I had been debating whether to get my septum pierced for quite some time. Ali, my piercer, told me that it was quite a harsh appearing piercing but she knows what I'm like when a piercing idea comes into my head. I eventually decided that it would be worth the experience and look cool.
At A Glance Author Jay Contact detroit9@btinternet.com When Three months ago Artist Ali Studio Metal Morphosis Location Birmingham UK On the 22nd October 2006 I drove to Birmingham with the intention of getting my septum pierced. I told Ali that I wanted it pierced at 2.4mm but she didn't have any keepers in 2.4mm and I didn't really want to wear any other type of jewellery at that time. So I went ahead and decided to get it pierced at 1.6mm.
Off we went into the piercing room which is very hygienic. Ali had a feel around for the "sweet spot" as it's called and proceeded to wipe the inside of my nose with whatever it is they use. Now came the problem. Ali got the clamps in place but my "sweet spot" is very high up in my nose so she wondered how on earth she was going to pierce it because my nostrils were in the way. She called in a colleague and asked him to hold my nostrils up. So here I was sitting on the edge of the bed with a guy holding my nostrils up and Ali holding the clamp with the needle at the side of my septum. The clamps were a bit uncomfortable but bearable.
Ali asked if I was ready and I just sat there with my eyes closed and said "Yep". She proceeded to pierce my septum and the pain was nothing like I was expecting. It hardly hurt at all. The only thing was that my eyes were watering a lot but apart from that I was fine. Ali then put the keeper in and I was a happy chap. It felt a little weird but I soon got used to it. I thanked Ali for her great work, paid her and went off on my way. To clean it I just used some cleaning solution Ali had given me and some cotton buds.
I had asked Ali how long before I could stretch it up and she said 5 weeks. So 5 weeks passed and I paid her another visit. She had a 2.4mm keeper so I asked her to put that it. She did the stretch with a taper and that went fine, just watery eyes again. I also got a 2.4mm BCR off her and put that in about a week later to see what it looked like. I liked it so I kept it in.
Now I had begun addicted to stretching my septum so decided to go to Nala in Tamworth which is closer for me to get to and easier to get to after work. I went a week after my stretch to 2.4mm and asked Lisa the piercer to stretch it up to 3.2mm. It stretched easily and in went a 3.2mm BCR.
The following week I went to Nala again and got it stretched to 4mm with a BCR in it, again no problems. However the weight of the BCR started to make it pretty sore so after a couple of days I put a 4mm single flared eyelet in instead to take the weight off it.
I waited 2 weeks before I stretched again and returned to Nala. This time it would be a 1mm stretch so I thought it would hurt a bit more. I also had tonsillitis so I was feeling pretty crappy as it was. But that wouldn't stop me and I went ahead with the stretch. Lisa put the taper through nice and quick and said it was done. I was thinking "Is that it?" because I hardly felt a thing and my eyes didn't even water this time. Maybe it was because of all the medication I was on for the tonsillitis, who knows!? But in went the 5mm horseshoe and I was very pleased with it. I could feel the weight of it at first but I'm used to it now. It's looking pretty hefty now thickness wise.
I now plan to stretch to 6mm once Nala get the jewellery in. I don't know where I will stop. At first I was thinking 6mm but then I thought 8mm but I've seen some good pictures on BME of septums at 10mm or larger. All in all the septum piercing looks great and even better with some large gauge jewellery in it. You do get some funny looks when you go down the street or for a night out but it's funny and it's nice when people ask you about it.
If you're thinking of getting it done go for it! It's not as painful as it looks. Happy piercing!