For a long time I thought that the "bull ring" piercing was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. Lately though, looking through pictures of various piercings on BME, I began to like the look of the septum piercing. I still wasn't sure about having it on myself.
At A Glance Author Amanda Contact amandathebert@msn.com IAM ohmesrv When A month ago A month ago I was sitting in my room on a saturday night looking in the mirror. I thought about giving myself another helix piercing, but I remember I had tried the place before where I wanted to put it and it bled profusely at the slightest poke. So I was sifting through my mound of earrings and I grabbed an earring I got from hot topic more than a year ago; it was basically a fake cbr with a sliding bead and a 20g post. I cut off the stupid post part and hung the remaining earring on my septum just to see what it might look like. At first I was thinking "wow, I need a hobby" but when I saw it in the mirror, I was like "oh my god I need this."
Crafty as I am, I fetched my sewing kit (You should be cringeing)and I grabbed the thickest needle in an unopened package. It was probably equivalent to an 18 gauge so I took another thin hoop earring that I would never wear otherwise and bent it into the shape of a really crappy septum retainer. I went to the bathroom and set out some tissues. I turned on the faucet to super hot water that made my glasses a little steamy, I washed my hands and then I did the best I could at disinfecting the needle and ring.
When I was confident that I could do this and not worried about screwing my face up, I felt around in my nose for the thinnest spot of tissue. I then placed my left hand forefinger on that spot on the left side and proceeded to push the needle through from the right. Almost every experience I've read about septum piercing has said that it was very painful, but even though I struggled for a couple minutes just pushing the sewing needle through the layers of tissue, I really had minimal pain. I was probably too focused on counting the pops as it went through each layer and trying to feel it coming out the other side to really notice that it hurt.
When it was about half way through, the needle was dry and it resisted movement through the hole I had created, so I lubed it a little bit with dial soap on a Q-tip, and it slid right through. I then attempted to follow the needle through with the pathetic piece of bent metal that I dared to call jewelry (I am embarassed reflecting on it now) but it didnt quite work. I took the needle out and started the process over, and the second time, I managed to get it all the way in. I was stoked. I thought to myself over and over "Oh my god I pierced my septum." So I flipped it up in my nose and went to bed.
I gradually changed the jewelry to larger gauges throughout the week until it was about a 16g. The next saturday I went with my friend to get her cartilage pierced. I watched her get it done, and then as we were on our way out, I decided to get a septum retainer. Turns out the place only had one left, and it was enormous. The guy who had pierced my friend's ear was like, "oh, I can bend it so it will fit." and I told him it wouldn't fit but he insisted, and offered to put it in for me. So he took me back to the room where we had just been and sat me down. I flipped the 'retainer' down and when he saw it he asked me if I did it myself. I of course said yes, and after he got done scolding me, he tried to shove in the new 14g retainer. The first attempt failed so he used a taper and got it in. Then came the painful part: The septum retainer, as I stated earlier, was enormous, but he still insisted that he could flip it up in my nose. So I let him try. It took a couple minutes of me contorting my face the way he showed me to and him pulling on my top lip to somehow make my nostrils larger, all the while he was pushing really hard on the top of my piercing. FINALLY I went in and I took a sigh of releif. He looked proud that he had proved me wrong. I was in pain.
The next day I went to the mall with my friend; my main goal was to find a better nosering. We went to hottopic and found some nice 14g cbr's. That night I got one in and it looked fantastic.
My mom hates it and my dad doesn't talk about it, and I tend to forget about it and then I wonder why people look at me strangely in public. I'm starting to get used to it though, and I'm learning that other people don't have to approve of anything I do. This piercing has boosted my self confidence, but I recommend to anyone thinking about getting a septum piercing that they go to a professional and reputable piercer to have it done.