Until a week or so before I got my septum pierced, I had never even contemplated getting it done. I knew that I wanted to get something pierced and the choice was septum or anti-eyebrow. Which one to get? I discussed the decision with a few of my close friends and they all objected the septum. But what-the-hell, I decided that that was the one that I really wanted. So, for a few days I thought about the different types of jewelry that I could get it done with. Ring, retainer, etc. I wasn't really sure what would be the most comfortable, so I decided that it would be best just to go down to the Aardvark and ask.
At A Glance Author Hannah Banana Contact Hannah Banana@bme.anon When N/A Artist can't remember the name... Studio aardvark Location Hamilton, ON. I happened to stumbled upon some cash on a Saturday, so I thought that that would be the perfect time to go. I dragged one of my friends with me and on the walk down to the parlour, my friend begged me not to get it done. O well, I knew that it was the right choice. So I arrived at the parlour and there weren't many people there. This is the only place that I go to get piercings because it has a very, very friendly, clean, laid back environment.
I began by asking the piercer how much the piercing would cost and what type of jewelry would be the best. I wanted to make sure that the jewelry was very small and unnoticeable. She suggested a "horse shoe" so that it could be flipped up into my nose. Sounded good to me. I paid the sixty dollars and tried to relax as my piercer set up. I chatted for a little while with the girl working the front counter and she happened to have her septum done. I asked her if it hurt. She told me that we could talk after I got mine done, with a slight nervous grin on her face. 'O great' I thought.
Everything was finally set up and I entered the room and sat down at the leather chair/bed. I don't really know how to describe it, but who cares. She took everything out of the packages in front of me to show me that the needles etc. were clean. I was starting to get a little bit nervous. I trusted her though because she had also done my snake bites, rook, nose and bridge. Let's just say that I'm kind of a regular.
So it was about to begin. She cleaned out my nose thoroughly and marked two dots. Apparently I had an "odd" and slightly difficult septum to do because of my nostrils.. or something like that. So after a few failed marks, I made my decision.
She got the clamp and positioned it appropriately. It hurt. "woop-di-do", I thought. Because if that hurts, then wait until the needle. She told me to remain very, very still and put the needle up to my nose. She counted to three and started to push the needle through. For the love of potatoes. Yes, potatoes. It hurt. I know everyone's experiences are different, but I wasn't expecting that much pain. I swore a little bit and had tears streaming down my face. Not because I was crying, just because that's what happens.
When the needle was all the way through she let me take a breather. At this point the chick from the front counter was watching as well as my friend. She got the jewelry ready, a 14 gage horse shoe, and started to push the needle through. Once the jewelry was in, I was very happy. I looked at myself in the mirror avec my new addition and... didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I pretended to love it. I'm not going to lie, it was perfectly straight. Somehow I was just in shock to see this very large ring hanging from my nose.
She told me that she would flip it up into my nose. That part hurt a lot. She had to manipulate my nose and let's just say that it wasn't pleasant. Even the "front counter" girl was cringing and I could hear here making noises. I was impressed with how hidden my new piercing was. I was even more impressed with how straight it was.
I said thanks and chatted with a few more people in the front of the store, then I left. I felt so different. It was amazing.
So I thought that the worst part was over. But I was wrong. For the first four days I was in agony. I could not touch my noise without an extreme amount of pain. However, cleaning it was kind of fun. I made sure to soak it in warm/hot (not too hot) salt water and then clean it with watered down bactine. It's much easier to clean once the lovely crusties are loosened up a bit. So even just warm water is ok to use. Just as a suggestion don't get it flipped up into your nose. There are a couple of reasons: One being that it's harder to clean and another being that you can't blow your nose. It's very difficult to clean out your nose with the jewelry shoved up there.
So all my friends hate it, which sucks. But I'm quite in love with it. I am absolutely excited to change the jewelry to something better suited to my face. Then I will be able to show it off. All in all it's worth the pain because that goes away within a week. I know that the love of my septum will last much longer than that.