Hello loveys!
I was asked to write a post about the healing of my septum piercing and I'm only too happy to do so if it gives someone else the confidence to have it done. I'm not one for quick decisions when it comes to permanently changing my appearance - tattoos and piercings are generally long-pondered and this was no different. I've been mulling over getting a septum piercing for the last couple of years. This is a wordy post so go grab a drink!
There will be photos but not close ups - no one wants to gaze up my nostrils! :)
The process
We were in Swindon as we were visiting our friends in Wiltshire at the time. The tattoo studio we went to didn't have a piercer in that day, so our friends recommended Blue Banana. We went along late in the day and they had time, thankfully. The staff were fantastic and warm and I would highly recommend them.
Before I was pierced they asked me to fill in a questionnaire asking about health conditions. With no problems barring me from having the piercing they told me to go get a sugary drink, so the boys went to get me a full sugar Coke and my friend and I sat down to wait. I slurped half the Coke to make sure I wouldn't flake out when I was pierced. I was given a form with after care instructions and a packet of salt in a cute little zipped case with skulls on it.
I did get a little nervous beforehand and did some breathing exercises so I didn't have a panic attack. I went into the piercing room, sat down and the piercer put a clamp on my nose to see where my 'sweet spot' is, which is the thin bit of skin in front of your cartilage. Satisfied, she told me to close my eyes, repositioned the clamp and told me when to take a deep breath and when to let it out. There was a LOT of pain for about 2 seconds as the hole was made, and I was
really glad I had a lot of Coke otherwise I think I might have passed out. My response to pain is shot to bits because of Fibromyalgia, and tattoos and piercings are WAY more painful now. There was another couple of seconds of pain as she put the jewellery in, and then she told me to open my eyes and tears streamed down my face. Because of your sinuses, your eyes water a lot at the time of a septum piercing. I was given some tissue to wipe my eyes and my newly bloody nose, then I went to sit down for 10 minutes in the shop waiting area and drank more Coke to make sure I didn't pass out when I got up again. The girl behind the till told me I looked beautiful as I walked out. Aww!
The first evening & day 2
I got a blissful endorphin high soon afterwards and felt all giggly. Aside from having a bit of blood crusting on my nose that night, there were no problems at all. I slept very carefully, scared of knocking or catching it, but all was well.
I woke up the next day with an insistent sinus headache all across my forehead and thought 'Uh-oh, I'm getting a cold!' but soon realised it was connected to my piercing. I cleaned my nose with some boiled water that had cooled a bit, added salt and wiped off any crusty blood and weeping with cotton buds. It was a little tender and a bit swollen, but not too bad.
Day 3 - Monday
There wasn't too much pain today. I still had a sinus headache, but it wasn't as bothersome as yesterday's. I was still bathing it in salty water twice a day with no issues. Today I noticed how much I move my face about, as I kept knocking the jewellery upside down, which moved any scabs around and made it sore.
Day 4 & 5 - Tues & Weds
Nothing to report except the underside of my nose was noticeably red.
Day 6 - Thurs
It had really started to hurt now and was bothering me a lot. I realised it might be the salt water which was making my nose red raw as it stung like hell every time I cleaned it. The underside was red and flaky and I was starting to resemble Rudolph the reindeer!
Day 7 - Friday
I used salt water in the morning and it hurt so much my eyes started streaming. I swapped the salt water for tea tree oil for the evening clean. I put some tea tree oil on a cotton bud and applied it neat to each side of the wound, let it sit for about a minute, then rinsed it off with a cotton wool bud dipped in hot water. If there were any particularly stubborn crusties on the jewellery I dunked my nose in and out of a small dish of warm water until I could loosen the scab and remove it with a cotton bud.
I'm now 11 days in and since I've changed over to plain hot water and tea tree oil the pain has subsided a lot. It's really not bothersome at all now. My face is fully mobile again without hurting and the only time I do get pain is when I accidentally knock it and it disturbs a scab. There is a fair amount of scabbing still - yellow little crusties which can be a swine to get off the septum ring, but it's totally normal. It should take about 6-8 weeks to heal completely.
I totally love it and am so glad I had it done. I like my face with this piercing. If I was in Swindon again I would definitely use Blue Banana as their staff are awesome.
Here's some of my face, as if you don't see enough of it already! ;)
I'll do another update in a couple of weeks. Any questions?
Thanks for reading,
Leah xoxo