Mom Went to The Piercer and All She Got Was This Lousy Stud

I did it, y'all! I got my nose pierced. Left side.

However,  a great tattoo artist does not a great piercer make.

Immediately I could tell that something was wrong. It was located on the flat part of my nose more than I'd wanted. Also, the "screw" part of the stud was hanging out of my nostril. The piercing guy said you're supposed to be able to turn the stud around and the corkscrew will lay flat against the interior nostril.

Mine dug into my interior nostril when turned.

As soon as I got in the car I inspected it even closer and pretty much hated it.

I drove to a different tattoo parlor for a second opinion. The piercer there, a woman this time, agreed that I was right to be unhappy. The stud was inserted on an angle, not straight through, which caused the tail of it to either show or to poke me in the nose.  She also agreed that it should have been placed a bit farther back on the crease of the nose, not on the flatter part.

The New and Improved piercer removed it and I'm to let it heal for a week.

So next Monday I'll have a nose piercing.

Let this be a lesson:

• Make sure that the piercer marks the spot and lets you check it - FIRST. I thought that's what we were doing but the pain convinced me otherwise before I'd even had a chance to speak.

• Make sure that a cork or rubber device is used. This ensures a straight path through the nostril. (He did not use one - just free-formed the needle with his hands like he was sewing.)

• Make sure that you are happy with the size of the stud - on the actual nose the teeny tiny is still too large for some. Like me. (The NAI Piercer is buying me a special 1.5 gauge in D.C., where everyone and everything is cooler than we have here, rather than the 2.0 that is stock and what I first got.)

Sigh.

How anticlimactic.

Comments

[sumgirl]

hurts like hell, doesn't it. hee next week we need pictures, k?

[Kelliqua]

At least I spontaneously kicked the original piercer like when they ping your kneecap for reflexes. ;) It did hurt, not as bad as I anticipated nor as badly as removing it, though.

[Mrs. Eaves]

Ouch. I'm way too much of a weenie.

[blackbird]

Good to know.
I just saw a woman getting her nose pierced on tv and it looked lovely...so now I have decent info - just in case.