Call tattoo and piercing shops in your area and ask if their piercers are certified by the Association of Professional Piercers, or APP. If you cannot find an APP-certified piercer, visit the shop and ask to see the piercer's portfolio.
Go to your piercing appointment healthy, sober and having eaten within the past 2 hours. Eating helps prevent you from becoming lightheaded after your nostril piercing. Drinking alcohol prior to your appointment can cause you to bleed more, so avoid alcoholic beverages for 24 hours before you get pierced.
Watch your piercer set up her piercing tray. She should line a metal tray with a clean dental bib and lay out her tools in their autoclave bags. An autoclave bag has a paper back and a clear-plastic front, and will be sealed like an envelope.
Look in the mirror after your piercer makes a dot on your nostril. The proper placement for a nostril piercing is right in the crease at the front of your nostril. If you are unhappy with the placement, ask your piercer to mark it again.
Allow your piercer to insert a receiving tube inside your nose. Not all piercers use receiving tubes; some prefer to use clamps. Either way, you will have a piece of metal inserted into your nostril before the piercer pushes the needle through.
Take deep breaths as your piercer performs the piercing and inserts the jewelry. Because the piercing is done with a hollow cannula needle, your piercer will hook the ring or nostril screw into the end of the needle and pull the jewelry in as she pulls the needle out. Most people do not feel the jewelry insertion.
Clean your piercing properly during the 8-week healing period. Mix 1/4 tsp. non-iodized sea salt into a cup of warm distilled or bottled water. Dip a cotton swab into this mixture and use it to clean the inside and outside of your piercing. Wash your piercing with antibacterial or antimicrobial soap and dry it with a fresh paper towel. Repeat this cleaning process twice daily.