Septum piercings are gorgeous. They can be hidden to be your very own little secret, they can be small and subtle, or they can be large and in your face. I had to get one.
At A Glance Author Becky Contact Becky@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Tom Studio Punktured Location Brighton, UK But would the parents permit? No way. Not my mother at least. But I had decided that as I was 16 (piercing without consent is legal at 16 in the UK apart from genitals), I was going to get it done. What they don't know couldn't hurt them. Though I must say, this did make me feel incredibly guilty, however, I was overcome with the reasoning that it was my body and that I was legally entitled to this piercing if I so wanted.
I felt 'qualified' to choose this piercing, even at my tender, young age, because of the fact it can be pierced with a retainer and hidden easily (but shown clearly when you want to), easily taken out in the future (should that be necessary), and it won't leave a visible scar after doing so.
So earlier today I phoned my friend Sarah (my piercing buddy it would seem) and asked if she wanted to go to Brighton. After she agreed, I added in passing that I needed to go down to Punktured to get my Septum pierced, but without telling my parents...
'Seriously?'
'Yep'
'Really?'
'Uhuh'
'Oh, right, wow, okay, sure!'
I guess it must have been unexpected, but trust me, I had wanted one of these babies for ages.
So after calling Sarah, I went up to my room and searched for Punktured's phone number, then headed back downstairs to call them and book for the following day. Tom answered the phone - he had done my most recent piercings (conch and tragus - the tragus sadly had to be retired which is part of the reason for this new piercing), and Sarah's tragus. I asked if it was possible to book for a septum piercing, and got the memorable response 'it's always a good time to get a septum piercing!'. So I asked when they had free, and it turned out I had the whole day to choose from. So I chose 12 o'clock - an hour after I had arrived to give me time to eat sugary food and panic, but several hours before facing my parents then going to work.
I hope to get pierced with a u-shaped Blackline septum keeper, as they are invisible when flipped up, but look fantastic down as well (I've also got a Blackline theme going on). If I can't get it done with one of those I may ask if they can autoclave one if I buy one from Wildcat, though I find this unlikely. If not, I'll settle for the most subtle alternative. Secrecy is important for now...
So it's 10:55pm the day before the piercing, and I am slightly nervous but very excited. I doubt I'll be getting much sleep tonight...
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Yup, I didn't. I woke up early as I couldn't wait and needed to spend more time looking at pictures of other peoples beautiful septums to make sure I didn't back out.
Me and Sarah got on the Bus to Brighton at 10am, and by this time I was already crapping myself. We arrived at 11ish and I headed straight down to Punktured to see which retainers they used. It was bullet keepers (the o-rings put me off) or titanium u-shaped keepers. Unfortunately, no Blackline, but hey, they had the right shape of keeper. So once I was satisfied with that, we headed off to ShakeAway to get some sugar down me in the form of a chocolate brownie milkshake (not that you needed to know that...).
I was getting restless so we headed back to the studio 15 minutes early. Much to my delight, Tom was piercing me. He had done my conch and tragus (the tragus has since been retired) as well as Sarah's tragus, and I trust him completely. So I filled in the forms and chose my jewellery, then got taken in to the familliar room. Sarah got my camera working and filmed the whole thing.
Tom did the usual process of chatting to make me feel at ease, putting fresh gloves on in front of me, and opening the needle in front of me so I knew it was sterile. He picked the jewellery out of the autoclave, then put his fingers up my nose to feel around for my 'sweet spot', which apparently is very big. Thanks? Anyway, after that, it was a torch up my nose for blood vessels, then an antiseptic wipe (which felt cold!).
After this, the chair was put right back so that I was laying down, and the clamps were put on. Many people say these or uncomfortable, or say they hurt, but I barely even knew they were there (except I could see them). Tom began lining the needle up with my septum, and I started to freak (seeing the needle always bothers me for some reason), repeatedly swearing under my breath. I was told to breathe in and out... and it was through.
'That didn't hurt at all'
It really didn't, though my eyes watered slightly, but nose piercings generally have that effect. Before I knew it, the jewellery was in and flipped up, and I was walking out of Punktured with a brand new septum piercing. It is completely invisible flipped up, so as long as my parents don't see me while I'm out and about, they'll never know. I never thought I'd get this piercing, but now that I have, I am so happy. I just can't wait until I can switch the jewellery!
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1 week on and the piercing has been treating me well. It's been a little tender and I've been getting crusties around the retainer, but that's nothing that a bit of salt solution can't cure. Admittedly after getting pierced I walked straight into Wildcat and bought myself a Blackline retainer. I changed to that after 5 days of having the piercing (I am aware that it's nowhere near fully healed but I'm a risk taker), and it looks much better now. I also have a lovely Blackline circular barbell waiting for when I start my new 6th form (assuming they allow piercings...).