I've always thought that septum piercings were for crazy extreme-type people. So never in a million years would I have imagined myself wanting to get one. If anyone were to look at me, they would not peg me as the type for a septum piercing. But one boring Saturday afternoon, one of my friends at school got her nostril pierced and then I had that familiar URGE to get a piercing. I mulled over which one I could get that could still be hidden from my strict straight-laced parents, but visible when I wanted it to be. My friend suggested a septum and said that one of her cousin's had one and hid it from her mother for the longest time. So that was my decision: a visible piercing that could still be hidden.
At A Glance Author Edna Contact Edna@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Jim Studio Infinite Body Location Philadelphia, PA That afternoon, I did loads of research. I even asked some of my friends what they thought about the idea of me getting one. And, of course, every single one of them told me that I shouldn't get it. They made the usual comments of, "Oh, you'll look like a bull" or " Don't do it, you'll look like some weird tribal freak!" Even my boyfriend expressed his concerns and hesitations about it, saying that he doesn't like the idea of it, but that he wouldn't stop me. I spent hours on BME, looking at photos and reading other people's experiences. For some reason, I felt the urge to prove to my friends that a septum piercing didn't always have to look "bullish" or weird. But they would have nothing to do with it, and their minds were made up. Frankly, I didn't give a damn though! I wanted to differentiate from the typical MTV-groupie-type crowd.
So I was anxious all weekend because I didn't have time to get to the piercing place until that Monday. When Monday came around, I was anxious and nervous all at once. I decided to go to Infinite Body on South Street in Philadelphia because they are absolutely the best in the city for piercing anything and everything. When I got there, there were about 3 people waiting, so I filled out the normal paperwork, showed them I.D., etc. When I was done, they informed me that the wait would be about 30 minutes and that I was welcome to sit and wait or just come back in half and hour. It was hot outside, so I opted to wait.
I surely was working myself into a frenzy, worrying about how much it would hurt. I kept pinching the area just to see what it would feel like. When it was finally my turn, my hands were shaking and I could feel my heart racing. The piercer, Jim, took me and my boyfriend into the piercing room. He told me that I would have to be lying down for this piercing, with my head hanging over the side onto a pull-out "tray". This made me even more nervous about the pain, seeing as how it was such a vulnerable position.
He was really nice about everything, telling me exactly what he was doing before he did it. First, he cleaned out my nostrils with some kind of smelly alcohol substance on a q-tip. I kept flinching every time he did it. Then he asked me to stretch my lips down to open up my nostrils a bit more. He felt around the inside of my nose, which was kind of an odd feeling, having someone dig around your nose. Then he put a tube in my left nostril and placed the end of the needle in my right nostril to check for placement. Then he told me to breathe in...I breathed in (and thought "HOLY COW, here it comes!"). Then he told me to breathe out, and as I breathed out, he pushed the needle through. My eyes watered just a teeny bit, but it did not hurt as much as I thought it would. In fact, it barely hurt at all. It was more of a split-second pinch.
I felt a little light-headed though, probably from the adrenaline rush. Then he slid the jewelry through. I had chosen a 14 gauge niobium retainer when I was filling out the paperwork in the beginning. I wanted something that was easy to flip into my nose whenever I needed to hide my piercing. I'm sure the worst part was sliding the jewelry in. It ached and was just plain uncomfortable, especially when he was trying to flip it up for me. He then decided that the retainer was too long for the way my nose was shaped and that it couldn't be flipped up. So Jim went and got a shorter retainer and stretched it out a bit because my nose was "squat" as he described it.
He fiddled around with my nose a bit and I could feel him slowly pulling the old retainer out and sliding the new one in. Then he slowly pushed the retainer up into my nose to hide it. This was the uncomfortable part, because his fingers were way bigger than my nostrils! By this time, I could feel blood dripping down my nose, but he quickly wiped it up.
When Jim was done, he told me that keeping the piercing flipped up would help with the bleeding if it started to bleed again. He gave me all aftercare instructions and answered all my questions about changing the jewelry (I'd have to wait about 2 months) and gave me his card in case I had any questions. I tipped him and was on my way.
It's only been a few days and I have been cleaning it twice a day with anti-bacterial soap, as well as doing sea salt soaks. It's gotten easier to clean because I'm getting better at not accidentally sucking water up my nose. And the piercing seems to be doing extremely well. It was only sore for a day or two, but now I can flip it up and down more easily. I can't wait to change my jewelry in 2 months!
If anyone is even thinking about getting a septum piercing, I would definitely say go for it! I mean, if worst comes to worst and you hate it, you can always take it out. And it's the perfect piercing for those of us who have conservative relatives or bosses, too, as it can be easily hidden! I also definitely recommend Infinite Body. They are very friendly and knowledgeable and sanitary.