Deciding upon a septum piercing was a very spontaneous thing for me. I'd actually always thought they were kind of ugly since most peoples' jewelry was much too large for their face, and very rarely did I come across pictures of them that I thought looked good. But I'd always been intrigued by the stretched septum piercings; I remember seeing photos on BME of people with their noses upturned, nostrils flared, and the sun shining through a hole in the middle... or using their septums to hold pens, batteries, flowers... that kind of goofy thing tends to appeal to me. :)
At A Glance Author Kelley Contact Kelley@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Dawn Studio Stiehl's Body Modification Location Ithaca, NY So it was primarily for that reason that I chose to get my septum pierced: I wanted to be able to stretch it in the future and be able to put fun things in it for photo ops! I also really liked that it's a very hideable piercing with the proper jewelry; so if I needed it to be gone, POOF! It was gone.
I wasn't able to get into the piercing room the original day I'd planned to; there were a ton of people ahead of me in the shop, and I had to be at the bus stop by a certain time or else I'd miss my chance to get back home. But I needed a nostril screw replaced so going there that day wasn't all for naught, and I was able to come back the next day, which was good, because once I decide I want something I get pretty antsy and want it NOW!
It was April Fool's Day when I came back... I filled out my paperwork and was able to get right back into Dawn's piercing room, being that there was only one other person ahead of me, and Ron (the other piercer) was taking care of them. I got up on the table, and Dawn asked me what kind of jewelry I was looking for. I said I wanted to be able to hide it, so I thought maybe a retainer... but she suggested I get a circular barbell, as the balls on the end would keep the jewelry in the fistula if it moved around during sleeping or cleaning or whatever, and I'd still be able to flip it up into my nose if she spread the ends. I figured that would be a good idea, as I have a hard time putting jewelry back in myself most of the time, haha. So we decided on a 14ga circular barbell with tiny balls for the ends.
She cleaned my nostrils out with cotton swabs, and then stuck her index fingers up either side of my nose, presumably to feel for my "sweet spot." I'd read about this in others' experiences with the septum, but not until a week or so after the piercing was performed was I able to figure out what exactly it feels like, while cleaning it in the shower. :) I didn't have any abnormalities up in my nose, so she said she was ready whenever I was. I asked her to raise the back of the table up for me to support my back, since without something behind me I sometimes have a tendency to recoil slightly during the pierce, and I didn't want to end up with a wonky septum. She did that, and we were ready to go!
The piercing itself was quite uneventful. She didn't clamp me, just used a receiving tube to catch the needle. It was over in a flash, and barely hurt at all... it was much less painful than my nostrils were. My eyes did water quite a bit, though, but that's to be expected and is easily remedied with tissue. :) Then came the jewelry transfer, which is always easy for me. She spread the ends of my barbell once it was in my nose, which was a little scary (what if she slips?!), but didn't prove to be a problem at all.
I was handed a mirror to admire my new jewelry. It was so tiny and cute! I immediately fell in love with it. Dawn demonstrated for me how to flip it up into my nose, and I was momentarily impressed with how unnoticeable it was once it was up there, then asked her to put it back down because I wanted to look at it again. I went to the counter, paid, got my little bag of sea salt, talked a little to the shop dog, and then caught the bus back home, with some new jewelry happily at home in my face.
The weirdest thing to get used to for the first week or so was just the feeling of having a ring hanging from my septum... the only thing I could liken it to was that feeling of a bunch of snot hanging off of your nose when you surface after being underwater, except continuously! I kept having the urge to rub my nose to get the "boogers" off, but had to remind myself that it was just my piercing. Thankfully, that feeling has since subsided and it feels like a part of my nose that's always been there. Also, the first night I had the piercing, when looking at it from below with a mirror it looked like it was a bit off-center. I'd read that this is a fairly typical occurrence with septums, that they're difficult to perform perfectly straight; but mine must have just been due to swelling, because the next day it was completely symmetrical. Yay!
Aftercare has been a breeze for the most part... I soak it once or twice a day in a warm sea salt solution (¼ teaspoon of sea salt per 8 ounces of water) for a few minutes, rinsing well afterwards and cleaning off any crusties from the ring with cotton swabs (as well as digging the boogies out of my nose, haha), and clean it every few days or as needed in the shower with Provon antimicrobial soap. Everything has been going well thus far - it's been one of the easiest piercings I've ever had to heal, second only to my vertical hood piercing!
All in all, I'm very very happy with the entire experience surrounding my septum piercing, and of course with the piercing itself. I'd recommend it to anyone who's thinking of getting it, whatever the reason. I'm not even sure if I'm going to continue with my plan of stretching it to a larger size for my silly reasons, I like the look of the tiny jewelry so much. Although I guess it's still possible to wear a ring or circular barbell through an eyelet... hmm... we shall see...