it up. He then had me lay down on the table with my head hanging of the back. He used a toothpick with dye on the end to mark where he would pierce it. He then lined up a receiving tube on one side (no clamps) and used the needle to poke my nose a little. He told me to close my eyes, breathe in deep and tell him when I felt a prick. Now, the prick was just the needle first breaking the skin. He told me to breathe out slowly and the he pushed the needle the rest of the way through. The needle going through took at least five seconds.
The pain of the piercing was bad, but not unbearable. The tears were not because of the nerves or uncontrollable or whatever anyone else says. The tears we from the immense amount of pain I felt in my face. It was a stinging pain which was totally unexpected. My eyes fluttered the whole time.
He then put the ring in and told me to sit up. He tightened the ring and then put in the ball. He spent about a minute adjusting it and told me to look in the mirror. He said I had two options: 1) leave the ring as is and he would make me some jewelry to help hide some of the crookedness or 2) pierce it again going in the same spot but making a new exit hole. I asked him if it would make a huge difference and he said yes. That my cartilage slanted to the side and that he could make it considerably straighter if we could pierce it again.
So, he took the ring out and it bled a little. I then laid down again and he re did it, this time without the receiving tube. It took twice as long for the needle to go through the second time. It was the same amount of pain though, which was good. He put then ring in and it looked 100 times better. Still a little crooked but close to perfect. He told me that he thought the septum looked great on me which was funny because of what he had said earlier. He told me to clean it twice a day with a q-tip and then spray it with a sea salt spray and do nothing else. The piercing was $40 and with the tip and the cost of the spray I paid $50 total.
I just got it done yesterday and there was some pain for about 2 hours. It also felt like my nose was running. Today there is no pain and minimal soreness. I definitely recommend this piercing. I was so scared to get it done but now that I have it I don't regret it at all.