THE PAST
At A Glance Author Ash Contact Ash@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Self I've been interested in body modification for many years now, quite a change since up until I was about 10 or maybe even 12, I detested it (having been raised by a *very* conservative mother). I, like most teenagers was young and foolish. When I was 13, I tried to pierce my own ear, using a sewing needle. It, not surprisingly, didn't work.
I gave it up, going back to looking at pictures and reading about experiences and enjoying seeing mods wherever I could. Several years later, when I was 17, I tried again, this time, very foolishly, using an air-rifle and the same sewing needle, as a makeshift piercing gun! I managed to get the needle in this time, but it got stuck. When I finally pulled it out, I couldn't get the hoop into the hole, because the gauge was too large for the small sewing-needle hole. So, I ended up letting it close and disappear
THE PRESENT
Skip ahead to last January, when I am watching Ripley's Believe it or Not and see a story about The Lizardman. I go to the URL, and find a link to a little site I'd never heard of called BMEzine.
My mind nearly exploded the first week or two that I'd been looking at the site, viewing nearly every photo and reading nearly every experience I could get access to. I also read all the articles and FAQs that I could. I now cringe at what could have happened if I really HAD succeeded in my first two piercings!
I had decided this time, that what I wanted to try, instead of another ear piercing (partly due to the fact that bad acne over the last few years has left my lobes full of scar tissue) was a septum piercing. I'd always found those oddly attractive, and there was a lot of personal meaning for me (such as the proverbial 'bull being lead around by his nose' and my needing to listen to others and try to listen and follow more than take charge).
Unlike before, I didn't run for the sewing needle, nor did I grab my painfully inferior hoops I was gonna use the second time 'round. I went to BMEshop and bought a 12g industrial needle, clamps, proper jewelery (4 CBRs and a retainer, all niobium) and, being a wuss about pain, I also got a tube of EMLA.
When I received my supplies (fast and accurate, love BMEshop!) I went home and looked over everything, making sure it was ready and being careful not to touch anything that would come into contact with my soon-to-happen fresh piercing (since I have no way to re-sterilize it). That evening I fashioned an ad hoc dressing and attempted to use the EMLA to numb my septum.
About an hour later, I removed the dressing and found that, yes, it was numb, but what was numb was the large fleshy part that is seen outside, I had managed to miss the entire area that was pierce-able!
It was here that I nearly wimped out, it was getting late and I had to be at work in the morning. I knew it would take another hour to try another round of numbing and I didn't have time. But, being the stubborn fool I am, I decided I would try it anyway, WITHOUT numbing the septum, I could always back out if it got too painful, right?
I grabbed the clamps and found what felt like the best spot (in retrospect, I think I should have gone a little lower) and held them tight (as everyone said, yes, the clamps are very painful) and I grabbed the needle from it's sterile packaging, and proceeded to place it in the right side of the clamps and gently push.
I stood there for about 30 seconds, thinking 'it moved, but it must just be pushing against the septum... dammit, it's just like last time! I wasted all that money and ti-" at that point, I felt a prick on the far side of my septum, hardly even a prick, it was less painfully than popping a pimple. My heart leaped but I was thinking 'this cant be possible, it was painless!' but moments later I saw the 12-gauge needle emerge from my other nostril!
I was so excited that I had to sit down, feeling rather lightheaded. When I felt better I walked over and just stared at my reflection in the mirror for several minutes wavering between a moment of 'is it possible? did I really do it' and 'I did do it! I actually did it!'
I left the needle in as I took a few pictures, not 100% confident that I'd be able to follow-through with the jewelery. I had bought a retainer and a tiny CBR. I'd been told you could wear a small CBR and flip the ring up into the nose while the ball was removed, however, upon actual receiving of the CBR and examination, I saw that the bead was between 1/16 and 1/8 inch and I knew that, at best, it would be a hard and (with a fresh piercing) painfully experience to attempt to force it over my massive septum under-flesh. So, I pushed the needle on through the the retainer, slipping once and fearing I'd lost it, but thankfully finding that the needle still had a tiny fraction to go before it passed the entry hole. I finished pushing it out and my retainer was in the piercing, though when I turned it up-right it pinched the underside of my septum uncomfortably. I flipped it back up into my nose, which was more comfortable, and went to bed.
It's now day 4 after the piercing. on day 1 I was concerned because I had no crusties forming and the piercing was very tender, but that subsided and I have, what I feel is an average amount of crusties. I've been irrigating it 2-3 times a day with sea salt solution and with the exception of the occasional drop of blood leaking out form under a crusty, I've had no real problems with the piercing. This is definably a mod I'd recommend to anyone!
THE FUTURE
I had always been told that piercings are addictive, and already, without my septum fully healed, I'm itching for another hole. I'll probably hold back for now, just finishing up my septum and getting a nice spike to wear in it sometimes, though I am considering stretching it up to around 2g. Probably next time I'll have another go at my lobes, I've been wanting them pierced for many years. The one thing I know is, no mater how long it takes, I'll be back here again soon!