As seems to be the trend with septum piercings, a couple of years ago, I would never ever have considered one. I even remember playing around with the CBR from my boyfriend's lip ring, putting it in my nose and saying how awful it looked. However, I am now older and somewhat wiser, and in constant search of a new, more interesting and 'hardcore' piercing. About six months ago, I was looking at the photos of septum piercings here on BME and realised just how great they can look on girls. Especially if they have very feminine faces. I also liked the idea that I could hide it, making it more of a personal piercing, one that only I knew I had. On top of this, I'm generally considered to be quite innocent and naive, I'm a Literature student, I work hard, there's nothing particularly shocking about me and I loved the incongruence of a septum piercing with this image.
At A Glance Author Becci Contact whybuildingsfalldown84@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Tony Studio "Little Ted's" Location Conniburrow, Milton Keynes, UK As my parents were really unhappy about my septum obsession, I had to wait until they were on holiday to get it done, hoping that by the time they were back I could change the bar to a retainer. However, my plans were scuppered by a particularly bad stomach bug which drove me to bed for a good 4 days so by the time I was actually well enough to heal a piercing, I only had 4 days until my parents would be home.
It was my boyfriend's day off yesterday, so we decided that I had to get it done then. I was so nervous while I drove to Conniburrow and I had so many doubts, but I knew that I'd regret it if I didn't get it done so I quelled my fears and stepped into the shop. I'd already spoken to Tony about getting my septum pierced and he said that he'd try it with a retainer, however, it turned out that the retainers that I'd bought were far too small, so I had to settle on a 1.6mm thick, 1.2cm long bar. As he was setting up, Tony ensured that I knew this piercing could be very painful. I agreed, though secretly thought he was trying to make it sound worse than it was to prepare me, as I'd read so many experiences on BME where the writers commented on the lack of pain. However, I don't think I could have been any more wrong! As my nose is a little wierd, Tony said he wanted to do it quite low down, but I wasn't happy with this placement, so I asked for it to be quite a lot higher. He agreed and anaestheticed up my nose, which smelled lovely. Then he pretty much just told me to breathe in and pushed the needle through on the exhale. Oh my word, it was so painful! Until, he said to breathe in again and pushed through a little more. Then again. I couldn't see why it would take so long to get through, as the skin septum piercings are meant to go through is very thin. I couldn't understand until I realised it had gone straight through the cartilage! Tony clearly didn't think this was unusual, as he asked me to stay sitting for a few minutes as I'd gone completely white and very dizzy (also had quite a lot of blood on my nose which needed cleaning up, and tears pouring out of my eyes). When I felt a little better, I paid my £30 and sat outside for a while, not really willing to drive just yet. When I got the the car and looked in the mirror, I realised that not only was my piercing through the cartilage, it was really wonky too, which meant that the ball on one side of the piercing was quite a lot lower than the other side. As w "\Ãw€ë ell as this it felt very uncomfortable as I only have a small nose (my boyfriend says it's a manga nose) and there was no way I could move the barbell so it wasn't pushing on one of my nostrils. However, I guessed this would feel normal soon enough and I'd get used to it. We went to get some sugary drinks and chocolate and some ibroprofen to try to stop my nose from swelling too much. I was also waiting for the pain to start, as I imagined that a dull pulsing pain would be normal. But almost 24 hours later and it's still not painful, just uncomfortable.
I've cleaned the piercing twice since with bolied water and salt, which is rather satisfying as it gets rid of all the blood, although it does make the entry and exit holes sting like crazy, and moving the bar feels odd as the hole is still rather tight. I think that I'll suffer this bar for a few more days and then go and get it changed as I'm sure the pressure from my nostrils is not good for the piercing.
Overall, my septum piercing has been a mixture of good and bad - it's great to have the piercing that I've wanted for so long, but the wonkyness, length of bar and placement are all very different to what I had expected.