Septum Jewellery Explained: Clicker, Horseshoe, Captive Bead — and How to Hide It

The four types

Hinged clicker. A closed ring with a hinged segment that snaps shut, usually carrying the decorative front. It looks like a solid unbroken ring, it is the easiest thing to fit into a piercing you cannot see, and it stays put. It is also, for the same reason, the type you cannot flip up: the decorative front is not shaped to sit comfortably inside the nose.

Horseshoe (circular barbell). An open U-shape with a removable ball at each end. Less decorative than a clicker and far more versatile: unscrew nothing, simply rotate it and the U points upward inside your nostrils, out of sight from the front. This is the piece to own if you need the piercing to disappear sometimes.

Captive bead ring. A ring held closed by a single bead under tension. Very secure once seated, minimal in appearance, and genuinely awkward to get the bead back into without ring-opening pliers — which is a real consideration for a piercing you cannot see.

Retainer. A plain U-shaped or staple-shaped piece with no decoration at all, made to be worn flipped up and effectively invisible. Titanium and glass are both common. If a workplace or a school genuinely requires no visible piercing, this is the piece designed for that job.

A note on gauge: septums are commonly pierced at 16G (1.2mm) and also at 14G (1.6mm). They are not interchangeable. Buy the gauge you were pierced at.

Septum jewellery compared. 16G (1.2mm) at 8mm is the most common size; 14G and 10mm are also standard.

How flipping up actually works

Flipping is the reason the septum has a reputation as the hideable piercing, and the mechanics are simpler than they sound.

A horseshoe or a retainer sits as a U with the open ends pointing down. Rotate the piece a hundred and eighty degrees and the U now points up, tucked inside the nostrils where the septum meets the roof of the nose. From the front, nothing shows. It takes a couple of seconds once you have done it a few times, and it does not require removing the jewellery.

Three practical caveats.

• Not during healing. A fresh septum takes roughly two to three months, and rotating jewellery repeatedly in a healing channel is exactly the movement that keeps it irritated. Wait until your piercer says it is settled.
• Diameter matters. A piece that is too large will not tuck neatly and sits visibly at the nostril openings. 8mm hides more reliably than 10mm.
• Clickers do not flip. If you bought a decorative clicker specifically and now need to hide the piercing, you need a second piece rather than a technique.

The practical setup most people end up with: a clicker they like for everyday, and a plain horseshoe or retainer kept for the days it needs to be invisible.

Septum versus nostril

These get compared constantly and they are genuinely different piercings, not two versions of one.

What it passes through. A septum does not go through the hard cartilage wall in the middle of your nose. It goes through a thin strip of soft tissue below it, which piercers call the sweet spot. A nostril passes through cartilage. That difference drives most of the rest.

Pain. Highly individual and not something anyone can promise you. The general pattern people report is that a septum is a brief, sharp sting that makes the eyes water and is over quickly, while a nostril is a sharper pinch that some find lingers a little longer. Neither is among the more painful placements, and someone's account of their own experience is not a prediction of yours.

Healing. A septum is usually the faster of the two — roughly two to three months against four to six for a nostril — because soft tissue heals more readily than cartilage.

Hiding. This is where they diverge most. A septum can be flipped up and made invisible in seconds with the right piece. A nostril cannot: the only options are a clear retainer, which is still visible close up, or taking it out, which risks the channel closing.

Which to get depends on what you want it to do. A septum is bolder from the front, faster to heal and easy to hide. A nostril is more subtle, more classical, slower, and permanent in appearance once it is in. If your circumstances change frequently — a job, a uniform, a family that has opinions — the septum is the more flexible choice, and that is a legitimate reason to pick it.

Hiding it for work or school

What works: a plain titanium or glass retainer, or an 8mm horseshoe, flipped up. Genuinely invisible from the front, and it keeps the channel open, which taking the jewellery out does not.

What does not: flipping a decorative clicker (it does not sit right), a 10mm or 12mm horseshoe (too large to tuck cleanly), or removing the piece for a whole working day and expecting it to go back in easily, particularly in the first year.

Two things worth knowing. A flipped septum is not always completely invisible from directly underneath — if that matters, a retainer sits flatter than a horseshoe. And a septum piercing you flip daily is one you are handling twice a day, so clean hands matter more than they would with a stud you leave alone.

Common questions

Belora sells jewellery and does not provide medical advice. If a piercing is painful, inflamed, moving position or producing discharge, speak to your piercer, and to a doctor if you suspect an infection. Nothing on this page is a substitute for having someone look at it.