My septum was the first piercing, aside from the five self done ear lobe piercings, and the two gun done cartilage piercings (not so great, I know, but I was young and stupid). Anyway, I had wanted a septum piercing for a number of years but of the numerous occasions I would ask my parents, the answer was always the same. "No. Wait until you're 18" etc. So eventually, the day came when I turned 18 and I got it done.
At A Glance Author Mike Contact blatzer460@hotmail.com When Three months ago Studio Altered Evolution Location Greenfield Ave., West Allis, WI As the number of days got fewer and fewer until my birthday I was getting very anxious and excited to finally get this done. A couple friends of mine picked me up from school (a little early, of course. You have to skip school on you're 18th. Haha), and I was going to go get it done right away, but I was broke. It was payday that day, but the checks hadn't come in yet, so I had to wait. The next four hours or so were spent with much anticipation and excitement about the new hole I was to receive in my septum. I couldn't stop thinking about it. We did all the normal turning 18 things, like buying smokes, going to the porn store, and buying lottery tickets while we passed the time.
Eventually the time had come. I went to work, got my paycheck, and we were off. We went to one piercing shop, but the piercer wasn't in at the time. I would have waited, but I still had to go home and do birthday stuff with the parents, and then go to work. It was alright though because the place I went to I ended up liking a lot more (I had gone to the first place with friends for their piercings). I went to the tattoo/piercing shop across the street, Altered Evolution, and got all set up. My friend was considering getting a labret piercing, but he chickened out. I was the lone piercee. The three of us sat there and talked amongst ourselves and the girl at the desk about a lot of random things for what seemed to be an eternity, but it was only about ten to fifteen minutes and I was called back.
One of my friends came back with me to see it get done while the other stayed out in the waiting room because she's not a big fan of piercing and didn't really care to see a needle going through my septum. The room was rather small, but comfortable. The girl that was piercing me was very nice. She explained how she was going to do it, and made sure I was comfortable. She talked me through every step of the way. The weirdest part was when she cleaned the inside of my nose and felt for my "sweet spot" for placement. It's a strange feeling having someone else's fingers inside your nose. By this time was quite nervous, as this was the first real piercing, yet excited. She showed me the needle and the receiving tube and explained how it worked. I was sitting upright in the chair/table thing, and she placed the receiving tube on the right side of my septum and the needle on the left. I was told to take a breath and before I knew it, with a pop/crunch sound, I had a needle with a cork on the end sticking through my septum. When I looked down I could see it. It didn't really hurt at all. It was just a little pinch and an awesome adrenaline rush. My eyes did water quite a bit though. It looked like I was crying, but I was told it's a normal reaction for your eyes to water. I wiped the tears from my eyes and she put the jewelry in.
Putting the jewelry through the new hole was a bit painful, but not unbearable. I had chosen a 14g horse shoe ring as I would need to conceal my piercing for work. The piercer was even nice enough to widen the bottom of the ring so I could flip it up inside my nose easier because the bottom of my septum is a little wider than the front. She also flipped it up for me right away since I had to be at work shortly after.
Once I looked at it and fell in love with it, my piercer explained the aftercare and all of that good stuff. Because it was my birthday, they gave me free cleaning solution. It was a 0.9% saline solution that was to apply twice a day with a q-tip. I was told not to move the jewelry from side to side too much as it might cause the piercing to heal crooked, but flipping it up and down, only when necessary, was alright. The piercing itself was $40, and the jewelry $20 since it was the standard that they used to do a septum piercing (they usually use captive bead rings or the staple shaped septum retainer at that shop). That, plus tax and a five dollar tip brought the total cost to about $67. It was a little more than I had hoped to spend, but it was well worth it.
I went home right after to eat dinner with the family and they didn't notice it at all. Then, I went to work and showed a couple people, but still with it flipped up, nobody noticed it. The only people that noticed it were the little kids that were shorter than me that could see up my nose. Haha.
This was by far the easiest piercing to heal (since then I've gotten more) and I've had no problems with it at all. It was sore for a few days, but that's to be expected. The only thing I had a slight issue with was after a few weeks it got sort of a funky smell, like when you stretch your ears, but that was taken care of by thoroughly cleaning the jewelry. That only lasted a few weeks where I had to clean the jewelry quite often, but eventually as it healed and I got used to having it, and with it not being sore, I'm able to just give it a cleaning while in the shower. One thing was a little worried about was blowing my nose. I have allergies and I hate being stuffed up, so I need to blow my nose quite often, but within the first few hours I figured out how to blow my nose, only with slight discomfort as it was still sore. Now, since it's all healed, there's no problems blowing my nose. I just slide the tissue up from behind the jewelry and push it forward a bit and I can blow my nose all I want. I've even become so used to it that when I take out my jewelry, for whatever reason, I still do the same thing.
I've had this piercing for just over five months now and I can't imagine being without it. When I take it out I feel naked, so I guess that means I just won't take it out.