I used to want just about everything possible pierced, including my septum. But as I got older, it became obvious that wouldn't work with my chosen career [Culinary Arts]. They frown on that due to piercings falling out, balls falling off of the ends of rings, infections, etc. But no matter how much I told myself I didn't care about not being pierced, I still wanted my septum sooooo bad.
At A Glance Author Addie Ghoul Contact Vampiric_Monkey@hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Mike Studio Pin Cushion Location Plymouth, MA My friend Chris has his done, and I loooved it. I was so jealous! I kept asking him questions about it, so it became obvious I wanted it. I wasn't too open about wanting it because I would tell the occasional person about it and they'd go "That's gross! You'll look like a bull!". My thought was, even if I DO look like a bull, it'll make me happy. Chris tends to get allergic reactions to everything, and he has had 2 piercings get infected and reject. But the fact that his septum healed fine, put my mind at ease.
The only problem became when to go get it, where, and money. When I had money, I had no way of getting to the Studio, and then when I could finally get over there, I was broke! But Monday morning of this week, Chris texted me and asked if I wanted to go get it pierced as a Christmas present. Of course..I was totally up for that! Now, it may seem spur of the moment, but I had read up on it, and talked to Chris extensively, and knew what I was getting myself into.
We drove to Pincushion, which was about an hour, and I was nervous the whole way. I was more nervous for the pain than anything else. I was very happy to walk into Pin Cushion to find it spotlessly clean, and that the guy behind the counter was incredibly nice, and laid back. He photocopied my ID, I filled out the form, and that was that.
He had me sit down, and just relax. He opened all the things in front of me. The needle and the clamp were freshly opened, and he discarded them after piercing me. He thoroughly cleaned my nose with iodine and cotton swabs, which made me laugh. He then spent a lot of time inspecting my nose, trying to find the best spot. When he announced that my septum is deviated, I got worried. But he said it's no problem; it just effected how wide he opened the jewellery.
After my nose was nice and clean, he told me to just calm down, and breathe in deep, and exhale. On the exhale, the needle went in [which made a lovely crunching-pop! sound] and through. The needle was out, and the jewellery starting to go in before I even said ow. My eyes watered up, but it wasn't extremely painful at all. What really hurts the most is moving it too much after if its dry, and the crusties.
Anyway, as Mike was cleaning up, he was telling me how to take care of it, and clean it, and how to flip it up and down. He said that the septum heals faster than you realize, and that it would basically heal itself. I was told to clean once a day, and only once a day, in the shower, with hot/warm water, and fragrance free, uber mild soap. Over all, it was an excellent experience, and I loved it.
As far as aftercare, I haven't used any soap. Chris used soap and it actually infected his ring, and as my skin is on the sensitive side, I've decided against soap. I clean it really well once in the morning in the shower, then dry it as best I can, and keep it flipped up. Once or twice throughout the day, I'll clean the ring, and my nose out, just to avoid over crusting. I'm going to try a salt and water mixture, just to really get all the crusties off.
I havent had any weird smells, or unusual pain, or discharge. There was a bit of blood the first two days, but none since. It hurts a bit when I go between flipping it up and down, but I assume that's normal since it's been up all the time. I feel more comfortable letting it heal up, and have also been told that you have a better chance of it healing straighter and faster if it's up because you're not knocking it around, or pulling it, or tempted to move it around.
It seems that the healing is different for everyone, and depends on how your body, skin, and everything heals. I'm doing okay cleaning it once a day really well with just water. And also just another little bit that I haven't really read about anywhere....The exit wound is a bitch! [excuse my language hahaha] It's usually the last part to heal, and when everything else feels like its healing and the exit wound still hurts, it's normal. I'm also finding that it attracts a bit more crusties than the other side.
Overall, the septum is a great piercing to consider if you want new metal, but have to hide it. It's also easy to take care of once you get the hang of it. Just leave it alone, move it only when you clean it, don't miss cleaning! Moving it too much and missing cleaning is why it gets infected. =]
I hope anyone finds this helpful, or reassuring. Feel free to email me with any questions, comments or anything. I'm willing to help out, as I was very paranoid at first with mine.