At A Glance
Author	Whale
Contact	Whale@bme.anon
When	N/A

I'm going to start this off saying that this is, in fact, another dimwitted DIY story. If you have a problem with this, I suggest you do not continue reading. Absolutely nothing that I did can be considered safe in the slightest, because proper piercing requires actual piercing needles, a sanitary environment, an autoclave, and all that jazz.

Okay, so. I had been considering a septum piercing for a while now, having already done my tongue web multiple times (with a sewing needle and a safety pin. shoot me later) and needing to have a piercing that can be easily hidden from my ultra-conservative parents. Their opinions on piercings are: "Only whores have piercings". Which is completely untrue, but what else can you do?

After being threatened to get kicked out of the house after my web was discovered (and forcefully removed, ouch.) and piercing it again regardless (this time with a curved barbell, but that's beside the point), I decided that a hidden septum piercing was best.

I wasn't exactly planning to pierce myself, it just kind of happened. I was sitting at my desk, browsing BME again (which usually makes me want to get another piercing). After reading so many of these stories, I decided to test out for myself this fabled "sweet spot" that almost everyone mentions in their experience. So I grabbed the nearest sewing needle (which was most likely covered in germs and who else knows what, considering it was lying on my desk and I have no autoclave) and started prodding around in my septum.

I pinched at it and felt the (seemingly) thinnest part, and decided to push the needle into it. I felt a sharp pinch and needed to sneeze, but I pushed a bit harder and the feeling of pain/irritation stopped. Lo and behold, the "sweet spot". It wasn't really a "spot", exactly; it was just towards the front of my nose. Five minutes later I was still in that exact position, wondering exactly how I would go about shoving that thing through my nose. Little did I know it was already halfway through.

By this time, I was searching with my other hand in my desk drawer for something to put into my other nostril, to provide something to press against for the needle instead of using my finger as a pincushion. I found an eraser (the refillable type for mechanical pencils) and decided to use that. I pushed harder on the needle, but my hand was starting to slip and it was getting tougher and tougher to get the needle through. I realized that the eraser was halfway hollowed out in the center, so I used it as a "cap" for my needle instead.

At this time, I was really struggling with that needle. I even saw the tip of it under my skin on the other side; but I could not, for the life of me, get that sucker through. And to top it all off, the end of the needle (where the eye is) had sunken deep into the eraser, requiring about ten minutes to pull it off without removing the needle.

What I eventually ended up doing was using a Heineken beer bottle cap that was on my desk (I don't drink at all because alcohol tastes like sand to me, but I kept the cap because it was pretty; I swear!). Using that to back up my needle, I managed to shove the tip through the other side about two millimeters. Success!

....Well, not yet. The needle refused to budge any more, and only after pushing it with every ounce of energy left in my body was I able to move it halfway through (bearing in mind that it took me about a half an hour). After taking a few pictures on my phone, I attempted to slide it out as easily as everyone else did. No dice. Apparently, my septum had swollen up a bit or something, and it was near impossible to pull out. In fact, I actually had to "thread" a paperclip through the eye of the needle to have a handle to yank it out of my nose.

This less-than-gentle removal of the needle caused me to lose sight of the hole immediately, and I almost gave up. However, as stubborn as I am, I continued prodding around the area again with the 20g post of a hoop whose partner had been lost long ago. When I felt a bit of it sink in, I sighed in relief. I slid the rest of it in easily, and felt at ease.



Healing and Aftercare:

I used a little heart-shaped plastic container that I had received on Valentines Day to dip my nose into, after filling it with a warm sea-salt solution. And so is my healing regime.

Day 1- Goodness gracious, that thing hurt like a (expletive). People aren't kidding when they say it feels like a broken nose when it's bumped! I'm guessing that going clothes shopping with my best friend didn't help either, because I often wasn't careful enough and ended up catching the underside of my nose when changing shirts.

(Day 2 was uneventful)

Day 3- My poor septum got hit multiple times, because of the fact that it was the first day at school after Spring Break and hugs are given out in massive amounts. It was quite sore by the end of the day.

Day 4- As strange as it sounds, I was delighted when I found crusties and some blood. But only because when I pierced it initially, it did not bleed at all. Piercings with a blood supply tend to heal quicker, I've heard, so... hooray!

And that brings me to today. I hugged someone, laid down my head too clumsily, and ended up bumping it a grand total of three times somehow (#___#;).




Conclusion:

The septum piercing really didn't hurt for me (well, not the initial piercing), and it didn't make me tear up either. It's really easy to hide, and the only people that know are the ones to whom I've shown it.

If you want this piercing, I highly recommend that you get it professionally pierced to avoid doing it crooked (mine is slightly, but I'm hoping it's just the swelling). Self piercing runs the high risk of infection, and it's overall a dumb thing to do. But if you have parents like mine, or are just plain stupid as I am, at least do it with the proper hollow needles and such.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, but I'm just about as new to this as you are (:P).