My Justification
At A Glance Author Whitney Contact Fuzzybeast_inc@hotmail.com IAM Fuzzybeast When Two years ago Artist Courtney Studio Planet Ink Extreme Location Ottawa, ON There are many reasons why people choose certain forms of body modification for themselves. Some do it to be different, or to fit in, or because they find it aesthetically pleasing. Some do it to control emotional pain, or to rebel. Some do it because they see something spiritual in it. Still others do it simply because they would not feel whole without their mods. At one point or another in my life I have modified myself for all of the above reasons. But I can't say I have ever felt so strongly about needing to get a piercing as I have with my septum.
I have always liked the look of septum piercings. Big or small gauge, on a man or a woman – it didn't matter. As far as I was concerned septum piercings were just sexy. I have wanted a septum piercing ever since I first discovered that a septum could be pierced. But I just couldn't do it. As much as I desired the piercing, I respected my mother (with her disgust for all kinds of modifications) more. For this reason I had to keep my piercings to a minimum. With her approval I got my belly button and nostril pierced (on the strict condition that I never put an obvious hoop in either). And I stretched my ears, much to her displeasure. I also kept several more pieces of beautiful jewelry under my clothing, which she still does not know about. I knew that she would simply never agree to a bullring hanging from my face. My mother is the only remotely reliable thing in my life and I would never intentionally upset her. So I waited.
For years I read countless experiences on BME, collected pictures and dreamed. I knew that I would have my septum piercing eventually but the wait could have killed me. More than once I was moved to tears just thinking about how much I wanted, and in fact needed this piercing. Every time I modify myself I become closer to what I think my ideal form would be. As far as I was concerned, there was no way for me to feel whole or attractive without this piercing.
The summer I turned eighteen something changed. I was becoming more connected to the world of body modification. I had collected several more piercings that were a total secret. All my previous reasons for not piercing my septum seemed to become less important. I still loved and respected my mother, but I realized that her lack of support was a kind of disrespect toward me. I had shed tears over this piercing for the second to last time.
Piercing Day
One of my best friends was moving away at the end of august and the night before she left we decided to get piercings. We went down to the shop, bright and early the next day. We chose our jewelry (a simple 14ga retainer for me), gave our ID to Pauly (the Counter Guy) and signed away our lives.
Pauly told us that Courtney would be doing our piercings. She had finished her apprenticeship not long before this. I was a little nervous because of her lack of experience but I knew that the artist she worked under was very skilled and would never let her pierce if she wasn't ready. I was also nervous because I had never been pierced by a woman before. This may sound odd, but it was a big concern of mine. I know that neither sex is better or worse than the other at body piercing... I just have general trust issues with women, so this was a big step for me. I decided to go for it anyway.
The Procedure
Annie and I headed back to the torture chamber, with its weird piercing chair, Bonzai tree, and doctor's office smell. Courtney did Annie's lip first, and then bent the needle and put it in a Sharps container, tossed all the tools she'd used into a bin to soak before their turn in the autoclave, and sprayed a disinfectant over all the surfaces in the room. She laid out a new needle, my jewelry, and the septum clamps, all still in their autoclave baggies. Once everything was ready, I hopped into the chair.
I got my nose cleaned out. I had already slipped off to the bathroom to do some courtesy booger removal, so there wasn't too much left for Courtney. She sprayed some Dragon Myst cleaning solution on a Q-tip and wiped it around the insides of each nostril.
Once I was booger-free, Courtney put on the septum clamps. They felt... interesting. They hurt a bit, but barely at all. They felt really strange though. The tubes flared my nostrils out to the sides (which caused Annie to laugh so hard she had to leave the room) and Courtney took a really long time to make sure that they were lined up perfectly.
With the clamps in place, Courtney reached for the needle, held it up to my nose and told me to breathe deeply. I was really tense and unprepared at this moment. We'd spent several minutes getting the clamps on perfectly and I had started to relax. I was sort of shocked when Courtney came at me with the needle. Thankfully, she caught that quickly and told me to take a minute to prepare myself, concentrate on my breathing and let her know when I was ready to go. I took a few deeps breaths and cleared my mind. When I signaled her, Courtney pierced.
