When I couldn't think of any other possibility for a new piercing, I decided on my left nostril. It was small enough, and I have a little obsession with things in my nose (IE, I love my septum). At any rate, my friend was taking me to the airport to pick up my mum one Saturday, and as the nearest piercing place is by the airport, I figured I'd go for it.
At A Glance Author voto Contact opus_12@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Nick Studio Expo II Extreme Location Des Moines, IA We picked up my mum and went to the mall.. yes, the piercing studio is in a mall. I've since learned that there are a few dubious things about this location that makes it a "not so ideal" studio, but at the time, you know how it is. I went in and signed up for my nostril piercing, showed the girl at the counter my ID, and filled out all the paperwork. She asked me to pick jewelry from the case, which were all 18 or 20g studs. I don't like the idea of something so tiny in my body, so I asked about the 14g studs they had available. She flat out told me, "No, it would hurt too much. We only do it in these gauges."
Now, I was a little taken aback. I argued a little with her, telling her that the pain factor was really my decision, wasn't it? But she wouldn't budge and just laughed it off. I should've found another place, but my mum was waiting for me, and I didn't know when I'd get another chance. So, I went back in the room,(which I'd been in before to get my inner conch done) and sat in the chair. As always, Nick is a clean piercer, he just.. I want to say it's bad bedside manner. He marked my nose and I had to stop him from piercing me so I could look at the placement. It WAS good placement, but sheesh.
Needle went in, that bit hurt a decent deal, then ring went in (I had chosen a small 18g ring with a hematite bead after it was clear the lady wouldn't approve anything else). It as all kudos.
Skip forward, we get home. At this point, I have to admit I was a little pissed off at the denial of my gauge request. So I did the smartest thing ever, probably, and I went in the bathroom. And I put a 14 labret retainer in my nostril, just like that. Oh yes, it hurt, but I felt pretty justified. About a week later, my mum agreed to go back with me to that same shop and get a 14g very short labret stud to wear in it. We FINALLY found one short enough, and even then, the shop charged me 30$ for it. Sods.
I went home and put it in, which was rather hard as I'd been putting jewelry in from the outside in, and now it had to be done from the inside out. I really shouldn't have done all this so quickly, it was pretty dumb of me, but I was just so bothered! I'd developed the bump a few times with the small ring and retainer in, which had worried me, but after a few days with the stud in, it was completely gone.
That healed well, but I had to have surgery soon after. I changed it back to a retainer, but they demanded I take it out. SO - I shoved the 14 gauge retainer back through my not even halfway healed nostril after I came to. About a week later, I tired of the gauge, and I wanted to see.. what I could do, a little test. Again, I went in the bathroom and put a 12g tongue retainer through my nostril. That was probably one of the most painful things I've ever done. Not to mention, the retainer was too long.. and I had to slide a pail of nail clippers up my nostril and clip the end. Eeek.
I kept that in for a while.. about a month, I would guess. And today, I slid my 10g claw through my nostril. It didn't hurt even as much as the piercing, I think because I'd been playing with the jewelry. It did hurt somewhat, though, as I'm sure all hard tissue stretches do. I'm planning on eventually going to 6g, but I'm going to wait a decent amount of time for that.
To summarize - I'm impatient and a little stupid. I'm surprised that it's been doing so well, considering the many opportunities I've had to screw it up. But, I do what feels right to me and my body, as crazy as I sound. And that's my best advice.. if you're feeling it, go for it. Do it right, do it clean, and for pete's sake, if you mess it up, call someone who knows what they're talking about. And don't get pierced at a mall.