The rhino is a cartilage piercing done vertically through the tip of the nose. Sometimes also referred to as a vertical nose tip piercing, the name “rhino” comes from the piercing’s resemblance (particularly when tipped with a spike) to the nose of a rhinoceros.
There are two basic methods in which a piercing that would be referred to as a rhino is performed. The first is very straight forward: piercing it through the nose’s end from underneath the tip and emerging through the top. This is done with a standard piercing needle and is generally worn with a small curved barbell about the size of an eyebrow ring. The second option is considerably trickier and involves the stretching of an existing septum piercing, which is then pierced through the healed fistula from inside and out through the top of the nose tip. This style of Rhino piercing, though it gives a very similar look, is sometimes referred to as an inverted or "reversed septril" or “high septril” because of the methodology.
Aftercare for these piercings is very similar to that of any regular cartilage piercing, generally including sea salt soaks and gentle cleansing. Due to the amount of cartilage being pierced through and the nature of its positioning, a Rhino make take slightly longer to initially heal, and care must be taken to avoid migration or rejection.
Although this type of piercing has been performed in some tribal cultures, it wasn’t until after the year 2000 that westerners began showing up with Rhino piercings, many of the first doing so after trips to Africa or South America. As such, the modern methods of performing a nose tip piercing have evolved fully only in the past few years across the US and Europe, making the rhino one of the coolest piercings you may have never heard of.
