For the past week or so I had been thinking about getting my septum pierced. I never used to like them, but recently they have grown on me. I had a regular nose piercing a year or so ago, but it drove me insane. I was getting serious blackheads, so I took it out when I showered so I could wash my face without the washrag snagging on the stud. Well anyway, my nose was always red, so I just decided to take it out. That's been my only facial piercing, and I was craving a new piercing, so I thought what the hell.
At A Glance Author Jen Contact Jen@bme.anon When It just happened Studio The Asylum Location Ames, IA I jumped in my car and drove over to The Asylum, where I have gone for all my piercings since I was sixteen (I turn twenty in August). I decided on the jewelry – a little silver horseshoe – and filled out my release form. I sat down on a couch and flipped through a tattoo magazine while a guy got his tongue pierced. The receptionist pointed my way and said, "Alright, you're up next for your nose," and I started to get up, but it turned out it was the lady sitting across from me getting hers done.
So finally it was my turn. I went back into the little room and sat down. I heard everyone talking as they crowded around the little window to watch. The piercer asked me to tilt my head back and then he marked my nose. He told me that it wouldn't hurt as bad as I probably thought it would and I told him I had heard that it doesn't hurt too bad. I told him I had my nipples done, so the pain couldn't be nearly that bad. He put the clamp on, stuck the needle through, and took the clamp off. I heard the people watching saying stuff like, "What a trooper, she didn't even flinch." He ended up putting the clamp back on for some reason and after he took it off he slid the jewelry through.
I opened my eyes up and they started watering like crazy. I asked him for a paper towel to wipe my eyes and then he screwed on the balls. We talked about how if you get one nostril pierced, your eye waters on that side, and if you get a septum or bridge piercing, both eyes water. I grabbed a care sheet and sea salt, and the receptionist chick asked if she could take a picture (the piercer told her earlier to take some) and I said sure. She told me she wouldn't get my eyes in the picture and I was like, "Good, 'cause I'm sure they're really red." On my way out, this kid that had been watching asked me if it hurt to get pierced, because he had been thinking about getting his done. I told him no, that he should get it done, and headed home.
Once I got home I went straight to the bathroom. I work at the information desk at a mall, so I needed to make sure that I would be able to flip it up into my nose. I got one ball off, but the other was screwed on too tight. Either way, the ring seemed a little too long (and the piercing seemed a little crooked) and I didn't think I would be able to fit it up my nose. So I screwed the ball back on and headed back over there.
I told the receptionist chick what was going on and she pulled out some other horseshoes. She found one that was a little wider and not quite as long and then told the piercer what was going on. He was doing a tattoo, so I wandered around looking at flash, then sat down. This old guy came in and said he wanted to get his ear pierced. He seemed... not all there, but I'm used to people like that in the mall. He sat across from me and started chatting away, so I just smiled and nodded.
Well, the piercer guy finally took a break from his tattoo and I went back into the room again. He took the ring out and put the other one in (but not quite as painlessly as I make it sound). It bled a little bit, so I wiped myself up and then asked him to take the balls off so I could make sure it would flip up into my nose. Stretching out my top lip, it went in, so he tossed the other horseshoe into a sealed little bag and I was on my way.
An hour or so later I went to my mom's house to do some laundry. As I suspected, she didn't like it, so I tucked it up inside my nose. My nostrils go up kind of high and I realized you could still see a lot of the ring, way too much for my job. The crookedness, the bad placement... I decided just to take it out. It bled a little, so I had to put pressure on it for a minute or so. I'm definitely gonna check out the other two places in town to see if they could pierce it up a little further. It's an awesome piercing and I can't wait to get it redone.