Patch Tries: Getting a Piercing

My editor didn't think anyone would respond to her email offer, but I volunteered just seconds after she asked if anyone wanted to get something pierced for National Piercing Day, which is today (Monday, May 16).  Call me crazy—or brave—but I figured it was now or never for my nose piercing.

I'll admit I was little afraid. Voluntary, needle-induced trauma to the face? My belly-button piercing experience a few years ago in New York hadn't gone so well: I fainted during the procedure and I wasn't interested in a repeat performance.

Meeting your boss at a tattoo studio is mildly awkward, but I found myself at Friday afternoon, video camera in hand.

As Patch , Twystid Imagez, at 8306 Richmond Highway, is a model of cleanliness and professionalism—literally.  "We are a model for the local health department," owner Aryn Rehbein said at the time. "They use us as an example of how other shops should operate."

A Long-Intended Piercing

Why my nose? Last year, my mom and I were walking through the mall on one of our weekend shopping trips on Long Island when she said, out of nowhere, "I think you'd look cute with a little stud in your nose. You have the right nose for it."

This statement, coming from my mother? This is the woman who flipped out when I came home from Claire's with my ears triple pierced in freshman year of high school. I almost dropped my chai latte in shock.

But after I moved to Virginia for Patch last summer, I started to get the itch to get another piercing. I kept saying I would go and get my nose pierced literally each weekend in October. I just never got around to it.

Patch Tries: Piercing

After signing multiple forms and undergoing an extensive cleaning procedure, piercer Mike Waters marked the piercing spot on the right side of my nose and warned me that I would feel a bad pinch and my right eye would water from the pain.

Nostril piercing is the most popular piercing after the ear lobe, but it is much more painful. Unlike earlobe piercing, which is normally done with a piercing gun, a nose piercing is performed with a long needle.

When Mike asked if I had any questions, my first thought was: What if I have to blow my nose? Apparently this isn't an issue. Mike assured me I can blow my nose normally. My question may have been little more than a delaying tactic.

When it comes down to it, that needle does hurt. A lot. Fortunately, the pain subsides quickly and I could barely feel it just minutes later.

Care and cleaning involve antibacterial soap for the next few weeks, but no complex special treatment.

Overall, I'm glad I got this done.

Patch Tries is a video series where Patch local editors try something our readers are curious about, but may not want to do themselves. Have a suggestion for Patch Tries? Email Mount Vernon Editor Jessie Biele at jessie.biele@patch.com.