Last Night a couple of friends of mine came over to hang out and one of them mentioned that she wanted to start stretching her ears out so that she could start wearing more interesting jewelry. Lucky for her I apprenticed briefly under one of the best piercers in town just before he quit the business. Also lucky for her I inherited (paid $300 for) all his tools and assorted piercing jewelry.
At A Glance Author Mz. Phitt Contact karvariphitt@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist I did it to Myself Studio In my home studio Location Asheville, North Carolina While I was working on her ears everybody else in the room mentioned wanting to get something done, including myself. For years I've wanted to have my septum pierced but have put it off for a hundred different reasons. Can't afford it usually being the main one.
The idea of piercing my own septum was also a bit daunting. I'd never seen it done but I had talked to several people about how to do it and had researched how to do it online.
Everybody left after I stretched my friend's ears out and it was just me and my girlfriend staring at each other. I had made the suggestion. She had big wide eyes waiting for me to do or say something. I was waiting to see if I was really resolved to do it. So... I decided to set up my station for it and see how I felt then.
I have a 12 gauge septum retainer and a 12 gauge handle bar so I pulled out a 12 gauge needle, the septum forceps, and dumped a blob of Techni-Care on my dental bib. Morpheous, my mentor, taught me to over do it with the glove changing so I slipped on a new pair and grabbed the inside of my nose. I dug around for the sweet spot between the sections of my cartilage for about twenty minutes and went through about five pairs of gloves doing it.
I'd feel it, hold the forceps up to it, pull them out feel for it again, stare into the mirror that my girlfriend was holding put the forceps in again. Change gloves cause I touched my jeans. It was tedious but I wanted to make sure I did it right. Plus I think I was stalling just a little bit. In fact, right up until the needle started going through, I still wasn't sure I was really going to do it.
I cleaned my nostrils out with benzalkonium chloride wipes and then moistened them with a saline wipe. Maybe not the best order to do that but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
Finally, I picked up the needle and set it into the right side of the forceps. I could feel it just barely pricking the inside of my nose.
At first I thought I was just going to have to barrel it through and I wasn't sure if I could do that. Instead I found myself slowly applying pressure and breathing very deeply as the needle worked its way in. My eyes watered and my entire focus was on the sensation of the needle breaking the skin as it entered my body. It cut and pushed away the tissues through the center of my septum and then I felt a sting as it came through the other side. The last part of the push as the needle came through was where I finally heard the infamous crunch that everybody remembers so vividly. I took a deep breath and sat back in my chair for a second.
I had done it.
I pushed the needle through and followed it with the retainer. My girlfriend gave me the mirror and Lo and Behold... it was crooked. Not just a little I'm a perfectionist and it's not perfect crooked... I had gone in low and forward and had come out high and back. It was extremely obvious and I was seriously bummed.
I stared at it in the mirror for a while before I pulled the retainer out and ate some corn chips to get myself grounded again. I had decided to try it again that night as soon as I could pull myself together enough to do it.
I sat and ate for about five minutes and then got up and grabbed another needle. This time, my girlfriend helped me with the line up and I focused more on keeping the needle moving straight across my body than the sensation it was causing. I moved fast because I didn't want to lose my nerve now. However, once the needle started going through time slowed down again and I had to just apply slow steady pressure. It went in high and back and I'm pretty sure it came out in the same place it did the first time because there was no crunch. There wasn't even a stinging sensation.
It was perfect. I blew my nose and cleaned it out with a saline wipe. It felt raw, like from when you blow your nose too much. I sat back and enjoyed the rush for a while and within twenty minutes had passed out into the best sleep I've had in a very long time.