I'd been playing with the idea of a nostril piercing for about a year. I knew that when I turned 18 in December I was going to do something drastic, whether that be piercing, tattoo, or whatever. Before that, I'd only had my ears pierced with two holes in each ear at the mall (eeek!) and then I had done by myself a third hole and the cartilage of one ear (double eeek!). I kept asking my ultra-conservative mother what she would think if I got myself really pierced and everytime she would get mad and storm off. Eventually, she stopped being so outwardly mad about it and I knew that that would be the time to do it.
At A Glance Author Lis Contact Lis@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Mike Studio Lucky Monkey Location Ann Arbor, Michigan I've always thought that nostril piercings looked so beautiful; I admired all those pictures I saw of Indian women with rings in their noses. I just had to have one too!
So April rolled around and I started to have some free time (and access to a vehicle....) so I decided I should start researching studios in my area. I don't know what it is about Ann Arbor, but studios are really hard to contact. I looked in the telephone book and the first two numbers I tried had been disconnected. Ok then. I saw a friend of mine and she had just gotten her septum done and I asked her where she had got it done. She told me all about Lucky Monkey and it seemed like a good place. She said it was really clean and the piercer was really cool. I checked out their website and it seemed like the best place in town. I live nearby a tattooing and piercing studio but that place is so shady, I'd never consider going there.
I went to go scope the place out first and there was loud music and it was kind of dark and there were people just getting tattooed out in this open space that I guess served as tattoo place/waiting room. That seemed a little strange to me because I thought they usually had separate rooms for that, but at least they had a separate piercing room. I said I'd come back on the weekend and the guy said he'd be there so when the weekend came around, he was out of town. And I kept calling back every couple days to see if he was there and he wasn't. I got really discouraged and almost gave up; this was the only place I could even consider going to!
May 8, 2003 I had taken an exam in the morning and had a free afternoon, so I thought I'd try to do the piercing thing one more time. I called and, surprise!, the piercer, Mike, was there. Yay! I said I'd be coming down and he said he'd be there.
So I walked in and filled out the paperwork and was ushered back to the room. Mike had everything laid out on a little table and I assume it had all been sterilized (when I had come in before and interrogated him, he had said he sterilized everything). Originally, I had wanted to get my right nostril done because I have my left cartilage pierced and it seemed like it would all balance out; also, I have a very light colored freckle/mole on the left side of my nose that is barely noticeable but I thought it would look strange with a stud there too. Mike thought that the left would be better so I said ok. Again, I thought that I wanted it in the crease but the guy convinced me that it should be lower because it would look too high. I just said that I trusted his opinion and went along with it. I was too nervous to think about what I really wanted.
Before I knew it I had a receiving tube up my nose and the guy had the needle ready to go. He said he'd count to three. One...Tw--OWW!!!! Bastard! He tricked me! But that's ok, I would have flinched on three and messed it all up anyway. My eyes watered so much and right away he had put a stainless steel nostril screw in. It was the most intense pain of my life for 5 seconds but afterwards I felt absolutely no soreness or anything--I didn't even feel it in my skin. It must have been the adrenaline numbing everything, but even in the following days I felt nothing. For the aftercare I was told to use Dial antibacterial soap and to use Saline solution right from the bottle a couple times a day. I thought it was a little strange that I didn't get an aftercare sheet but maybe that's just me; I am quite forgetful. And I'm assuming the needle he used on me was thrown away in a sharps container but I can't be sure. Oh well, it's done and over and I LOVE MY NOSE.
I didn't have any antibacterial soap at home and I was too lazy to go buy some so I've just been using regular soap. I actually got some Saline solution so I use that when I remember. At first I was so vigilant about cleaning my nose twice a day but recently it's been more like once in a while and sometimes just when I wash my face in the shower. I tried using Hydrogen Peroxide a few times just to make sure it was all clean but that got old and I stopped. I touch it so many times every day and I'm surprised I don't have an infection by now.
My big dilemma is that the screw part inside my nose doesn't stay back and is always sticking out. Some days it will stay back but that's not often. I asked the piercer guy if he could bend it or something and he said that he couldn't, so I guess I'm just stuck with this until I can take it out and get something else. I might try a CBR or ring of some type. If someone out there knows of anything I can do to stop it from sticking out please email me! I've tried pushing it back in all kinds of directions to no avail. For now I'm just going to have to live with my finger inside my nose, constantly pushing it back in.
I've only gotten compliments about my nose. At school this girl was admiring it for several days (I had no idea who she was, but she was about 15 years old and contemplating running off to Canada for a piercing) and one day she came running up to me, showing me her newly pierced nose that she had done herself with an earring. I'm such a bad influence!
Even a priest/youth pastor at my church complimented me on my nostril piercing. That was the funniest.
I'm so glad I got this done. I can't even remember what it was like to not have a screw in my nose. And for a wimp like me, this piercing was the best because it's halfway between no-brainer ear piercings and more complicated body piercings.
To anyone thinking of getting this done be sure to find a good place, even if it means going two towns over or to the nearest big city. I probably should have done that, I think I would have been more comfortable. Do your research and clean your piercing often, even if you get lazy! Don't risk infection! And make sure you know exactly where on your nose you want it because when you're in the studio you can't really think clearly about it.