At A Glance Author Hannah When Two years ago Artist Nicc Studio Slave to the Needle Location Wallingford, Seattle I was a little anxious about getting my septum pierced for the second time, because the first time had been such an ordeal...
Once I turned 18, I started looking at different piercings before selecting the septum as the one I wanted to get.
I had gone to Audra at Ink World in Coeur D'Alene the first time and had a really bad experience. When I walked in, the place looked pretty casual and nobody seemed to be following the proper sterilization procedures. I said I wanted my septum pierced and she had me lay down while she measured my nose for about 30 seconds. She whipped out her piercing stuff and pierced me right away. She said she had only done about four of them, so that wasn't very reassuring. Once it was done, she told me that it was slightly crooked (really crooked), but that if I just tugged at it a little bit each day as it was healing, it would straighten out (YEAH RIGHT). I was a little unsure about that, but I didn't feel like arguing with a piercer, especially when I didn't know much about septum piercings in the first place. I should have done more research, but by that time it was too late.
It seemed to heal just fine, and I was thrilled with it. I got tons of compliments on it and everyone said it looked great with my face shape. But then seven months later, it got really infected and my nose began to swell and was extremely painful whenever I touched it. There also seemed to be a blister of some sort growing on one side of the jewelry. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I took the jewelry out and when I did, a TON of green stuff squirted out (gross, I know.) I cleaned it all out and tried to put the jewelry back in, but the hole had already closed up. This was all in a matter of hours. I called a local tattoo shop (by this time I was living in Seattle) and asked them what I should do. The girl that answered said to let it heal up and then get it redone. Soooo I did some sea salt soaking for a couple of weeks and let the hole close, and then I went to Slave to the Needle in Wallingford to talk to Nicc about having it redone. When I pulled into the parking lot, I kind of panicked and my boyfriend had to drag me into the studio.
Nicc was behind the desk and asked me if I was the one who had called. I said yes, and he immediately made me feel at ease. He said he'd done hundreds of septums, that he was really comfortable with the piercing and that it would be no big deal. So I selected the jewelry I wanted (a horseshoe with internal threads), signed the papers, and walked into the piercing room. I was still kind of nervous, but I really wanted my septum back, so I knew I was going to go through with it. He had he lay on my back while he examined my nose and marked all over the outside with a marker. He told me that my "sweet spot" was really easy to locate, and that whoever had pierced me before had not been anywhere near it. (Surprise, surprise) Everything was extremely clean and he opened a new package of tools and changed his gloves many times during the procedure. Once he had everything ready, he put the receiving tube on one side of my septum and the needle (14g) on the other and told me to breath in and out. A small pinch and it was over.
Once it was done, however, he looked at it and realized that my septum was deviated and told me that I couldn't leave the shop until it was perfect. He explained that this was because I was his best advertisement, and if I left with a messed up piercing, it would be bad for his business. So he said he was going to take the jewelry out and repierce it to correct the positioning. The second time the graduated went through was pretty painful and I could feel the blood running up my nose (I was still laying on my back). But all that happened is my eyes watered a little bit....I was still doing fine with the pain. Once he pierced it correctly, he announced it was "f***ing perfect", snapped a picture for his portfolio, and I was free to go. He even threw in $10 dollars off for the inconvenience. I was buzzing with adrenaline and thanked him profusely before leaving absolutely thrilled with having my septum back. It was a great experience, and I would definitely go there again for any future body mods.