Question of the Week - Nose Piercing
Q:As a gift my sister took me to a piercing place in the city about 4 months ago. The place was very nice and they used a hollow tip needle not a gun.A: I wouldn't panic about your piercing just yet. First of all, you don't really have to clean your piercing with sea salt every day now as it is 4 months old. But, seeing as you may have irritated it - which is very easy to do via nose blowing, makeup, hairspray, etc. - then you would probably want to go back to your original cleansing routine and do your sea salt soaks once or twice a day, making sure to rinse the salt away completely after soaking. Make sure your sea salt solution isn't too strong - too much salt can actually be the source of irritation in a piercing.I've been cleaning my piercing everyday with warm water and sea salt. For the last 2 days my nose feels tender and slightly swollen. There is no pus or crusties and the area is not red nor is the hole itself.
I just want to make sure that I take the correct precautions and how long I should wait before I make a visit to the doctor. I've been hearing and reading all kinds of horror stories like the piercing is close to my brain and blood vessels and I don't want to feed into any of those tales without some clarification that I should be worried by someone who knows more then my co-worker.
As long as you're not having any yellow or green colored ooze or a putrid smell coming from the piercing location, there is no need to go to the doctor. Even well-established piercings get sore from time to time.
People do like to exaggerate the safety risks of piercings when they themselves do not have any, but infection is a real concern so if you see any signs of such then you absolutely do want to go to the doctor. Otherwise, a few days of cleansing, soaking and TLC should do the trick.
Comments
I have had my nose pierced for almost 2 years and from time to time it still gets tender. Everytime I change the jewelry in my nose it gets tender. I (unfortunately) am unable to wear jewelry of any kind that is not real gold, silver or surgical steel. I still from time to time use my sea salt soak on my nose. I think it helps to sooth the pain. Of all of my piercings my fav is the nose so I am just going to have to deal with the tenderness. I hope this helps. Good Luck!!
i just got my nose pierced and he told me to just clean my nose piercing is with saline solution and that is it.and it healed up nicely.it healed up with in a month.but try saline solution and see how that does.it is to clean your contact lens with.
h2ocean.
this stuff is awesome..i highly recomend it along with the antibac. soap…
Don’t worry about it. It will probably be sore for like a week maybe. While it’s healing its a lot more likely to get infected. Once it starts getting store, and even red, you need to put bactine on it. The place I got pierced at gave me this antibotic oinment. If you don’t have that, don’t worry about it too much, I only used it for like 2 or 3 days. But, go to the store and buy bactine. NOT THE SPRAY KIND. Take a cute tip and make it wet on the tip with the bactine (it’s lika squirt bottle so do it over the sink) then just push the ring out, but not so that it comes out just so it’s sticking out, and rub the bactine around it. Soon enough the pain will go away. My nose piercing hurt SO badly when I first got it done! But now that it’s healed it’s like nothing at all! And if it starts to hurt a little or anything i just put bactine on it. MAKE SURE U CLEAN IT WITH DIAL SOAP ALSO, DO NOT USE ONE THAT IS SCENTED! JUST REGULAR DIAL SOAP! do it in the shower w/ warm water so that there is no excess soap left on the ring or nose!!
