Piercing:
At A Glance Author Deputy_19 Contact oi_bizach@hotmail.com IAM Deputy_19 When A week ago Artist Myself Studio in the street Location Perth, Western Australia Im usually the sort of person who thinks about the piercing they want for a long time before they get it. But it was only two weeks after deciding I wanted my septum pierced that I went into my local studio and actually got it done. Even though in 16 (legal age to get pierced with out parental permission in Australia) I always check with my mum if I can get something pierced. Although, she was getting fired of all the piercings I had... all 6 of them, so she said no. She absolutely hated the look of septum piercings, and like most other people, referred to people with them as bulls. So... I got it anyway.
It was a Tuesday afternoon and I went into my piercing studio after school with my girlfriends' brother who was also planning on getting his septum pierced. When we got there we had to wait about an hour before we could get pierced, which was all good because we were friends with the piercers there so we just talked to them when one wasn't piercing.
My girlfriends' brother and me got pierced at the same time, so we were in different cubicles. Early before I came to the studio, I gave my nose a good blow so my piercer didn't have to deal with snot etc. I thought that this would be a really nice thing to do, mainly because im not very good at coping with other peoples snot. So the first thing my piercer did was clean the area and wipe it with Betadine. After that come the clamps. Although this would depend on the method your piercer chooses. The clamps were not painful or anything, like I've heard navel clamps are. But they are a little uncomfortable being in your nostrils. With the opposite side of the needle my piercer searched for my sweet spot where it would be pierced. When it was found it was straight into it. My piercer counted to three and pushed the needle straight through. It wasn't a very bad pain at all. A little stingy, but that's about it. The jewellery was then followed through. But, the one thing you should do before every piercing is to have a light meal... which I didn't do because I came straight from school. I felt really dizzy, so I told my piercer, so told me to lie down. I thought I went to go lay down, but instead I fainted. When I came to, I felt really good, but the balls still had to be put on the ring. When that was done, the piercer got two pairs of pliers to tighten the balls. This was the scariest part of the entire procedure I think. I kept thinking she was going to slip and rip it out by accident, but it didn't happen and I was all good with my new jewellery. I was then shown how to flip in up inside me nose, and take it out.
If you are thinking of getting your septum pierced, it is a really easy piercing to get done, and easy to hide too.
Stretching:
For a while now I've wanted to stretch my septum. Many people have told me that I should go extremely slow because of the pain and discomfort from stretching in this area, and I couldn't find any nice jewellery I wanted in it. I was really keep on going to an 8g from my original 14g. I knew that this stretch was pretty big for a septum, but I know that my skin is incredibly stretchy, and thought that it wouldn't be all that bad like every one was saying.
So I was in town the other day and went into one of the few good piercing studios we have in Perth and was thinking about getting it stretched then and there straight to the 8g. The piercer behind the counter said I should take it extremely slowly. So I finally gave in and only bought a 12g retainer to stretch up to. He said that I could probably get it in myself with some Betadine as lubricant after a hot shower. But I am a pretty impatient person to do with piercings. So after I got out of the studio I took my 14g ring out of my septum and removed the 12g retainer from its packaging. I put the retainer up to the septum hole while still walking, but pretty slowly. I gave it a push and it came through the other side of my septum, with nothing more than a split seconds' sting. It was slightly sore afterwards (nothing really noticeable until someone knocked it), but I thought that I could have easily stretched to at least a 10g with the aid of a taper. The healing from the stretch (for the soreness to fade) was about 2-3 hours. The person I was with at the time also has his septum pierced (at a 16g) and was shocked at how easily I got the jewellery in.
Next week im planning on buying a 10g septum bullet and getting a piercer to taper it bigger for me. Im actually pretty disappointed in buying the 12g retainer for my septum because it was so uneventful stretching it so easily. Although the 12g does look pretty good, and I can still flip it up for school. I am a little worried about the septum funk when I start to stretch larger and larger and plan on getting some jewellery in bone or wood.
For anyone wishing to stretch their septum from a 14g, I suggest that they get a piercer to taper it up to a 10g at least. Mine wasn't as painful as anyone said it would be. Although, it may be different for other people to stretch that easily. I had had my septum for about 6 months at this stage, so it was very well healed, along with my skin being very stretchy.