My experience takes place at two studios: Nikki's Piercing Studio and BodyLink. My experience was very painful and very expensive and I hope others will read this and take heed.
At A Glance Author Phoenix Contact Phoenix@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Samantha Studio Nikki's Piercing Studio and Body Link Location Maidstone, Kent I wanted my septum pierced. The only studio in Maidstone at the time (bar, two tattoo shops) was Nikki's Piercing Studio. I paid £35 to have my septum pierced with a 1.6mm horseshoe. I had never had this specific piercer before, and on two occasions before this I had a different piercer each time. I could specifically name and shame this piercer but I could not really understand half the things he said to me.
I went into the piercing room and my piercer thoroughly cleaned out my nostrils (which I was pretty sure didn't need cleaning in the first place).He brought his equipment out, put his gloves on then marked my nose. I then clocked the piercing tray and realised he didn't have a set of septum clamps out. At this point, I should of left the room and demanded my money back but I thought he would bring the out later on.
He prepped the needle, used two fingers on one hand to push my nostrils back and used the other hand to pierce myself. Ouch. That Hurt. He then put the horseshoe bar into my nose and I got up to look at my new septum.
It was extremely crooked.
He assured me this was the case with all septum piercings.
He said I could have the piercing redone or leave it as it was. I asked if he did it again would the piercing be straighter and he said yes, he would go through one opening and then re-pierce my nose so it was better aligned. I chose to have it redone. He took the horseshoe out and took out a new needle. Again he pushed my nostrils up with one hand and pierced with the other.
All I could think was 'Why the hell did I choose to have this done again??' He put the horseshoe back in and I tried to push the horseshoe into my nose as I needed to heal it that way.
It wouldn't go. The bar would hit the flesh where my septum joined my face and it wouldn't go anywhere. It was like the horseshoe bar was too big for my nose. I asked to have a smaller bar put in. He said that it would not be possible to flip a horseshoe into my nose and I should have a curved barbell put instead which I would be able to hide.
I agreed and he put the bar in. At this point my eyes were streaming with tears. I remember him saying 'So many tears for such a little piercing'. Well, he didn't just have a septum pierced twice in a row and three changes of jewellery!! I got up to look at my nose in the mirror and I nearly blacked out as I stood up. I guess my body didn't like me for what I had just done to it. He told me sit down as he went to get the aftercare information. He came back and went through all the aftercare with me then I was let out of the studio.
My septum didn't hurt much after having it done, but really HURT if I touched it, especially the tip of my nose. I continued to salt soak the piercing and baby it as much as I could but even touching my nose to take my makeup off sent the most horrible pain through my nose. It was as if I could taste the pain as well as feel it. If I accidently brushed my nose the pain was excruciating. I tried several times to flip the bar downwards so I could show the balls of the curved barbell if I wanted but I couldn't seem to get the bar to stay in that position. Only one of the balls would show the other one was hidden by my nostril. I thought this was strange and began to have doubts about my septum.
I spoke to a friend about my septum but refused to go back and see the piercer who had done it incase he wanted to re-pierce my nose. I didn't think I could go through it a third time after the pain of the first and second.
My friend told me of a new piercing studio, Body Link, which was just opening and told me to see the girl who ran it about my septum. I agreed and went up there with him. I explained what happened at the other piercing studio and how bad the pain was. She asked to see the piercing and when she did she exclaimed 'No wonder you're in so much pain!'. It turned out the previous piercer had actually pierced through the hard cartilage of my nose, not through the 'sweet spot'. This was what was causing all my pain. It had been pierced very far back into the cartilage which was why I could not flip the bar into my nose. It was also still very wonky. Samantha said that I could leave it in and try to heal it, which would be very painful and there would be a chance it would never heal. Or I could take out the bar and have her re-pierce it a week later.
I agreed to the latter. I still wanted a septum piercing so I agreed to have it re-pierced one final time. If this time didn't work I was pretty much ready to forget about having a septum piercing.
I was so relieved taking the bar out of my nose. The pain stopped almost immediately. I let my nose heal then went back to Samantha a week later. I chose to have another horseshoe bar for the piercing. All throughout the procedure Samantha was very professional and explained everything. She marked up my nose and clamped it, then pierced it. This time was definitely nowhere near as painful as before. She threaded the horseshoe in. Then she remarked it looked wonky! At this point my heart practically sank; I thought I had had yet another botched piercing.
After examining the piercing Samantha said it looked as if the swelling was the reason it was wonky. As I had three piercings beforehand so the tissue was more likely to become inflamed. She told me if the piercing was still wonky in a week she could redo the piercing for free but I assured her I wouldn't want it done a fourth time! I paid £22 for my piercing and left feeling relatively satisfied.
After a week the swelling had gone down and, after £57 later I had one perfect piercing!
I view the whole experience as a learning curve and it has taught me to only settle for the very best. I wrote this experience up as I want to warn others of settling for a piercing studio because 'everyone else goes there'. Research, ask around, if all else fails wait and go to another shop. A portfolio means nothing if the shop has had 7 or 8 different piercers work there before.