This is the story of how I got my first nostril piercing. I got it done on the same day as my labret. Before these two piercings, I only had my earlobes pierced (although I had those done with a needle).
At A Glance Author Simone Contact Simone@bme.anon When N/A Artist Hazel Studio The Studio, Affleck's Palace Location Manchester, England
THE DECISION
This piercing was inspired by a then-friend of mine whose tiny nostril stud with its blue gem looked so pretty. Of course I had seen other nostril piercings before, but I never noticed how pretty they were until then. I went into town with her one day after class and decided to get my nostril pierced. "Get it done," she said. "It doesn't hurt." I ended up going later that afternoon with my Mom's boyfriend (in case I needed parental permission, which I didn't).
THE BUILD-UP
On the way to the piercing studio, I was more nervous than I thought I would be. When we got there, the first thing I asked at the desk was about the possibility of hiding the piercing: my school was very strict and didn't allow facial piercings. I was told that retainers do exist for nostril piercings, but that I would have to wait until the piercing healed. I decided to go ahead with it and worry about the consequences if they ever came.
After I'd paid and signed the form, I had a small wait. For some reason, I suddenly became completely calm. The adrenaline started to build up again as I went into the piercing room, which was well-lit and appeared to be very clean. If I remember rightly, I said that I was scared, but it wasn't exactly 'fear'. I exaggerate sometimes.
THE PIERCING
I got my labret piercing done first because I thought it would be the most painful. I don't know why I thought that. I suppose it was because my friend had promised me that my nostril wouldn't hurt, and I'd seen so many people with nostril piercings that I thought it must be true. How wrong I was.
After my labret was done, the piercer - I'm pretty sure her name is Hazel - asked me which side of my nose I wanted piercing. Most people seemed to have it on the left so, to be 'different', I chose the right side. I got a little dot and looked in the mirror. It was higher than I expected. That was a good thing: the wall of my nose looked thinner there, so I guessed it would hurt less. I asked if I would be able to wear a ring in it. Hazel said, "Yes, when it's healed." That was good enough for me. Hazel opened the packet containing the needle and I closed my eyes (I had a bit of a needle phobia, believe it or not).
I flinched when I felt the clamp on my nose, simply because it's cold and I'm not used to foreign bits of cold metal invading my nostrils. I felt the point of the needle, some pressure...and more pain than I expected. Just for a second, there was an unpleasant edge to the pain that hadn't been there when I got my earlobes done. It wasn't unbearable, it was just unexpected. It was enough for me to say, "Ouch" (and that's coming from a person who has a history of never admitting to pain) and enough to make my right eye water, which I had been expecting. I think I might have cussed, too, because my Mom's boyfriend said, "Cuss as much as you want. Imagine you're at Taekwondo and you're in a fight." I replied, "Yeah, I just got punched in the nose." (This was a reference to a discussion on pain management that we'd been having in the car on the way).
I was on edge now, because of the unexpected level of the pain. This probably didn't help; I've read somewhere that the more scared/nervous you are, the more pain you feel. Whatever the reason, fitting the jewellery hurt. I was very tense. I didn't want to feel that nasty edge to the pain again. I didn't, but it still hurt. Perhaps not as much as when the needle had gone through, though.
When I looked in the mirror afterwards, I was slightly worried about how visible it was. I'd expected a little dot of colour on my nose, like my friend's nostril piercing. But no, it was quite conspicuous (I chose a plain crystal nose wire, by the way). But it was very pretty, I couldn't deny that. Hazel gave me a tissue and at first I thought it was bleeding a little; it wasn't, it was just the ink from where she'd marked the spot. The tissue was for my watery eye, haha. My eye didn't water as much as I thought; I was wearing non-waterproof eyeliner and it didn't smudge.
Hazel told me about the aftercare. It was nothing different to what I had already read and heard about taking care of piercings in general (the salt soaks and so on).
THE AFTERMATH
My face was throbbing a little on the way home. It twinged a little when I smiled, and trying to do the 'bunny rabbit' thing with my nose certainly made it twinge. It was a bit achy for a day or two and remained achy during cleaning for quite some time. There seemed to be traces of blood around it when I cleaned it in the morning, for at least a couple of weeks. I managed to hide it with a tiny piece of skin-coloured sticking plaster for school. Nobody noticed at all.
When the piercing was a few weeks out, I pulled the jewellery out ever so slightly by accident whilst cleaning my face. The pain was like getting it pierced all over again. A few nights later, I was actually woken up by a horrible pain in my nose. When I looked in the mirror, I'd somehow pulled the wire out to the halfway bend point. I just couldn't push it back in; the pain was too intense. Luckily I'd bought a spare nose wire which was one gauge smaller. I managed to get that one in, but it did bleed and the pain was worse than the original piercing. Not an experience that I'd want to repeat.
This nostril piercing had a rather ironic and sad death. When I'd had it for a few months, I came down with 'flu and was bedridden for over a week (blowing my nose was no problem, in case you're wondering). One morning, I woke up with the nose wire lying in my hand. I panicked, got out of bed and ran to the mirror to put it back in, but the hole was already gone without a trace. I don't know how normal this is; my piercings do tend to heal very quickly compared to 'average healing times'.
Why is it sad/ironic? Well, firstly because of all the pain I went through. Secondly, the fact that I somehow managed to remove the jewellery in my sleep with no pain (or not enough to wake me up, anyway) says that the piercing had probably healed. So just when it healed, I lost it. I also wondered why I would remove it in my sleep seen as I had such a fear of messing around with it. Maybe I subconsciously didn't want it. I did get my left nostril pierced a few months later and it lasted longer, but that's a different story.
SUMMARY
This was a painful and slightly problematic piercing for me (no infections, just catching it now and again). But a lot of people do have it, and most of them say that it wasn't painful or troublesome at all. I was fairly new to piercings when I got my nostril done, and this was my first cartilage piercing. Everyone's perception of pain is different, of course. I would say that getting your nostril pierced isn't more painful than any other piercing; it's just a different kind of pain. But don't take my word for it. Read around, do research and, ultimately, don't let the fear of pain stop you from getting a piercing that you want. The pain won't last long. Your piercing should last you a lot longer (even though mine didn't).