This is my first time writing an experience for BME. Please excuse me if it's a little long winded. Thanks! Okay, on to the mod...
At A Glance Author Jocelyn Contact Jocelyn@bme.anon IAM joceratops When It just happened Artist Mike Moore Studio Mean Street Tattoo Location Bensalem, PA So I've been itching to get a new piercing ever since I retired my snakebites. I miss them so freaking much. I had problems with them so I took them out. After cruising BME for a few months I decided to get my septum pierced. It's funny because I used to hate how septums looked, but they really grew on me. A lot of other people have said that too. :-) I was psyched that I could flip it up whenever I wanted to if I got a retainer because work isn't so cool about piercings. I heard the horror stories about how it's one of the most painful piercings you can get, and that put me off at first. But I'm here to tell you they're not true (at least in my case). If your piercer finds your "sweet spot" you will be a-okay.
Louis and I went down to Mean Street Tattoo in Bensalem, PA yesterday to see my usual piercer, Mike, psyched to get some new piercings. (This place is great btw.. for piercings as well as tattoos. Go see Reed for tattoos!) Unfortunately Mike doesn't usually do clavicle piercings and that's what Louis wanted done. I was still set on getting my septum done though. :-) I'd been thinking about it since the summer and read all the experiences on BME that I could. Cruising the photo section just made me want it done all the more.
I sat down in the chair and started to get nervous. This was the most nervous I'd been before any piercing. (I'd only had my snakebites, a center lip stud, and my navel done before this.) I'd read some horror stories on BME about "the most painful piercing EVER" but still wanted to go through with it. There were equal amounts of people saying it didn't hurt at all, and ones that said it hurt like a bitch. Mike put his gloves on and put some alcohol in my nostrils to clean them out. He told me to breathe out of my mouth because it would smell sorta weird. Then he put his fingers in my nose to feel around for the "sweet spot", the perfect place to pierce me that was just far enough back. It felt a bit awkward having someone else feel around in my nose. Hehe Then he put the clamp on and asked me how it felt. I said okay.. then he moved it around a bit and asked me again. It felt a little strange and he said I had to work with him on adjusting the placement. Having the clamp on was a really weird feeling. Then he marked the inside of my nose to make sure the needle would go in straight, adjusted the clamp again, and we were ready to go.
He told me to start breathing in and out, and then told me to take a deep breath in. Oh man, here we go! He put the needle through and it didn't hurt at all! It felt more uncomfortable than anything. If your piercer positions it correctly in the "sweet spot" it shouldn't hurt a bit. The clamp was worse than the actual piercing. "That wasn't so bad.." I remember saying, immediately after he put the needle in. My eyes started to water a little and he gave me a tissue. He said that's an automatic reaction, and actually a lot of experiences I'd read on BME mentioned it. Now I wish that I would've gotten it on video. Haha Then he put my 14g retainer in and there was only a slight pain with that. All done. :-) I couldn't wait to see it! He gave me the mirror and it looked so perfect and straight! He had me try and flip it up to see if I could do it. It was a little uncomfortable since he'd just pierced it, but it was so easy to do. Now I could flip it up for work and no one would be the wiser. It is virtually invisible when flipped up into my nose. The only way you can see it is if you're positioned directly under me.
So that's my lovely septum experience! Many pictures to come.. and I'm sure more piercings. :-) I wanna stretch my ears next! 00g plugs are looking mighty attractive..
*UPDATE* It's a couple days later now, and it's still feeling really good. I bumped my nose a couple times and that really hurt, but other than that it's fine. When I have to clean it it's a little sore too, but that's to be expected. I want to switch the retainer up for a horseshoe when I can change the jewelry.