A few months ago my best friend Demoniqua came to Ottawa to visit me. As usual we planned on going to visit hellspawn at Planet Ink Extreme. It's not often she comes into town so when she does we like to do something special together, and yes for us that means getting some form of modification.
At A Glance Author Hespera Contact Hespera@bme.anon IAM Hespera When Three months ago Artist Matt Cottrell Studio Planet Ink Extreme Location Ottawa She arrived on a Thursday evening and we hung out at my place having a few drinks and discussing what we'd like to have done. She'd decided on having her Monroe redone and I was debating on getting my sternum or septum. It's interesting to me to see how my opinion of the septum piercing has changed over time. For a long time I was not a fan of them at all. Sure I thought there were people whom they suited but never thought it would be something for me and just had a general disliking of them. Over time I saw more and more people with them, of varying sizes and different jewellery styles. I began to realize that they could be very visually pleasing to me as well as being versatile enough to hide with a retainer.
Another issue holding me back was that it had only been just over a year since I finally allowed myself to get a facial piercing other than a basic nostril. I never thought it practical to spend money on mods that would be very temporary. I was looking to get a job in a field where I know they would not have been allowed (for safety reasons). However, I ended up finding employment in a company that really doesn't care how many piercings or tattoos I have. It's great, and not having that kind of restriction has allowed me to fulfill my desires for a few other facial piercings.
Now with all that said I actually ended up choosing my sternum over the septum because it was higher on my piercing wish list. When Tanya, myself and my daughter went downtown Matt poo pooed that plan by informing me he did not have the appropriate jewellery in stock. I was a bit disappointed but I should have planned that further in advance. So, since the sternum was out I went with my septum.
He went in back in back to get set up and called us in not long after. He informed me much to my disappointment that I would be going first. I say disappointed because I was quite nervous about getting this one. I hadn't gotten nervous over a piercing for a while and I'm still not sure what made me feel like that on that day. He got gloved up (he changes gloves multiple times throughout the procedure) and started with cleaning the inside of my nose. He seemed to be digging around in there with the q-tip a lot so I joked about having a lot of crap up in there. After I was cleaned he marked me and like always tells me to check his placement to make sure I was ok with it. After checking I hopped up onto the Dr. office type bed and lay back as instructed. Out come the clamps, which up until that day I had never had a problem with. He put the clamps on and instantly I felt extreme discomfort. It was a feeling similar to what I felt in my college Defence and Control Tactics class when we did pressure points. There is something called the c- clamp that involves applying pressure to a part of your nose and it's not at all pleasing. As soon as they were I was ready for them to be off. I may have even said "ow". Matt reminded me to breathe and he got the needle. He pushed it through which I remember feeling a bit, but it didn't hurt, or maybe I just didn't notice because all I could think of was how badly I wanted the clamps off. Once the needle was through I turned my head so that Tanya could take a picture. When my daughter saw it she let out an emphatic "Ewww gross!" With the pic taken Matt continued on a followed through with the retainer. I'm pretty sure he reminded me to keep breathing and inserting the jewellery went ok. That was it! My septum was pierced and I was quite happy to see myself in the mirror after. Matt disposed of the needle and prepared for Tanya who went next. When we were both done I asked about aftercare. He told me to treat it like my other piercings and then showed me a simple technique to stretch out the nose area and make it less stiff particularly when flipping up the retainer. We paid our fee after, which was far less than expected but Matt has always given me sweet deals (probably because we're friends.) and went on our merry way.
Tanya told me I should flip up the retainer sooner rather than later because it's harder once swelling and soreness kick in. I was going to but then we got busy and I forgot about it until a few hours later and sure enough it was a bitch to flip up and hurt. We had plans to go out that night so I flipped it down before we left. It would have been easier if I left it up but I wanted to show off my new piercing! I pretty well left it alone for the rest of the day and it didn't give me any problem or pain.
The next day it felt ok. There was some tenderness, but that is to be expected like all most other piercings. I cleaned it with a hospital grade c02 saline solution and then left it alone. On the third day after getting it the soreness really kicked in. When any moisture touched the area it stung and my nose was bit runny that day so it happened a lot. I tried to flip it up again and had a hard time because it was so sore to the touch. It hurt to blow my nose and trying to wipe with a Kleenex hurt every time it touched my nose. The next few days the soreness continued but instead of having a runny nose it got real dry. I think due to the atmosphere at my work. In any case it felt like I've had crusty boogers stuck in there and trying to clean that out has been an uncomfortable process. A week after getting it done my nose was still dry and tender to the touch but I noticed a gradual decline in the pain department. It took about a month before I stopped having bloody crusties come out when I blew my nose. It's now a few months later and I still find that I feel like I have crud stuck in my nose all the time. It's a bit maddening at times but I tend to wear my retainer flipped up and that combined with a nose screw in my right nostril means I probably feel more metal up there than actual crud. I find the tip of my nose is pretty sensitive to touch and I've bumped it accidentally a few time causing my eyes to water.
I am not sure if this is a piercing I will keep. I like how it looks but I just don't like feeling like there is something up my nose constantly. I think maybe I just feel this way because it's not something I was 100% sold on from the get go so I will always have a doubt in the back of my mind that it's right for me. I also don't like giving up on things so easily so it will stay for now.