It's been nearly four years since I first desired a septum piercing. At the time, I was 16, and my parents would not sign off on any non-ear related modifications. When I was 19, I started to toss the idea around once again, which unfortunately caused a few fights with my significant other. He feels that the septum piercing is trashy, and his pleading with me not to get one deterred me from the idea for quite some time. Every time I found myself in the city, I would end up with an ear piercing instead of my septum.
At A Glance Author alyssa Contact alyssa@bme.anon IAM drama-kills-xx When A month ago Artist Clay Studio Infinite Body Location Philadelphia, PA Six weeks ago, my significant other took off to Israel to do an internship that would take him out of the country for a total of three months. I decided that while he wasn't physically here to pester me about it, I would get my septum done.
One of my oldest and dearest friends came home from college for her spring break three weeks ago and we hung out the weekend before she was supposed to leave again. For some reason or another, the subject of septum piercings came up. She told me that she herself wanted to get one done, after years of being terrified of needles! She already knew that I'd been lusting after one of my own, and we decided that the next day we would pull our identification and money together and do it.
We awoke mid-morning and started to get ourselves together. The plan was to take the Speedline into the city and walk the rest of the way to the shop. First, we'd put our names in at Infinite and then go grab some food at one of the local vegan restaurants. It was getting close to noon when we arrived at Infinite, and we were the only customers in the shop. We spoke with Kevin for a bit, our forms were filled out, the jewelry was selected, and we paid for everything up front. Then, she and I went on our way for some grub.
After some very tasty vegan chicken cheese steaks, we walked back to Infinite to find the place extremely crowded. We congratulated ourselves for being proactive enough to get there before eating, as the counter clerks were busy talking to other customers. My friend was very nervous, this being her first non-lobe piercing, and watching the piercers talk to the other customers about placement and proper care calmed her down a bit.
Kevin was slated to do our piercings originally, but by the time we got back he was busy with other jobs. Clay happened to arrive a few minutes later and took us on instead.
Clay gave us the biggest grin, asked us to follow him, and brought us into his room. He was chatty, funny, and very informative. We talked to him about their color choice of gloves (purple), the two beta fish he has, and general piercing issues. He set everything up and my friend decided to go first so she wouldn't lose her nerve. I was interested in watching her get pierced, as I've only seen one other friend get anything done. Everything went very quick with her, and she was done in no time.
A lot of cleaning up and resetting for my piercing later, I was sitting in the chair. Clay looked up my nose and said:
"Did you know you have a deviated septum?" In fact, I wasn't even sure what one was, I told him, so no. What I found out, after getting up and staring up my nose in the mirror, was that instead of having a centered nasal separation, my septum "leaned" to the right, creating a bump.
I thought right then that all my hopes and dreams were about to crash before me. I asked Clay if that meant I couldn't get my septum pierced. I had quickly decided that if it did, I would get something else done in replacement, just like always.
Indeed, it did not mean that. Clay said that it was trickier to pierce, but could be done. I was already slightly nervous about the piercing, and knowing that it might be complicated amped up my nervousness a bit more. Clay felt around in my nose for what felt like forever so he could find the proper spot. I was starting to think he'd never find it when he finally said "There it is!" and went to change his gloves.
Clay took the receiving tube and the flat end of the needle and moved them around my septum to match them up properly. He kept pinching the left cartilage in his attempts to line everything up, which stung. I was starting to realize why he said that this would be more complicated. Not only had his fingers been up my nose forever, but now the piercing tools were up there forever, too. It took a bit more trying, but Clay finally got everything lined up and pierced my septum. There was a sharp sensation as the needle first entered, but I never felt it exit, nor was there any pain with the jewelry insertion.
It's been a full three weeks now, and the worries I had about my septum healing crooked because of the deviation have dissolved. I was pierced with a 12g retainer, which I've kept flipped up 95% of the time. I've crusted a little bit, but even then I think it's mostly been snot build-up. For all that ridiculous poking up there, the result has been wonderful. In three weeks, my friend comes home for summer break and we plan on buying new jewelry together.