I have been wanting my septum and nipples pierced for quite a while. My boyfriend's friend had been a professional piercer a couple years ago, and was trying to get back into the business. Being a minor without parental consent, I didn't have too many options open. I figured, hey, this guy at least knows what he's doing (as compared to me or another friend). I'll finally get my piercings done, and I'm helping him to create a new portfolio. I definitely would recommend avoiding this and going to a professional if at all possible, but I had that all too familiar itch to have some new piece of metal shoved through me. Also, this was definitely a step up from my self-done earlobes (safety pins, now slightly larger than 4g). I had also done my cartilage, but got caught and had to take it out. Not being one to give up easily, I reinserted the "jewelry" (a blunted safety pin) every chance I got. Not surprisingly, it was not happy with that, and is now a lovely lump of scar tissue.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Studio apartment Location Houston, TX We waited for him to get home from work for an hour, and I was on edge the whole time. I couldn't wait, but at the same time, I was a little nervous about the septum after all the horror stories about the pain I'd been told, but not too worried about my nipples. Once he got there, we decided to do my nose first and get it over with. He asked if we had the needles and jewelry (12g septum circular barbell, 14g nipples with straight barbells). He informed us he didn't have rubbing alcohol or anything to clean the area, etc. Again, not recommended. But at least he used gloves, right?
He hadn't pierced anyone in forever, and messed up the angle on the first attempt. Not fazed at all, I told him to retry. The tissue was too inflamed to let the jewelry through (imagine that). I had told him he could try until he got it (I wanted this pierced damnit!). But then I looked at the clock, and it was almost time to go home, so we decided to move on. There was absolutely no pain from either septum piercing, only a vague tugging sensation when the jewelry was inserted the first time. Knowing that definitely made me feel better about the upcoming nipple piercing.
I really wanted something pierced before I left, so we decided to move on to the nipples. I was a bit squeamish about taking my shirt off in front of him, but he joked around so it wasn't so bad. We marked where I wanted them (diagonal with the highest points on the outside), and he got to work. I was still slightly lightheaded from the nose piercing, but decided to go ahead and do it. He got the needle lined up and counted to three, then started to push. The pain was horrible. I can't handle much pain on my nipples but I truly wasn't expecting this. I was terrified about the second one, but stuck with it. He lined up the needle, and I shut my eyes tight. He started to push and started counting; he was to three before the needle was through. Right before the needle was all the way through, I couldn't feel anything, so I figured it must be over and looked. I was wrong, and almost puked seeing the needle partway through (yes, I'll admit it).
Once I got over the dizzies, I went to the bathroom and looked. The angles weren't perfectly even, but that was my fault because the jewelry followed the marks perfectly. After about two and a half months I took the left one out. Originally I wanted only the right one done anyways, so I'm not too disappointed. And anyways, I can always get it redone if need be.
Healing hasn't been a problem, thankfully (considering the environment in which I was pierced). For the first couple of days I was afraid I would knock my septum, loosening the scab making it bleed, but it never happened. My nipples throbbed for the first couple of days, but after that it wasn't really noticeable. I've hung a bra strap on the barbells (they're a bit long) a few times, but nothing too horrible. About two or three months after I was pierced I got sick and almost had to go to the hospital, so I changed the jewelry to PTFE in case I needed an x-ray (and to help avoid being caught – the PTFE was clear, as compared to steel with dark blue balls). The flexible jewelry irritated the piercing (and changing the jewelry so early didn't help), but once I switched back to surgical stainless steel everything was a-ok.