Tears came to my eyes. The pain was sharp and extreme, but not unbearable. As the needle passed through I felt a crunch and then the needle came out into the tube on the other side. It felt as though it took Courtney two pushes to get it through, although the second push may have just been pushing the needle further, not actually piercing anything. She took off the clamps, corked it, and I checked out my needle nose in the mirror (priceless!) while she grabbed my jewelry. The jewelry insertion was fast and easy. I didn't even feel it (might have been because a retainer has no jagged threads?).
As soon as my retainer was in place, Courtney carefully made absolutely sure that it was 100% straight. When she was satisfied that it was properly placed she gave me a mirror. I had been waiting three years for this moment and I wasn't sure what I would find...
It was perfect! It was everything I'd ever wanted and maybe even more. It was beautiful... I was beautiful.
Day One
After the job was done, my nose had a throbbing burning sensation, which was far from pleasant. This weird stinging lasted for about 20 or 30 minutes and then ebbed into a dull ache. A few hours later when I returned home I tucked the little retainer into my nose and my parents were none the wiser. Later that night I did a sea salt soak (¼ tsp. salt per cup of water). Courtney had recommended that I actually stick my nose in a shot glass and blow bubbles. I must say that I've never had quite so much fun with my aftercare as I did blowing bubbles with my nose!
Day Two
The next day the tip of my nose felt bruised, was noticeable swollen (well, I'm the only one that noticed it unless I pointed it out...), and very sore to touch. Although I was trying really hard not to move the jewelry I couldn't resist flipping it down when I went shopping with friends so they could all see my lovely metallic addition. I don't think my piercing liked that so much... The skin on my nose (not the piercing) was sore because it had dried out from the salt soak. Because of this I decided to try something else. I got out my trusty Dragon Myst which is a commercial piercing spray. It has lavender, tea tree oil and friendly stuff like that. It's normally quite soothing, especially for fresh and angry piercings. I sprayed some onto a q-tip and stuck it up my nose. I gently cleaned around the jewelry in my septum. I repeated for the other one and about 30 seconds after I finished I REALLY regretted it. My nose started burning. I'm not really sure what caused this... I've used Dragon Myst on half a dozen other piercings (including the inside of my nostril piercing) and never had anything but excellent results. In any case, I went to bed and tried to ignore the burning in my nose until I fell asleep.
Day Three
Thankfully the next morning it was gone. I decided perhaps the LITHA (Leave It The Hell Alone) system would be my best path. I noticed that my nose was the most swollen, tender and painful that it has been so far. I went to work and my nose began to feel really unhappy. It was stinging and burning and very uncomfortable. About half way through my eight hour shift I checked it out in the bathroom mirror. There was a lot of crusted blood on one side. I washed my hands thoroughly then gently removed as of the crusty stuff as I felt it was safe to (I didn't want to make my nose start to bleed, or rip off something that was still attached and damage any developing tissue). I also did a quick rinse with cool water. This made my nose feel better although it was still rather uncomfortable. I bought a cold drink from the machine and held it in my hands to make them cold and put them against my nose to make it feel better. I ignored the strange looks from my co-workers. By the time my shift ended my nose was back to stinging. When I held my fingers to the rounded end (which, by the way, normally makes a distinct point) I could feel the blood throbbing inside. When I arrived home I took a q-tip, soaked in cold water and removed a great deal of crusted blood.
This first day of the LITHA method hadn't gone so well, but neither had the recommended care, or other methods that have worked for me in the past. Because I felt I had very few options, I decided to put some faith in my immune system and healing capabilities.
After a day or two my nose felt less bruised and it had stop bleeding and throbbing randomly. In a few weeks it became far less tender and only hurt when I smacked it while trying to take my hoodie off too quickly.
It has been a year and a half since I was pierced and I haven't regretted it for a day. I still adore this piercing. Since being pierced I have researched the history of septum piercing and found that in some cultures it is used in a coming of age ceremony. When males become mature they are pierced with a pig or bat bone and the blood that runs from the piercing represents womb blood, symbolically severing the child from his youth. It is a declaration of maturity.
I pierced my septum, before all else, because I love how it looks. The secondary issues are just as important though. My septum piercing is a declaration of ownership over my body. I'm sure that it was no coincidence that I chose to get this piercing just after my eighteenth birthday. I am an adult. I am now independent and no longer bound by parental rules. I am my own person, and I will decorate myself however I see fit simply because I can.