I thought they looked cool and would be easy to hide if I needed to, so I decided to get one. I’m currently on a study abroad trip in France and a bunch of us decided to get our piercings in London one weekend.

However, the piercing place that was recommended to us had a gas leak and so we didn’t get them pierced in London. The next weekend, we went to Blois, France to this piercing and tattoo shop called Corporeal Designs. We went on a Friday and the guy only did piercings on Saturdays, but since there were six of us that wanted piercings, he decided to do them that day.

My friend went in before me to get her nostril pierced. She came out and told me that it hurt so much she almost passed out. This freaked me out b/c Idon’t have a high pain tolerance. But still, I went back to get it done. The guy didn’t speak much English, but he knew enough to explain the procedure and the aftercare. He was super sweet and joked around with me some about America, which made me feel more relaxed.

He took out three different size clamps, which freaked me out even more. He cleaned my nose and felt around for the sweet spot, then marked it with a marker. He then showed me the needle still in the package. I have to say, this man was very meticulous with cleanliness. Every surface in the room was clean. He put the tube on one side of my nose and the needle on the other and told me to look at the door and take a deep breath. Then he pushed the needle through. It didn’t hurt at all.

There was a little bit of pressure when he first put it in, but I barely felt it go through. Putting the jewelry in was the same amount of pain, very very little. My eyes did water a lot and my nose stung a lot afterwards but it was not bad at all. I got this done yesterday, and so far it only hurts when I move the jewelry around to clean it. I love the way it looks! Its definitely worth it but you will get some negative reactions to it.

But if you love it, like I do, it doesn’t matter if everyone else likes it or not.

When I was 16 and really to get my nose pierced I happened to look at my face. I really, really, really had alot of acne. So I held out for a bit. So I spent 2 months geting my acne to go a way. So before I went to get my nose pierced I had looked up the price and healing time. I also watched a lot of videos of people getting their nose pierced. I asked my best friends Brittnye and Nicole a lot of questions. Like did it hurt and did you bleed a lot, ect. So the day before I got my nose pierced I looked in the mirror and was trying to figure out what side I should get it pierced on.

Now this is what I had a real hard time on. So I used eye liner and placed a little black dot on each side of my nose to see what side looked better.

Most people have their right side done,but when I seen it my left side looked so much better that the right side. So the day of the piercing I went to the same place where I went to get my belly button pierced. As usual the shop was clean from head to toe. The piercing was quick. It did hurt just a bit. But only when the needle went through and when he cleaned it.

When he cleaned my new nose pierceing my nose started to bleed and eye started to cry a lot. I was not crying be cause it hurt. Its just that the smell of the cleaner he was using was just so dam strong. But it’s all healed now and I love my nose and belly button piercing. I think I’m done with piercings.

And I’m about to switch to tattoos.

3 Weeks ago, I got my first nose piercing.

I told the man that was doing it that I was very nervous. He told me to sit down and relax because it would be over with as soon as you know it.

He cleaned the area where I was going to get my nose piercing after I showed him where I wanted it. I was kind of freaked out, so I asked him to steralize the needle in front of me. I sat down in the chair and in 1 2 3, I was done and had my stud in there…Gosh I love it!!!!

For most people, this fear will not lead to avoidance behaviour, but for around 10% of the population, the fear can be irrational and excessive.

When this happens, it becomes a phobia. The phobia is called Balonephobia – a specific fear of needles. Some may use the term Trypanophobia but this is incorrect. Trypanophobia is the fear of all types of injections.

Many more people would have their noses pierced were it not for this. So what can be done to get over this fear? The most popular technique used by those who suffer is set out in 3 stages. This article refers to Nose piercing but may be used in other settings.

STEP ONE – PREPERATION

Research. Find out what the piercing entails. Find information on piercing procedure. Read about the type of piercing available and piercing aftercare. The key here is knowledge. Balonephobia is partly fear of the unknown – be in the know – arm youself with knowledge.

STEP TWO – CONTROL

Stay in control. Make all your own decisions. Choose the piercing studio and time you want the piercing done. Choose your ideal nose piercing. Visit a few studios to find one you’re comfortable in. Some advice from friends may be helpful here but be sure to visit before you make an appointment.

STEP THREE – GRADUAL EXPOSURE

Your nose piercing doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow. Let your piercing studio know that you’re anxious and visit a couple of times. See the equipment, see the procedure. Ask questions!! No matter how silly the questions seem, always ask!! If you dont, you relapse back to the unknown so all your prep might be in vain. When you appointment comes round, bring someone with you. Parent, best friend, someone you trust.

Many people with fears believe the best way to conquer their fears is to face the fear. I have a great fear of heights.  I wouldn’t admit this to my better half when we first met. We were at a theme park and she wanted to ride on the highest roller-coaster in there. I still wouldn’t admit I was scared. By the time I got to the top, I thought my chest would burst! I got on anyway. It was the fastest way back down. I have never been afraid of heights since that day. True story. It really worked!! To face a fear and win makes the experience much sweeter. Its something you will never forget.

When I was about 10 I saw someone with a nose piercing and i REALLY liked it! I wanted one really bad, but my mom said I was way too young. I didn’t agree with that. I didn’t care that I was too young, I just wanted one, and I wanted one now. I begged and begged for her to change her mind, and as you know begging doesn’t get you anywhere with stubborn parents. So I gave up asking, and just daydreamed about it. I looked up pictures online, and looked at youtube videos, except some scared me, because the people had tears in their eyes, and made faces like it hurt like nothing else.

