At A Glance
Author	Rodent
Contact	rodentdp@gmail.com
When	It just happened
Artist	Jared
Studio	Burly Fish Tattoo
Location	Flagstaff, Arizona

I swear, my nose refuses to co-operate with my piercings.
First it took 3 goes to do my nostril, and then there's my septum. Thank fuck it looks perfect now.

I never really thought one way or the other about septum piercings, although I wasn't terribly attracted to them overall for years. The constant teasing one would get from family, friends, co-workers ("yeah, yeah, I look like a bull") alone seemed to be a deterrent.

Well, this all changed when I got my nostril piercing done for the 2nd time. I told one of my good friends about it, and while she liked that one, she was disappointed, as she thought I would look great with "that bull one." I somewhat considered it, but ruled it out because I thought that it could not be hidden, and I knew that one would never fly at a job, or when I had to see family.

Time passed, I lost that nostril piercing due to my own foolishness, and thought at that point that I'd possibly just stop modding entirely. This was in November 2004

Well...fat chance. By January, I decided that I'd start looking into it again. After doing some reading here at BME, I found that I could, in fact, hide the piercing as I needed to. I began to look at the many septum pics and stories on the site, and the piercing began to overtake my free thoughts. It repelled and entranced me at the same time, kind of like looking at a car accident. I knew I should stop looking, stop thinking about it. Well, my attitude started to change, and by the time I went to have Jared re-pierce my nostril in January, I started to ask him about prices and technique for septums. I was hooked.

After more research on the piercing, taking old CBRs and placing them on my nose to try and figure out how I'd look with it, and just obsessing with it in general, I knew that I had to do it.

Finally, I got a chance to blow a little extra cash, and it was time. A few weeks ago, I went in, told Jared that I was ready to do it. No problem, I just caught him when he was in the middle of cleaning all of his equipment, so he asked me to come back a few hours later. Fine by me-I figured that I hadn't eaten enough in all of my excitement.

Cut to two hours later, around 6 pm. We discussed jewelry and all that. First shocks-he won't use retainers because he believes that they slide out too easily. I had to be able to flip it up for work (I sell computers for a large office supply company. Their name starts with an S and Alice Cooper did commercials for them recently. Regardless of his involvement with them, they don't look too well on people who are "different"). No problem. He'd use a horseshoe and adjust it to fit my nose for the flip.

Ok, no worries there. Second problem-he won't pierce a septum at any larger than a 14 ga. I had my heart set on a 10 g or even a 12 g. Oh well; I can stretch it after it heals. The reason why I come here is because they are the best, most professional artists in the area, and I'd rather trust his comfort level and expertise than screw with a good thing. Hell, he was comfortable enough to do it freehand (no clamps), so I'll trust him.

We get to chatting about my piercing, and piercing in general, as he autoclaves the equipment, and preps me, finding my sweet spot with that goddamned toothpick. I have a big one (the sweet spot, not my "toothpick," bastards), so this should be cake.

Here is where we get into problem territory. I don't believe in this kind of stuff, but we are both sure that I jinxed him. I asked about his luck with septums, since it is virtually impossible to get one straight (kids, here is where doing your homework pays off. The artist usually appreciates it if you have some understanding and respect of their craft). He said that out of all of the ones he's done, there have maybe been only 2 that he was less than pleased with. Good odds for me, right?

Wrong. So, he sets me up, gets the needle and receiving tube ready.
"Deep breath in....out..."
And my nose was stabbed.
But only halfway through.

Yes, it seems that the cartilage on my left side is much thicker than that on my right. This wasn't realized until, of course, the needle was penetrating me. A little more force, and he got it through the other side.

Well, more pain than I thought, but it wasn't unbearable. Until he looks at it, and mutters "...Shit. I think it's crooked."
Not the words you want to hear. We decide to put the jewelry in and see how it sets.
Sure enough, it is off. Barely, but enough to be noticeable. Jared is kicking himself pretty badly about it, and my rational mind is telling me that he's right, we should take it out and retry when it is healed enough in a few weeks. But dammit, I just had this done, and I want it to desperately be right. I tell him that I will probably come back and have it taken out/redone, but that I want to give it a few days, see if I could live with it. He said that was fine, went over aftercare, and I left, excited and disappointed.

I gave it about 24 hours, and went back after work the next day. It was clearly too crooked, and flipping it back for work was a nightmare. He took it out, went over what I should do to help heal it, and had already decided to use a larger receiving tube for the retry. He was very glad that I came back, because he felt a big sense of shame. He even changed my nostril screw to a 16 ga. CBR for me for free, which was great. I went about cleaning like I would if the piercing were in (sea salt), and feeling like I had gotten punched in the nose with nothing to show for it.

Fast forward about 2 weeks, until today. Got in to Burly Fish, and we both just had an attitude of "let's do this." Autoclave, marking me and checking the old hole with a taper, and about a million pairs of gloves later, we were ready to go.

"Breath in, out..."
This time, it was slightly too low on the left side (the first time was too high). Fortunately, he only got the tip through, so he removed it, stopped the bleeding (only piercing I've really bled from at all), and more determined than ever, prepped me again, and BAM! It was in. He looked at it closely, smiled big, and said it was as straight as you could ever get for a septum. After all the hassle, there is no feeling as wonderful as knowing that it is done, and it is perfect!

I imagine that people reading this will want to know about the level of pain. Well, I won't lie. There is a very clear rush of pain when the needle slides through, enough that my body tensed all 3 times (although least of all on the 3rd time). The pain is momentary though. After the initial shock, I wasn't even aware of it. Frankly, my ear cartilage hurt more, and the small stretch on my nostril was worse than anything from my septum. The thing to keep in mind about any modification is that yes, it may hurt, but that will pass. The work you do will be there forever.

So, now it is finally done, and I love it. My face simply was not complete without this piercing. It looks slightly off on the left, but the holes are even-it's just the swelling, and it will clearly be ok after a few days. I feel like I took a good beating in the nose, and I did...and it is worth every second of what I had to go through. My septum is absolutely perfect.

As much as I had to go through, I highly recommend Burly Fish Tattoo for all work in the Flagstaff/Northern Arizona area. The difficulty I went through was simply a fluke. You will not find a studio in this area that has such high standards and professionalism. Jared, Patrick, and Soup do great work. Give them a shot if you're in the area and want some work done.