Having had the side of lip done twice, and never healing, my clavicles (surface) pierced and popping out within a month, my labaret getting infected, all from the same studio (don't ask why i kept going back, i gave him the benefit of the doubt - assumed it was my skin, or not cleaning properly, truth was he never cleaned properly beforehand and never gave adequate cleaning suggestions; being primarily a tattooist -a damn good one too - but not a great piercer), I decided to try the place in town, [ab]normal! He did my nostril and laberet and had not a single problem. Now it was time for something a bit different from the norm!
At A Glance Author Kat Contact Kat@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Mike Studio [ab]normal Location Bath, UK I really wanted my septum piercing done for ages, but never did as my boyfriend hated the idea! One day, when we were in town, and I was moaning about how I wanted it done so badly, he decided to march me to [ab]normal to get it done, just to shut me up. He said that he wanted to see the pain I was in and how I'd regret it after! HA! Lovely!
I went in, told Mike what I wanted, and he said it would be about 20 minutes while he sterilised the equipment, as usual. SO i went down the road for a quick double vodka and cigarette while waiting. At this point I was panicking about how much it would hurt! Sat pinching my nose until it hurt too much!
20 minutes later... Mike took me upstairs to the piercing room, where he told me to lie on the bed (like a doctors bed), I asked him how much it would hurt - he's good with that, he'll be honest and tell you if it will - he should know with the amount of piercings he has/had! He said that it would hurt. Great.
I led back, he had his black gloves on, and the equipment on the table, took hold of my nose and pushed the needle through. Chatting away as he did so, I'm guessing so it would take my attention from the hole he was putting through my nose! It went through a lot easier than I expected, just the little pop of breaking skin. Yes it hurt, but not enough for my eyes to water even! I can honestly say that this is the best piercing I have had so far - no pain afterwards, no blood, it has never hurt me at all, even when my boyfriend and I have playfights and it gets knocked out! I've kept a retainer in, becuase of work, and also becuase I don't really like the look of the balls hanging from under your nose, or a bullring?! the retainer has only slipped out once - when I was asleep - woke up the next morning and it was stuck at the back of my nose!
I had my labaret done at [ab]normal before this, and my nostril (which was later hit out during a playfight and lost, so healed over) and have since had my tounge done, all with no problems! I would recommend [ab]normal to anyone, especially first timers, or nervous people as Mike chats away to you, checks everything thoroughly - ie. if you've eaten/drank/taken drugs... beforehand, he invites you back for a 'check up', he'll even give you a bag of salt to clean it with!! Out of all the places I've had piercings - ones that havne't healed, been wonky, gotten infected, I can safely say that not one has gone wrong from [ab]normal! And I especially loooove my septum! He's practising scarification now, which I am fully intending to take advantage of, although I'm not too bad at it myself, if I may say so, with homemade tools consisting of diluted Dettol and a knife - but thats a different story again!
Anyway, I cleaned my septum, i won't say religiously, because I'm terrible for routines and i usually forget or don't have time, but I did clean with salt water and a wet cotton bud or cotton wool relatively often, usually every couple of days. I had nothing wrong with it, a bit of dried pus (yum) for the first week or so, but it didn;t fly out when i sneezed as i originally thought!! It slides in and out easily, and i even stopped cleaning in altogether after about a month. It makes no difference to when you have a cold, or blow your nose or anything like that! I could even pick my nose! HA! Even my boyfriend decided it wasn't as bad as he initially thought it would be, although my mother and father HATE it wiht a passion, and even now, 6 months later, mummy is still pleading with me to take out! Ooh, what a rebel I am!