Nostril piercing is a body piercing practice often associated with India. In India the outside of the left nostril is the preferred position of the piercing as this is supposed to make childbirth easier. Nostril piercing has become popular amongst the industrialised nations, as have other forms of body piercing. Celebrities such as Madonna and Sinead O'Connor have their nostrils pierced.
It was first performed in the Middle-East about 4,000 years ago. From there it spread out to India in the 16th century. Later on the piercing was introduced by the "hippie" culture in the 1960s and '70s. Afterwards "punks" and younger cultures in the '80s and '90s adopted this sort of piercing and even today, nostril piercing is still very popular among youth in the US and Canada.
A nasal septum piercing is different from and less common than a nostril piercing. The side of the nose is thick flesh, but the nasal septum in between the nostrils is the thin flesh in betweeen the bone and cartilage. The septum has many nerves running through it and as a result can be a very painful piercing. This makes a nasal septum piercing a more serious proposition compared with a nostril piercing, and as a result nasal septum piercings are much rarer. Contrary to this, many people with such piercings report that virtually no pain whatsoever is involved and the piercing community generally regards it as an only moderately painful modification. The piercing was at one time preformed on bulls in part of the process to break them for the farm. 14ga is generally the minimum size for this piercing.
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