Did it hurt. i want it done
I love to hear these questions from people and read over the comments and suggestions that follow. I often wonder why people are so poorly informed when it comes to the real issues in our industry. The first thing I always ask a customer when they are having a problem is where did they get pierced and can they please come in so I can look at the jewelry. The #1 reason people have problems is because of the quality of the jewelry. 90% of all piercing shops use cheap, industrial alloyed body jewelry. This jewelry contains alloys that are not biocompatible. What does that mean? It means the metal in the jewelry kills living organisms. Yea, everyone knows somebody that got pierced with a non-biocompatible piece of jewelry and it turned out ok. The problem is 90% of the people out there react to alloys that don’t get along with your skin tissue. Why take the chance to save 5 or 10 bucks. In order for nose jewelry to be biocompatible it must be medical implant grade (316 LVM F-138) or better. When you are having a reaction to the metal, your nose piercing will be a bit sore. Sometimes the outside will grow a little bump. And if you look at the inside of the piercing it will be enlarging or getting thicker than it would be normally. All of these are signs of poor quality metal being next to an open wound. The problem is most people don’t know the difference between a shop that looks like it knows what its doing and one that actually does know what its doing. Look at the jewelry that they pierce navels with. If the threading is on the inside of the barbell then they probably know what they are doing. If the threading is on the outside of the barbell then don’t get pierced at that shop. Externally threaded jewelry can be purchased for pennies and that shop is in it for the money, your health comes last! Sweetie, go back to the shop or call them and ask if the navel jewelry they pierce with is internal or externally threaded. After that call the Association of Professional Piercers and ask for a shop near you. If you have any questions you may email me at tommyt@tommytbodypiercing.com .
http://www.tommytbodypiercing.com
I just got my nose pierced…two weeks ago today actually. It bleeds when I clean it…and it gets crusty throughout the day. I was just wondering from anyone who has a nosering, if that is normal…or if I need to be concerned. also, should I be doing something different than what I am doing now? (now I am cleaning it with antibacterial soap and warm water 2 times daily. and I use the sea salt and warm water mix at night)
thanks a lot!
~Amber
I got my nose preiced about 6 weeks ago. It was doing fine until I accidently knocked it out. Now I have a bump beside the preicing, about a pea size and is bleeding..all of this came on gradually. Should I go to the doctors or should I keep cleaning it and wait for it to heal?
NEVER use bactine or neosporin or any kind of antibiotic ointment on a new piercing! Strictly saline and if the piercing or area is dry, vitamin E oil. Same goes for a new tattoo (Except use antibacterial soap and a NON ANTIBIOTIC ointment like aquaphor). I’ve been seeing the same people at the same tattoo and piercing shop for my last 4 tattoos and piercings and following this advice has left me with gorgeous and beautifully healed tattoos and piercings.
My nose piercing is about 4 months old now, and everything is perfect except I’m curious about the bad smell that the ring has when I take it out. Is that a sign that it is infected?(there are no other signs) Or does everyone notice the smell?
To the person with the bleeding bump: I had that problem when I had my nose pierced two years ago. I went to my dermatologist. He said it was a broken blood vessel. He convinced me to remove the piercing, citing all sorts of reasons why we should not have facial piercings. He’s obviously biased. But the bump lasted several weeks and wasn’t going away. He then burned off the bump with a laser, which left me with a black burn circle. I looked pathetic until it healed a week and a half later.
Question about my current problem: I just had my nose pierced again about two weeks ago. The area ABOVE the piercing (not around it) is puffy–almost like it has water weight! My nose looks ridiculous, swollen out and puffy on that side. What is this? I’ve been using sea salt and cold distilled water mixed (4 tsp per gallon of water) on a q-tip morning and night to clean the piercing. I also run the q-tip over the entire side of the nose to remove dirt and facial grease. I have done one 15-min. warm water + sea salt soaking two nights ago.
What’s going on? This is my third time trying to keep a nose piercing. Is my nose just dead-set against it? My nose ring is sterling silver and the piercer has been around for years and has a great reputation. He is very strict about the way he goes about piercing and how his clientele takes care of their piercings. He will not change their piercings until they’re completely healed. He’s very adept.
Allison, sterling silver jewelry should NEVER be used in a fresh piercing. Your guy should definitely know that. It could and probably will tarnish & oxidize in your nose and can cause a permanent black mark in addition to irritation. If I were you, I would buy a stainless steel or nickel free gold nose ring/screw & go to a different place to ask them to change it for you. Then I would call up your old piercer & tell him what he should already know and how it’s affected you. I’ve heard good things about medicinal grade lavender and tea tree oil, though you might want to do more research before trying it. Good luck!