I never forgot about that nose piercing, so when i was 14 I asked my mom if i could have my nose pierced for my birthday, and she said she would think about it. I was nervous cause i didn’t know what she would say. After a while thinking, she said i could have it done! I was so excited, it was one of the happiest days of my life haha. But then after she said yes, i started coming back to reality, and i got really scared.

She called the piercing/tatoo place and made an appointment for the next day. I am a worry wart, so i was thinking of all the bad things. I could hardly sleep. The next day came and it felt like i had a knot in my stomach. We went to the place, and i was shaking. I got in the chair, and the man was really nice, and for some reason i felt like i trusted him to do this. He told me what was going to happen, and that i wouldnt regret it. So then i started thinking about all the good things. I took a deep breath and he told me to close my eyes, stuck a cork up my nose and then…”wait arn’t you gonna stick the needle in?” haha i thought he didn’t do it. But then he was like i did, now i have to insert the jewlery. That hurt a little more then the needle did. Then he handed me a little mirror and it was georgous!! haha i was soo happy!

I was so glad i did it, so people out there deciding on getting it done or not, really go for it!! you WILL NOT regret it!!

But now let’s look at how people actually came to an idea of piercing their nostrils, nose cartilages and all other areas around nose.

Historically nose piercing has been first mentioned even in the Bible and it supposedly dates back to around 4000 years ago. There’s a hint pointing to a nose piercing in an old Hebrew word “Shanf” which can be also interpreted as a “nose ring”.

But we don’t have to assume that this is the earliest occurrence of nose piercing, at least I don’t think so. As we all know the tribes all across the world starting from Indians in America and ending with Papuans had countless traditions involving body piercing and tattooing.

Therefore it shouldn’t be a surprise to find out that septum piercing, for instance, was very popular among Native Americans like Shawnees and in New Guinea and Australia as well.

Those guys from the warrior tribes usually would have huge stretched septum piercings carrying a wooden or bone-made nose shaft and therefore they’d look even fiercer in a battle. And when every day poses a possible threat to your life, you’d do everything that gives you an advantage, wouldn’t you? J

The Bedouin tribes of Middle East and Berber and Beja tribes in Africa also used to adorn women’s nostrils with jewelry and noticeably, the bigger the nose piercing was, the wealthier the respective family was.

However, if you were asked where the nose piercing most likely originates from, I bet you’d say it’s India. Well, it’s not far from truth! Nose piercing is indeed very popular in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and I’d say that is exactly where the hippies back in the 60ies got the idea of their nose piercings!

But if you would like to find out about more sophisticated and weird nose piercing types – check out these kinds of nose piercing – bridge piercing, rhino (or nasal tip) piercing, Austin bar, nasallang and septril nose piercing.

However, before you can enjoy your fresh nose piercing, you have to follow some simple nose piercing aftercare tips to avoid anything unpleasant!

Most likely you’ll be given aftercare guidelines at the piercing studio. Nevertheless,  I’ll give you a few universal nose piercing aftercare recommendations. If you are unsure about anything in this article, or if our advice contradicts advice given to you by your piercing professional, you can contact me by leaving a message at the end of the post. I’ll do my best to help.

So, what’s going to happen right after the nose piercing is done? The fresh nose piercing will swell up a little bit. But don’t worry, it’s normal. A piercing is a wound, and wounds take time to heal. The swelling is going to disappear within the next few days, and the pain will subside as well, if there’s any.

There a several types of nose piercing – like nostril piercing, septum piercing, bridge piercing etc. Pain during the piercing and the healing periods will differ. However, the piercing cleaning guidelines are more or less the same.

So the first nose piercing aftercare recommendation – never touch your fresh nose piercing with dirty hands. Use common sense and wash your hands before touching, cleaning or moving your fresh nose ring, stud or barbell.

Secondly – cleaning. This is pretty simple as well. You just have to get a saline solution and clean the nose piercing 2 – 3 times daily. If you can’t get one in a drugstore, you can make the saline solution yourself. Just dilute about 4 teaspoons of non iodized sea salt to 1 gallon of boiled water and the cleansing liquid is ready to use.

For fresh nose piercing cleaning you can use simple cotton buds. Just don’t forget to change them when cleaning the inside and the outside of the piercing to avoid cross-contamination. At the end, when you’ve cleaned the fresh nose piercing, just wipe the excess moisture off using a new dry cotton wool bud and that’s it!

Another nose piercing aftercare tip – when applying make-up, avoid covering your fresh nose piercing with it. This one is obviously more relevant to girls. And if you’ve just got a septum piercing, you can’t really get your make-up inside of the nose! But for other types of nose piercing – nostril piercing and bridge piercing – please keep in mind not to apply make-up to the area.

The last nose piercing aftercare tip – don’t try to insert a new nose ring before the piercing has healed well. The new skin that forms inside the fresh nose piercing is very tender, and you can damage it very easily. So it’s better to wait until the piercing is well healed, it’s not tender to touch and not swollen or  red in color.

The approximate healing times for the nose piercings are following – nostril piercing 4 – 6 weeks. Septum piercing – 1 – 3 months. And bridge piercing can take up to a year. So as you can see, the easiest to heal is the simple nostril piercing, but the most difficult is the bridge piercing because it’s essentially a surface piercing.

Well, that’s it about nose piercing aftercare – everything is simple and you just have to use common sense. Wash hands before touching the nose ring, clean it a few times a day with saline solution, and keep the nose ring, stud or barbell in until the piercing is well healed.

And, of course, if you notice any discharge from the fresh nose piercing, go back to the piercing studio or visit your doctor. Especially – if the piercing is swollen and it’s oozing yellow or green substances.