In a previous experience, I mentioned that it was a 2-part series, seeing as I had two different piercings/punches done that particular day. The first part is located here, though this is technically what should be the first of the two experiences.
At A Glance Author Danny Contact Danny@bme.anon IAM danny.frost When Three months ago Artist Marea Studio Metamorphosis Location Indianapolis, IN (Broad Ripple) A bit of background on this: for whatever reason, I decided at some point about a year or so ago, that I needed to have two septum piercings. I honestly can't say why I felt this was necessary, but it seemed like a good decision.
Originally, I was going to have a piercer in Brazil, IN do the piercing for me. He, unfortunately, retired about 6 months before I decided that it was time. I didn't learn of this until I found out that one of my friends was an apprentice at the shop that he once worked at. This disappointed me greatly, as he was a very knowledgeable piercer, and a genuinely great guy.
I persevered, however, and found two other great piercers.
I discussed numerous things with Marea a few weeks beforehand, talking about my interest and such. A date was set, and when the day came, I was apathetic towards the entire process beforehand, as it would be just another couple of holes in my body. Once we reached the shop, I felt a teensy bit nervous about the whole thing, but nothing major until the biggest part of the day came up. Marea walked out, smiling, and said something along the lines of "..So, I was thinking about it, and since 10g is one of the sizes where the needles don't make as clean of a cut as say..a dermal punch..I was thinking we could just punch it."
At this point, I wasn't exactly sure what to say. I'd never actually entertained the thought of getting it punched, but I figured, "Why not?" It couldn't possibly be THAT bad.
After debating for a really short amount of time, I decided I might as well, seeing as I may not have another chance to experience a dermal punch in my septum.
Shortly after the decision was made, I was led back into the piercing room, which consisted of a counter with various cleaning supplies, autoclave bags, and a few other things, and a doctor's office-like bed. I was instructed to sit up on it while she felt around in my nose, checking for the sweet spot. After a moment or two of complete awkwardness (really, you haven't experienced an awkward moment until someone else's fingers are up your nose), she marked the spot with a toothpick and some gentian violet. As I couldn't actually see the marks, my girlfriend checked them and agreed that it was good placement.
Once it was firmly agreed upon, she removed the 2mm dermal punch out of the sterile bag. I looked at it, and it registered in my head that 10g is equal to 2.4mm, not 2mm. The logic behind this was that it would help stop any bleeding that might occur, so I agreed. She placed the end of the punch next to the marks on the right side of my septum, and told me to begin doing some deep breaths.
She then began counting towards three. On the second count, she pushed slightly, and on the third, the punch was all the way through. I felt a very awkward, but not all that intense, pressure in the middle of my nose. My eyes were shut this entire time, and when I opened them, they were bright red. Apparently, my eyes like to water a lot.
The jewelry transfer wasn't nearly as bad as I'd thought it would be. The .4mm difference made practically no difference, it slid right in. It only stung a bit when it got to the slightly rounded edges that flared out a bit. Other than that..painless.
I looked in the full-length mirror across from me at the end of the table in awe at the new piece of jewelry adorning my face. It looked far more awesome than I'd ever imagined, and I could actually see the jewelry, as opposed to the 2g tunnel that I had in my first septum piercing, which was pretty much invisible.
I was ecstatic about the entire thing, but I still had a conch punch to go through before I could leave..
Now, honestly..I wouldn't really recommend any sort of dermal punch unless you're going for an 8g or above in a septum. Mainly, I went with the suggestion of using the punch so I'd have two new experiences for the day, which turned out absolutely great.
My aftercare for my septum was extremely minimal, and it was basically stuff I would have been doing anyways to get rid of the smell of my other septum piercing anyways. I washed it with some peppermint Dr. Bronner's soap while in the shower, and cleaned off the tiny amount of crusties that were on it. Occasionally, after about the first week, I'd do a salt soak if it felt extremely crusty, but otherwise, I left it alone all the time.
The only real problems I ran into with the retainer was mainly the fact that my septum is a bit too wide to accommodate it inside of my nostrils. It was slightly painful to flip it up, but it was necessary a few times, simply because my grandmother's not all that font of anything I have done (admittedly, she only knows about my labret and my ears..but still). I flipped it up maybe two times during the entire time I've had it (almost 3 months now). It's been healed for about a month and a half by this point, so I can't complain.
Now, I just have to see how it works with my other septum piercing, in terms of stretching the first one. I plan on having the second one stay around 10g-8g, simply because I like wearing visible jewelry. Hopefully, stretching the first one doesn't pinch against it too badly, otherwise I might have to scalpel them together..which would be a shame, I'd say.
Good luck to anyone who decides to get a septum piercing, punched or needle, and hopefully this experience helps provide a bit more information, seeing as a large part of my own piercings is doing research by reading through loads of experiences on here.
Feel free to contact me with any sort of questions, via the email link at the top of this experience.