As of this writing my septum is the only piercing I have. This is actually my eighth piercing. I previously had six piercings in my ears. Two stainless steel CBR's in each lobe and one in the cartilage of each ear. I also had my tongue pierced at eighteen. My only problem was at the time I was young and uneducated on acceptable materials for healing, allergies and aftercare. I was sixteen when I had my ears pierced with a gun (yeah I know), which never healed completely and lead to scar tissue and a series of other horrible problems. When my tongue starting having complications I was so paranoid I took it out and let it heal and from then I swore off getting pierced. This was in 1998.
At A Glance Author Ryan Contact Ryan@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Angel Studio Industrial Primitives Location Austin, Texas I discovered BME (thankfully) around 2001-2002. I have been reading and learning ever since. Mainly information about tattoos since that is all I had been doing since I turned eighteen. It wasn't until recently that I even considered getting pierced again. I had recently moved to Austin and had met a piercer named Gill who had lived in Corpus Christi, and had apprenticed under Richard Nunez. I had talked to Richard before I left Corpus and explained some of the problems I had previously had. He said most likely it was a reaction to the nickel in the jewelry and I should use titanium. I was interested that there was maybe a possibility I could get pierced again and have it heal properly but I took no action on it.
Fast forward several months from my conversation with Richard and six years from my last piercing. I am living in Austin and I am going to a piercing shop with two other friends. We go to Gill's shop and he isn't there and we meet the new piercer named Angel who had been piercing for over ten years. I spoke with Angel and told him what Gill and Richard has previously told me. Again only my paranoia was standing in my way. Weeks go by and I am obsessed with getting pierced again. I was on BME at least five to six hours a day reading experiences and looking at every picture I could. I was reading reviews on web sites for jewelry providers such as Anatometal, Industrial Strength, etc. I read all I could on aftercare and everything I could find about risks. I read several other experiences with people having the same trouble with early piercings with a gun and feeling a bit uneasy about getting further work done. I felt better knowing I wasn't the only person who felt this way and finally decided to get pierced .
I wanted to get the piercing done on a Wednesday since I got paid that day and was off on Thursday. I had talked with Angel on several occasions since he was friends with my friends and hung out with us a couple of times. I told him when I wanted to get it done but he was going out of town for a week so even though I was finally ready I had to wait a week until he got back. Since I had a full week to kill, I ordered H2Ocean's piercing aftercare spray since I had heard many good things about it. I tried to not drink as much alcohol and get more sleep and I already take a multi-vitamin, trying to boost my immune system as much as I could. I then heard from someone that Angel was not coming back this Tuesday but on Sunday which I was bummed about so a couple of friends and I went out Tuesday night and got pretty shitfaced. After a good number of shots and beers I ran into Angel downtown. He ended up coming back early and I felt like crap because I had been doing good all week by not drinking (I drink a lot), a nd I didn't want him to think I wasn't taking this seriously. I told him how I thought he was going to be gone until Sunday but he said it was ok and we agreed to do it the next day.
The next day was just a normal day. I have never been nervous before any piercing or tattoo. It doesn't really bother me. I got out of work and went home and ate. I told Angel I would be there around 11:30pm. I called my friend, the one I went with the first time when he was getting pierced since he was going to change out his jewelry for his apadravya. We showed up late as usual around 11:45pm. It was fine since Angel was still autoclaving my friends jewelry. After they finished and came out Angel asked what I had decided I wanted put in my septum. They had a pretty large selection of jewelry but not much as far as titanium. It took a while to even find something close to the size I wanted that wasn't some weird color. I wanted at least a 12 or 10 gauge but all we could find was a 14 gauge. I said fuck it since I was going to get it done that night and I couldn't wait any longer. He autoclaved it and then called me to the back a while later. I sat on a long black semi-dentist type chair so we could begin. He put on new gloves and already had a mask on and started to clean the area. The cleaning took some time but the marking took a really long time. I was perfectly fine with that since I stressed the night before while I was drunk that I really wanted it straight and perfect...a couple of times...a lot of times really. Anyway he understood why I was being such a bastard about it and told me not to worry. He definitely took his time and lined up everything with markings and reference points until my nose was all purple. After changing his gloves for at least the fourth or fifth time and getting everything marked and the receiving tube lined up, it was time. He told me to take a deep breath and as I exhaled I felt a faint barely noticeable pinch, almost like a mosquito bite. Then that was it. It barely bled; just a drop or two and he put a cork on the end of the needle and asked if I wanted to see it. I said damn right and looked in the mirror. It was awesome and I felt relieved. I felt like I was 18 again which wa s great. He then called me back so he could put the jewelry in. He put the 14 gauge CBR in which didn't hurt either. It took a couple of minutes to get the ball in good and tight but once he was done I went back to the mirror. I was making faces and had a huge grin on my face. We went out front and talked with the other piercer for a while and then I paid and gave him a 15 dollar tip and left.
I have been doing the sea salt soaks twice a day and today at work used the H2Ocean. Everything is fine so far but it's only been two days. I am hoping that this piercing will actually heal unlike all the rest I've had. I am very optimistic about it though. I know this was quite long and its only suppose to mainly be about the piercing but there was so much more involved that if I left it out it would feel incomplete. Once this heals I have a lot more plans that I have been wanting for years to get such as more piercings, tattoos, hopefully get my tongue split and do suspensions. Hopefully this was somewhat enjoyable.