A few days ago, I got my septum pierced, and I can honestly say that it was my most painful piercing yet, beating snug, rook and anti-tragus, all of which have a reputation for hurting. But, as I would find out, there was a reason for the pain that I experienced, having expected a less intense feeling (as so many other people have described).
At A Glance Author anonymous IAM mschief When A week ago Studio The Piercing Shop Location Southwest UK A bit of background first - I had been toying with the idea of getting my septum done for a while. Like so many others I had initially thought the septums I saw on BME were a little too extreme-looking to be considered, but over time I began to think that they could be very cute. Also, as far as I can tell, it seems to be enjoying a big bump in popularity now (judging by the huge numbers of new photos being added with each update), and the photos available showed me that there were a variety of different looks possible with the septum - ring, barbell, retainer or invisible!
The invisibility of the septum piercing was also one of the major factors that encouraged me to get it. Not having had a facial piercing before, I was a little concerned about how I might look with it, and I wanted a piercing I could hide. This fitted the bill perfectly, and after an extended period of research online, and a bit of a prod from a friend who could see I was umming and ah-ing about getting it done, I made my way to the piercing shop which I have used for all of my piercings, more nervous than I had been about piercing in some time, but very excited.
A couple of days beforehand I had been in to take a look at the jewellery available - various different shapes, materials and colours. I had wanted to get it done with a simple niobium retainer with no ends, but my piercer warned that this might not accommodate any initial swelling, so I eventually decided on a tiny little circular barbell, in black so as to be as hard as possible to see when flipped up. I got my septum done at quite a small gauge - I forget the figure in millimetres but I *think* it was the equivalent of American 16G. I have a dainty nose and I didn't want it to be overwhelmed by the jewellery.
No other customers were being pierced (it was mid-afternoon on a weekday), so we got straight on with it - as usual, the skin was cleaned, and some kind of numbing substance applied, although as we shall see this did not make the experience a painless one. I lay down on the dentist-style chair and chatted with the piercer and my friend, who had come in to the piercing room to watch. My nose was felt, for what I expected would be the sweet spot that I had read so much about in septum stories on BME.
I closed my eyes, ready for the needle, as I really didn't want to see it sticking through my nose. And then I felt it - a deep searing pain, as if something was being forced somehow into my face. A much stronger sensation than I had been expecting, although accompanied by the predicatable eye-watering. I could feel the needle through my nose, although it seemed to me at the time like it was lodged much further in - not in a specific or realistic way, but a strange sensation that I knew wasn't really possible. I suppose what I'm really trying to describe is that it hurt like hell. I kept my eyes tight shut and groaned slightly. The jewellery went in, which wasn't so bad, probably more because I was so surprised at the pain of the needle. Then the bead(s?), and the actual piercing was done. I felt pretty hardcore, but also pretty faint.
For best healing, and because I wanted it that way anyway, my piercer flipped the barbell straight up. He seemed to expect this to hurt, but I didn't really feel anything from it. He then put my feet up and let me recover from my faintness before leaving the studio. The strange outcome from all of this is that I actually haven't seen what my piercing looks like yet (!!), as it has only been a few days so far, and I am being astonishingly good and not messing with it (as instructed). I can't wait until it is healed enough to flip it down...
Now comes the interesting thing - what I began to suspect soon after I had it done was that he had not in fact pierced the sweet spot (which I do have), but the cartilage! This would explain the intense pain, and I'm not totally sure why he did this. It doesn't seem like there will be any harm from this fact, as I'm not interested in stretching - the main consequence is that it will take longer to heal and be a bit more tender. I did learn an important lesson though, which is to always make sure very thoroughly that I am on the same page as the piercer. The piercing I have is well done, accounting for the slight crookedness of my nose, and was performed with skill. I think it will look good when I begin to wear it down, too, as its placement means the jewellery will not hang too low. I suppose what it comes down to is that I was surprised by the placement of the piercing. I trust my piercer but I like to know what is going on, and the difference to what I was expecting threw me a bit. I have begun to think that perhaps this difference in technique might account for some of the wilder differences in accounts of septum piercings - some people say it kills like nothing else, and others say it's practically painless. Perhaps some of the people who suffered got cartilage rather than sweet spot septum piercings? Just a theory.
A few days on and getting used to the piercing has been an interesting experience. Larger mouth movements like singing, yawning, applying lip balm (!) and eating chewy things have caused the piercing to twinge a little, but that has reduced over the last few days. I would definitely agree with the people who say that salt soaks dry your nose out - mine looks a little odd at the moment on the outside because the skin has become a little dry... My nose swelled a little, but not in a particularly noticeable way. If you weren't looking for swelling you wouldn't see it, and it has gone down already. The swelling coincided with feeling like I'd been given a good kick in the middle of the face - my nose was tender to the touch, even for things like splashing my face in the morning. However, this has also reduced and now it's only slightly tender at the end when I touch it. Sneezing, although it twinged a little on the first day, is perfectly fine.
One other note, to anyone who has been trawling these experiences and wondering whether a septum piercing really is as invisible as everyone says, my reply is - YES! It's amazing - mine is impossible to spot, even if *I* look right up my nose it's hard to see, and my friend jokes that he doesn't believe I got it done, because you just cannot see it's there...
If you've got to the end of all this, I hope it's been helpful to you - it has been a very interesting experience so far, and I am pleased that I decided to get my septum pierced. If you do too, good luck and enjoy it!