I'd been thinking about getting a facial piercing for years before I finally decided to take action. My whole life, I'd always admired women (and even men) who had nose rings and studs. I don't have a big nose but it isn't the smallest one either, and I noticed that although studs and rings attract attention to one's nose, they attract it to the specific area and not the nose in it's entirety, thus making it less apparent if someone has a larger nose.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Stephani Studio Clockwork Piercings Location Long Island Coming from a middle eastern/indian background, many of my family members have nose piercings (although my father doesn't exactly approve of them, he considers body piercings to be mutilation, haha) and I've always wanted one.
I originally thought of piercing it myself, and searched forums for days looking for tips and advice. After reading up enough, I figured self-piercing without proper and sterile equipment wasn't exactly my best idea (I didn't keep this thought in my head for long, I actually pierced my navel myself about a month ago, but took it out shortly thereafter due to insufficient healing).
So, eventually I drove myself to a piercing place where I met my very charming piercing artist, Stephanie, who made me feel comfortable and well informed about proper caring for my piercing.
She explained to me exactly what was going to happen and how much she'd charge. For the specific jewelry I got, it costed a little extra, so my total was about 45$, something like 65$ with the tip I left her.
My initial reaction when I looked around and saw all the needles and equipment was a little hesitant, and I got a little nervous. But that was short lived, after she marked the spot on my nose with a marker I couldn't help but be completely excited. We agreed to move it up a little higher incase I ever wanted to put a ring in, and shortly after picking my jewelry I closed my eyes and felt a slight tug on my nostril, and then a lot of pressure.
It didn't occur to me that the needle had actually gone through, I thought the pressure was from the clamp.
She then proceeded to slip the corkscrew nose stud into place, applying a lot of pressure to my nose with a sterilized towelette. It was bleeding a lot and my right eye (I got my right nostril pierced) wouldn't stop tearing.
I noticed that when I smoked a cigarette immediately after getting the piercing it began to bleed again, probably because smoking thins the blood and stimulates blood flow only in certain areas of the body. I didn't smoke for a few hours after that, I guess it allowed some cells to grow and form around the piercing to begin the healing process, and eventually everything stopped bleeding and running.
There was no pain but a lot of soreness for about two days. I made a sea salt solution with warm water and mixed it thoroughly in a bowl, dipping my nose and blowing bubbles with it for two or three days after. Then, after that, I'd grind up extra sea salt into a paste and apply it to the outside of the stud with a q-tip. This dried my skin out really badly from time to time, but I feel like it cut healing time in half because it dried out all the gunk that was still inside from the initial piercing process.
After about a month it was nicely healed and I switched the jewelry in it to a bigger stud. For about six months, I cleaned it every day with a alcohol-salt mix (Every piercing person I know swears this is a terrible idea, but it seemed to be the only thing that would kill any infection and rid any pain I seemed to get from time to time, although aspirin does wonders for keloids and pain), and now only clean it on occassion, as it is completely healed now.
Sometime within the three months after I got the piercing, I got a really bad infection after snagging my piercing on a shirt and pulling it halfway out, ripping the skin that had formed on it, and making it bleed profusely. The bleeding and pain stopped after a few days, and after a lot of treatment, but I was left with a big, swollen, red, keloid bump. I crushed up two bayer tablets and mixed them in a ziploc bag with a drop of water. This created a thick paste that I applied by squeezing the contents of the baggie to one corner and then cutting the very tip of the bag. After applying it directly to the affected area, it dried up and I left it on overnight. When I woke up the next morning, the skin was flat -- it was like magic.
I'd definitely recommend this piercing to anyone, it was quick, simple, and virtually painless. There are many variations and extremes you can go to with a nose piercing, from glamorous to grungey, ghettolicious (I can't believe I just said that, but it's the honest truth.)to cultural. The sky is the limit for different types of jewelry, and these piercings aren't even that expensive.