A DIY gone wrong
At A Glance
Author Lydia
Contact Lydia@bme.anon
When Six months ago
Artist Myself
Studio My bedroom
Location Wendover, Nevada
I always thought septum piercings was the ugliest piercing that you could get. I thought people who had them looked stupid. It reminded me of those bulls in cartoons that had the big rings through there noses.

After awhile though I started to really like them. It was also something that none of my friends had.

So a few months ago I decided that I was going to pierce my septum. I already knew that my mom would never take me to go and get it pierced. I had my ears pierced and my nipples (without her knowing of course). She always told me that she didn't want to be responsible for me getting a piercing and than not liking it. I told her if I didn't like it that I would just take it out to which her reply was always "it'll leave a scar!" So I decided to do it myself.

I looked up information online a few days before I did it. I read all these stories saying how badly it hurt. Also that it was the most painful piercing that you could get.

I had my nipples pierced so I thought nothing could compare to that pain and that it'd be a piece of cake. I was wrong.

Me and my friends all got our piercing kits from a shop in the mall. You had to be 18 to buy them so I always had one of them buy it for me. Seeing as I was only 17. It came in a little package. It included a 14 gauged hollow piercing needle, a septum ring, a clamp, and instructions. The kit was only 20 bucks which wasn't bad. I ended up buying a different septum ring because I wanted one that I could flip up into my nose so that I could hide it from my mom. Lame, I know, but I didn't want to go through all that trouble and have to take it out on the account that she saw it.

I decided to do it really late at night because I didn't want to be interrupted. My brother was in the room with me and told me that it was a really stupid idea because I had no idea what I was doing. He was right. I had no clue what spot was the right spot to pierce. I was really nervous and excited at the same time.

I sat in front of my mirror and read the instructions. I put the clamp on and got the needle out. It took me the longest time to do it. I sat there for about an hour before I decided to just get it over with. By this time I had taken the clamp off because it was starting to hurt my nose and it made it hard to see what I was doing. My brother suggested that I got a cork so that when I pushed it through I didn't stab my nostril. I felt the inside of my nose and chose what I thought was the correct place to pierce it. I put the needle to my nose which made me feel like I had to sneeze.

I finally gathered up the courage and put the needle to one side of my nose and the cork to the other side. I shoved it in as quickly as I could. It only went in halfway because the popping sound and the immediate blood that ran down my face grossed me out as well as scaring me. My eyes watered really badly. I thought I was going to start crying. I became a bit lightheaded and a little sick to my stomach. It had hurt worse than anything I had ever felt. I sat there for another 10 minutes before I decided to push it all the way through. More pain and more blood came with pushing it through.

I waited about 20 minutes before putting the ring in my nose, which hurt almost as much as piercing it. It took me a few minutes to get it in though. I must have gotten a ring that was bigger than the needle because I was having some trouble with it.

I thought it looked really good even though it was really red and irritated. After a few days it was really crusty and it eventually got infected. It hurt a lot so I took it out and decided to wait until I was 18 to get it pierced again because I wanted to get it done by someone who knew what they were doing.

I wasn't too bummed out about taking it out. It was pretty crooked looking anyways.

So listen up kiddos, I highly recommend that if you are going to get a piercing whether it's your septum or lip or anything, get it done by a professional! Really think it through too.

I hope that my story was helpful to someone.


Disclaimer: The experience above was submitted by a BME reader and has not
been edited. We can not guarantee that the experience is accurate, truthful,
or contains valid or even safe advice. We strongly urge you to use BME and
other resources to educate yourself so you can make safe informed decisions.


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