inless* Septum Piercing. I had never liked septum piercings, perhaps because the first few people I had observed with them had been rude to me, or maybe because my mother's prejudice towards them was resting in my subconscious mind. A septum piercing was the one piercing that I was absolutely sure I would never ever get-and then one night I had a dream... I can't remember what the dream was about or what happened it in, if fact I couldn't even remember any of that stuff right when I woke up, but after that dream I was struck with a very urgent need to get my septum pierced. Without that hole, I didn't feel whole-no pun intended. I called around for some prices and information to see who would be willing to use a retainer as initial jewelry and such. I decided to either go with Stainless Studios (very helpful both on the phone and in person) or Gregory, now of Abstract Arts. My husband Mark wasn't too happy about the idea of me getting my septum pierced. He was worried that it would "wreck my nose." We talked about it a lot and he finally accepted the fact that I wasn't going to back down on this one, I needed this hole. Mark had to go see Gregory to pick up some new jewelry for his PA. While we were there, I started asking Gregory all about septum piercings and having one done. He'd just pierced his wife's septum a week prior to then and she was very helpful giving me insight into how it would be from the other side of the needle. :) Mark was too busy removing the many rings he'd used to stretch his PA and inserting his new 6ga cbr to have heard much of the conversation up to this point. I think he tuned in when I asked if Gregory had any septum retainers and 14ga needles on hand (hey, it was the end of the day...). Gregory took a couple of minutes to set out his tools. I started to get nervous as I always do. Once I was sitting down, Gregory cleaned my nose then poked around inside to find the soft cartilage at the tip. He marked the entrance and exit holes. Gregory does septums free hand, something I love him for. I don't think I could have been able to stand having clamps up my nose. First the receiving tube was lined up on the right side of my septum, then the needle on the right side-and then I balked. I put my arms up between his forearms and gently eased them away from my face. I stopped Gregory two more times (as is starting to become tradition between he and I) before I finally got control of myself and had a good firm grip on Gregory's wife's hand. I took three nice relaxing breaths and then the needle went through. There was no pain, just this neat feeling of something passing through my flesh-sort of like when you sew your fingers together through the tough skin at the end. The needle was through in half a second, then I took a few more relaxing breaths and the jewelry was put in place. I swear it was probably the easiest piercing I've ever had-I didn't even tear-up! There was one drop of blood when we flipped the retainer up into my nose, but that's it. My nose was very sensitive for about a month after the piercing and then it started to toughen up. I can now flick it right where the piercing is and it doesn't hurt any more then it did before. Aftercare was easy though I snorted soap up my nose by accident once and that lead to some pretty soar, dried-up sinuses and a couple of nosebleeds. I got a cold the week after the piercing which is something I'm beginning to think happens to everyone who gets a nose piercing. The night I got the piercing, it looked really straight, the next day it seemed a bit crooked, but Gregory had warned me that it's normal for the "exit hole" to swell a little more then the "entrance hole" and so it would appear crooked until the swelling went down.
It's been two years now and my septum is fully healed. The piercing is completely straight and very comfortable. I wore a cute little cbr in it almost every day while I was in school this past year, but I've had to switch back to my retainer while I look for work. I get a lot of compliments on my septum ring, though now that I've got my lip pierced I do tend to get a few people telling me I've "got too much s@$% in my face." To those people who can't appreciate the way I look, I simply tell them that to me, I am beautiful and that they are entitled to their own view of what beauty is, but please don't knock me for not fitting their ideals.