The main purpose of this article is to help those thinking of getting their septums pierced, when making a decision. My mum is quite strict on piercings, at my age, so when I wanted a piercing, I really wanted one. I asked on several occasions for certain types, for example, lips, nose, etc. and all the times she said "when you've left school," and granted, I suppose she is right.
At A Glance Author Joel Contact joelhalpin12@msn.com When A month ago Artist Some guy... Studio Not sure... ;) Location Wigan... But then my friend suggested a septum piercing. Now at first thoughts I thought yes, (because I was trying to take advantage of every piercing I could get away with), and stupidly went straight onto the internet. Now the internet often gives you the worst case scenario, such as how your common cold can cause death, how stubbing your toe can break your leg, and so on, so instantly, I was greeted with awful stories of how septum piercings are amongst the worst out there, including nipples, and the famous Prince Albert.
Howerver, I knew there was some fiction in these statements, so I went onto youtube and looked at videos of people getting septum piercings. Most of them, the person yet out a small yelp, and their eyes watered lots, and they said it did hurt, but it was bearable. But I thought, that is fine. Whatever piercing you get, it is going to hurt. The reason I chose this piercing was because there was a place that would do it, and no one who I didn't want to see it, couldn't. The only thing that was stopping me from getting it done was my courage.
The friend who suggested it also wanted hers done, and so we planned to go together. She spoke to her friend, who was 19 and worked in his uncles shop in Wigan. At first, I thought she was getting her mate to do it with a sewing needles or something, so I flipped, but then she gave me the address of the shop he worked at.
The appointment was not until a few months from that day, so I did not think much of it. But the time to get it done soon came, and for the week before the date I was getting it pierced, I was sweating buckets. It was pretty much all I could think about. And on the day, I thought I was going to piss myself. Fortunately I didn't. I live in Liverpool, which is a good distance away from Wigan. It took us about 2 hours on the train (with some delays, obviously), and then a 10 minute walk from the station to the shop itself. And in that whole time, all I could think about was this 1.6mm needle being pushed through my nose, and a sickly feeling bubbling in my stomach. My mind was begging me to turn around and not go, that it wasn't worth it. But I was with my best friend, and her friend, so I could not exactly run away.
By the time I got there, the guy who was doing it was outside with some old people, speaking to him. This person had many piercings already, including septum, and he has a Prince Albert, and he was 19. This did slightly reassure me, as I knew he had experiences in piercings. So I went in, and I had already told my best friend to ask him if I could get some numbing agents, to help with the pain. So he put on some gloves, and sprayed this stuff on his gloves, and put his fingers in my nose. This may not be the case for your numbing treatment. For some, its a cream, etc. and some may not offer any at all, as it is fabled it can increase healing time. But I requested it, and he gave it to me non the less. I suppose this made me much calmer and less stressed out, knowing it wasn't going to hurt as much.
Me and my friend waited for about five minutes in the waiting room, and we just stood their silent, the only sentence occuring was from her saying, "let me know how it feels." So the guy came back out, and called us both in, leading us back into the room he had just exited. I sat on the chair, and my friend (who by the way, if I haven't mentioned, is a girl) and looked like she was about to cry, making me feel 10 times worse. I sat on the chair, which reminded me so much of a dentists chair, which again, made me more relaxed, as I felt I had been their before, and had gone through the procedure before (I know it sounds stupid, but when your about to get supposedly one of the worst piercings possible, the little things don't half make a massive difference to your emotions and stress levels). He got out a marker, and drawn on my nose. Halfway through doing this, he threw it away, so I thought there was some massive mistake with my septum, and the piercing was going to be diffic ult to do, thus increasing the pain. Fortunately, he added quickly that it ran out. So I stood there, looking at the light which was hanging directly above his head. I frequently glanced at my mate, who was red with fear, and her eyes were sparkling with tears. I simply did not look down at the tray on which the piercing tools were kept.
The guy got the clamp, and put it up my nose, making sure it was perfectly aligned. He reached for what I presume was needle, and told me to breathe in, and then out. Now most piercers ask their client to breathe in, then out, then in again, and then out once more, and piercing on the second "breathe out". So when he done it on the first, I was shocked. So the piercing itself. Oh my. Oh my. One month of intense worrying and sweating, for no pain whatsoever. I opened my eyes, after closing them shut tight. I knew it had gone through, cause I could feel it, but I felt absolutely nothing at all. At all. It was pain free, and my eyes did not even water whatsoever. My ear lobes hurt more, no lies. It was literally like when you hold your nose. That is what I felt, but on a smaller point.
However, my mate was up a few minutes later, and when she got hers done, she screamed, and let out tears of anguish to the needle. She cried, and cried for ages, and repeatedly said that killed, that killed so much. I was like thank God I went first, otherwise I'd have ran home crying.
So after paying (it was very cheap at £20) and thanking him for doing such a wonderful job, we leftm, and after admiring our piercings in an alley way shop's window a few block away, we got back on the train and made our way back for Liverpool. The after pain was quite bad actually. It was like someone was poking your nose consistently. But it was by no means unbearable. But at certain points we had forgotten about the pain (however, after watching Saw I, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, and Saw VI, which were all filled with pain and accidents), we kept on remembering our septums, and how much they hurt. It hurt like that for about 2 days, and then it was pretty much painless for the next week or so, till I got back to school, and news of my septum piercing quickly spread (our school is very chavvy, so when news of such an "unusual" piercing had arisen, it was not long before everyone new about it), and I was constantly pushing it up my nose, and out of my nose, to show peopl e, and to avoid it from the eyes of the teachers. This was the biggest mistake ever. For the week after that, it was painful constantly. So my advice in that area is don't touch it till after about a month!
Also, you can hide your piercing. If you ask your piercer, he will show you how.
My septum has been pierced for about a month and a half now, and is still healing now. It hasn't yet bled, so I doubt it ever will. And to be honest, I love it. It doesn't hurt much, it didn;t hurt at all, and I love it in gerenal.
My advice to those who're think about getting it done, read what I've written, it'll help. But remember, I'm not saying it is pain free, because my friend practically fainted. And the after pain, for some, including me, can be hard. For those who're getting it done for definite, don't worry. With a bit of luck, it will be a breeze.
I hope it helped.
Thanks.