(Warning! Really long post!)
I've had my nose pierced for a few years now. In fact I had the same side pierced twice, each time was a little different. Both times it was by a piercer using a needle (not the gun! *shudder*). The first time he used a sort of clamps/forceps on my nose to guide the straight needle through, the second time (a different person) she used a curved needle and did it free hand. So you could encounter either of these types of pros. I have a pretty good tolerance for pain so that has to be taken into account. My first time felt like a pinch, literally, and that was all. The second time hurt like a you-know-what! The first time he used a ring, explaining that the ring helped the piercing heal better because you should play with it and move it around. Helps with the skin not trying to reattach to itself. The second time I got it done with a fishtail screw and hated it. The tail end was so long I felt like it was tickling my brain! Drove me nuts! The first time the ring was sss (surgical stainless steel), the second time was 14k yellow gold. The second piercing got infected and so I went back to them. Never did they tell me to take it out, which duh!, would then allow the hole to close up. Instead they took out the gold screw and put titanium in instead. This worked wonders, I would recommend sss or titanium (which the high polish yellow looks like gold) for the piercing. I felt the warm salt water soaks very helpful too, most piercers will give you a little packet of salt with instructions on how to use it.
Something else too, both piercers told me that I should not consider changing my jewelry, like on a daily basis, for a year. Now these people were from different states so I wonder if this is a basic rule for nose piercing in general. I've also learned other things too. Silver looks great, but after a while it leaves the hole black from the oxidation on the silver, gross! Also because people can have problems with nickel in silver it is not recommended to be left in for long periods of time.
Now I happen to be the type of person that the ring just doesn't look right on, not the reason my first piercing closing, that was because I had surgery and lost the acrylic piece. I also learned quickly that the screws (spiral or fishtail) drove me nuts. My nostrils are such that no matter what way the tail layed, with a screw you could always see the inside part. So I have come to love nose bones. I don't like pins because they are not secure like the bone is with the end part being a little larger.
As for where to find jewelry I like Ebay, Tongue Stud, Steel Navel, Body Candy, and Tribalectic. Good luck!
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