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A week ago I decided to do something I’ve never done before. I got my first piercing. Most people go and get an eyebrow or an ear piercing as their first one. More often than not, it goes ears first, then something else. I went for the big show: my septum.

I would like to say, for the record, the initial piercing wasn’t so much painful as it was surprising. The final pop when the needle made it all the way through my septum was unexpected. The follow-through with the jewelry wasn’t particularly painful either. It was almost a single swift motion.

It got complicated and PAINFUL after that. See, I have a wide septum and it’s slightly deviated, so the piercer ran into a few difficulties with the standard jewelry. See, a septum retainer is kind of staple-shaped. Mine is a 16 gauge. Since my septum is wide and slightly deviated, the retainer didn’t sit right and probably would have caused problems in healing.

My piercer, whose name is Evan, decided he didn’t like the potential issues he knew I would encounter and told me he was pulling it out to widen the jewelry opening a little to account for my odd nose. (No, he didn’t say my nose was odd. Those are my words.) Then he pulled the septum retainer back out. This was the beginning of pain.

He reinserted the needle to keep the hole open and ready for the jewelry. That didn’t feel good. I was uncomfortable. Not in PAIN, just uncomfortable. Then he took the newly adjusted jewelry and pushed the needle back through and started working the retainer back in.

Side note: Several years ago, I fell off my bike and broke my arm. It was painful. I went into shock. I am aware of pain and shock and how it all feels.

I had the sudden feeling that I was going to pass out right there on the piercing table. This was pain. This was shock. I felt the blood rush to my organs and my stomach was quite upset. I saw spots before my eyes and my breathing was really heavy.

The entire time, Evan continued to tell me he knew this wasn’t the most comfortable procedure. He explained why he was doing it before he started. He talked with me about it afterward, as well.

I didn’t pass out. I didn’t die. Eventually, the color returned to my face. I was shakey as hell. I got up and walked around a bit. After about five minutes, I was feeling okay. After about ten minutes, I felt safe to drive. By the time I got home, the pain of the procedure was a memory. All that was left was a new piece of metal in my face and an ache in my nose. It was novel and kind of fun.

I couldn’t stop messing with it. I had a new body part, made out of metal. I liked it. I was proud of it. It was an accomplishment. I made it through the pain and came out the other side better for it. It was a revelation and I knew a new world. You’d just have to be there to understand.

Over the following weekend, I caught my nose on clothes, I bumped it. My friend hit it with a pillow and I generally ached, but I still loved my new body art. More than that, I found myself already thinking about another one.

Now, the swelling is gone. The wound is already starting to heal. On Tuesday night, while drying my nose after a sea salt solution soak, the retainer popped out and fell to the ground. All I could imagine was pain. I expected to have hell getting it back in. To my surprise, it just slid right back in place like it belonged there.

Now, the whole thing is still healing, so I get crusty stuff at the wound, and I have to clean it periodically throughout the day. I’ve learned something very important, though:

Soak your piercing!

If there is any one thing that has done me more favors than anything else, it was the suggestion to soak my piercing in a saline solution 3 times a day. If you have the notion of getting a piercing, by god, soak it. Soak it as much as you can stand each time. Make the water as warm as you can tolerate and just go for it.

I’ll post a photo of my septum with retainer when I have a chance.

Now, on to week two of six or eight.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 7th, 2011 at 9:00 am and is filed under General Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.