The process of getting my septum pierced was as hot and smooth as cutting a knife through butter. Mmmmm.
At A Glance Author Mary Contact Mary@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Nathan Studio Industrial Tattoo Location Berkeley, CA I've heard/read numerous stories that the septum is one of the most painful piercings a person could ever get. I know that my friend told me hers hurt like a bitch, and I've read numerous stories on how painful piercing the damn thing is.
Even after all of this, I still wanted to get one. I was planning on getting snakebite piercings, but this one isn't in the way of things--there's something about it that I really like. And plus, on a very trivial scale, people on Yahoo! Answers said I would look good with one (hey, I posted a pic and asked them), but that's pretty neglible. :P I do plan to get snakebites in a little bit, but I wanted to get my septum done first. It just seems more practical, and if I decided I didn't like it and took it out, you can't really see where it was pierced since it was up my nose.
So I woke up, took a shower, blew my nose profusely to the point where it was as clean as a whistle, and walked over to Industrial Tattoo & Piercing (it got amazing reviews on Yelp; experienced folks said it was way cleaner/better/more professional than some other places nearby)--when I marched in there, a very nice guy named Nathan (who was donned in plugs and piercings) asked me what I wanted done today. I told him, "I'm looking to get my septum pierced."
He bent over slightly and said, "look up." He examined my nose for a good 15 seconds, and then said, "This is going to be tricky, your nostrils are really small. You won't be able to flip up the piercing, if you wanted to do that. But we can still do it." I told him that's fine. (My nostrils are too small? Haha! Anyway...)
So, after waiting around for ten minutes or so flipping through various pictures of tattoos, he walked me over to the back room. We talked about random stuff, like where we we're from, yadda yadda. After getting his materials all out, he cleaned my nose, put a prep solution on it, told me to lie down on the reclining dentist-office-looking-chair, and marked the area of my septum which he was going to pierce momentarily. He didn't use a clamp or anything like that, as I've seen on YouTube videos--maybe because it's his style of piercing, or maybe because my nostrils are too small, I'm not sure. He just used a hollow needle and stuck it through.
So, while I was laying there getting ready for the piercing, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts about how painful it was going to be, according to others....but then again, I was also kinda out of it (I woke up early that day), so in general, I was just really calm--definitely not scared, more excited than anything.
And then he did it. Just like that.
On a scale of 1-10 of pain, it was about a 2 or a 3. It didn't hurt at all. I would say plucking a nose hair hurts more. There is a certain sweet spot on the nose that, if pierced, won't hurt at all--if it's missed, the cartilage is going to hurt A LOT more. He got the sweet spot perfectly, and I guess I'm lucky enough to not have a lot of nerve endings in the spot he pierced. So awesome!
After inserting the needle through my septum, he slipped on the silver horseshoe retainer. I looked in the mirror and grinned--I was soooo excited!!! I was in love with my piercing, and--suffice to say--I want to get at least one or two more piercings done. It's such a fun rush!!
Now, I'm absolutely certain that I want to get my snakebite piercings done in a little bit. I'll probably get little studs instead of rings, since it would complement the septum more without too much of an overload. But that won't be until a few weeks/perhaps a few months.
I've gotten quite a bit of positive attention from males while wearing my septum around (I'm just being observant), even just today! While I was getting coffee at Peets, a group of guys were just gawking at me (looked like in a good way), one of them whispering something I couldn't fully make out, except for the word "septum." Some dude kept staring at me while I went grocery shopping at Safeway. Some guy even walked me back from one of the dorms to my apartment, which was totally weird! I dunno, maybe I've just been lucky today or something...or maybe, just maybe, my septum is that awesome and pimpin. I dunno.
Hee hee!