In total I have had around 20 piercings though septum piercings never seemed to appeal to me. I don't know why. I just never thought I would suit one. I'd been thinking of getting a nose piercing for a while and after browsing through the BME galleries I started to like the idea of a septum piercing. I then had a mess around with spare rings I had lying around to get an idea of what it would look like. After thinking about it over Christmas I finally decided where my Christmas money would be going.
At A Glance Author helen Contact helen@bme.anon IAM helanus When It just happened Artist Margaret Studio PX Piercing Location Newcastle, UK Since I'm so impatient I decided I would let my body concentrate on one thing at a time. I had a few things in mind that I could chose from. More lobe stretching, conch stretching, a nose piercing or a septum piercing. I chose the latter since I had tried to stretch my lobes without any success. Cut to Saturday afternoon, I needed to go do some shopping in town, got the bus and started to wander around getting what I needed. When I'd finished shopping I realised I'd just missed a bus and had the choice of either wandering for another half an hour or going to do something productive. Even though I was still undecided about it I started walking to PX. Then the butterflies started in my stomach. I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this. But unfortunately it wasn't going to happen anyway. I got buzzed in to find out they were completely full and I would have to make an appointment. I did and the time was set. 1.30pm the following Monday was to be the time of judgement.
As soon as I got home I started searching on BME for any septum experiences I could find that had been done at PX. I had been there before so I knew I was in good hands but this was totally new to me, I had never had any kind of nose piercing. The one thing that worried me was would it go through the cartilage in my nose or not. I woke up on the Monday morning to be faced with my nerves already. Not only did I have the piercing to worry about it was also the first day back to university. If I hadn't had to go out that day I don't think I would of gone. I was terrified. While still worrying about what to expect I got up and left for university.
After only a couple of hours I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Thankfully since I'm on an art course no-one really cares if you disappear for a while. As soon as 12pm rolled around I started to get even more nervous though this time there was excitement along with it.
I got buzzed in and since I was early I knew I might have to wait a little while before getting pierced. Before going into the piercing room I was told by Peter that they were expecting a couple of girls who were coming to get pierced on their lunch break but since they hadn't turned up yet they would be able to go ahead with the piercing now. When I walked into the all to familiar piercing room I started to really calm down. I filled in the usual forms and sat down so Margaret could have a look at my nose.
It felt a bit strange to have someone poke around in my nose for a good few minutes. Its not exactly something that happens to me everyday. She then went ahead and put on some numbing spray before I was told "this is going to stink". She wasn't wrong. She put away the spray and threw away the tissues she had used and told me to hop up on the bed. I lay back and tried to calm myself down a little more. By this point my mind was racing, I just wanted to get on with it. Before the actual piercing happened Margaret told me I would feel a pinch and it would make my eyes water. The only way I can describe it is a hard pinch. The worst part had to be when the needle hit the other side of my nose. Then it was over. My eyes were streaming. When I finally opened my eyes I didn't dare look down. I could just see a piece of plastic sticking out of my nose. Then the jewellery went in, that was more or less painless. I just remember feeling how cold the jewellery was. I was all done. I sat up so I could wipe my eyes then it started bleeding. Not that I even noticed. I was told to lie back down so it could be cleaned up. It bled quite a bit but it wasn't anything extreme. Once I was cleaned up I jumped off the bed and went straight to the mirror. I love it! Margaret even straightened the retainer for me before I left. I paid and went on my merry way.
Even though I was planning on hiding it from my parents I chose to wear the retainer down for a couple of hours while I was still at university. I left PX and couldn't stop smiling. I got back to university to find the people I was working with had left, (I had said I would only be 20 minutes or so but had taken much longer) so I thought I may as well leave to. Before going to get the bus I took a detour to the toilets to flip up the retainer. I won't lie, it did hurt. That was to be expected. I fought off the urge to sneeze when I moved it, then it was hidden. I so glad I picked a retainer since I'm hiding it from a picky pair of parents.
After all the worrying I had done the piercing didn't go through the cartilage, it seems I have a very fleshy nose. Its been about 8 hours since I had it done. Its not hurting too much now, just stings if I catch or try to scratch my nose. All in all I'm very happy that I went ahead with it. I love it. If you're thinking about it do what I did and have a mess around with old jewellery it helped me come to a decision. As always PX were lovely and a great help in calming me down. And as always I recommend them to everyone in and around Newcastle.