Septum piercings are incredibly popular in Western culture nowadays, but they did not start out this way. Septum piercings, like many piercings, were popular in ancient times among Native American tribes who favoured this piercing because of its ability to stretch in order to accommodate larger jewellery, pieces of wood, animal bones or tusks. It wasn't until civilizations like the Mayans and the Aztecs took on this piercing trend that decorative materials like gold and jewels were added, creating Septum jewellery that is very similar to the rings we wear today.  One of the biggest selling points of Septum piercings is that they can be extremely discreet; once the piercing is completely healed, you can easily flip your jewellery up inside the nose to make your piercing virtually invisible, which is great news for piercing fans at school and work.  

Will it hurt?  Septum piercings are highly debated in terms of how painful they are, with the majority of people agreeing it is not that painful at all. It is important to remember that piercing pain is always entirely subjective and that each individual will have a different experience of the amount of pain caused by a Septum piercing.  However, the majority of people claim the Septum piercing is comparable to a regular nostril piercing and a completely bearable pain that is over very briefly, your eyes will probably water that's about it.

Healing Like any piercing, you should also expect some soreness at the piercing site during the initial healing process.  Septum piercings take approximately 4-12 weeks to heal, with the initial soreness lasting around 1-2 weeks

To avoid infection, follow these precautions:

• Clean your Septum piercing twice daily following recommended aftercare
• Make sure you clean every part of your jewellery including both the balls and the circular bar
• Always wash and dry your hands before touching your piercings
• Do not 'flip' or turn your piercing until it is fully healed
• Refrain from touching the piercing to allow the tender tissue to heal and to reduce the risk of inflammation and pain.
• Avoid applying lotions, moisturisers, make-up or perfumes to the area.
• Try to keep your hair tied up and away from the piercing wherever possible during initial healing.
• You should not remove your jewellery during the healing process. The jewellery must be kept in at all times or you can risk the piercing closing over.

You can dramatically reduce your risk of any problems by following this advice.

Jewellery: You can wear a variety of jewellery types for a Septum piercings such as Horse Shoes, Clickers, Circular Barbells, Straight Barbell (Once Healed),BCR (Once Healed). If you are looking for a Septum piercing you can hide, Horse Shoe bars are the easiest to flip and Straight Barbells can actually sit flush inside the nose.  When you are first pierced you will be pierced with Titanium Jewellery.

DISCLAIMER: Each body is unique and healing times vary considerably. If you have any questions, please contact your Piercer. These guidelines are based on a combination of vast professional experience, common sense, research and extensive clinical practice. This is not to be considered a substitute for medical advice from a doctor.

Initial piercing jewellery options for Septum Piercings can be seen below: