nose piercing PROBLEM

Jun 20, 2015

Mell V.

I have my piercing now for 4 months. I also got the red bump for like..3 months :p whatever you do, DON't take it out. Leave it in, try not to touch it. Just clean with water in the shower, no desinfection products or anything. Something that works for a lot of people is to go buy a small bottle of tea tree oil. Just one drop a day on the bump and let it sink in. When you put on your make up try not to get to close to the bump. And just be patient. If it's still this big in like 1 or 2 months, go to your piercer. I had to try 3 different types of nose piercings. It's possible of it's a silver one you react on it or maybe it's to tight. I now have like a sillicone piercing with a small diamond.

Jun 20, 2015

Rissa G.

Yeah, that's weird? You should mess around with a new piercing at all. But I still think the hoop might be the culprit, I've had my nose pierced for 8 years, and whenever I wear hoops I get s little lump still, 8 years later lol. Granted it's smaller and skin colored, but still. You shouldn't have been pierced with a hoop, in my opinion...

Jun 20, 2015

Rissa G.

Shouldn't mess around*

Jun 20, 2015

Emily B.

You're not supposed to pierce with a hoop. So that's one problem. Two, you don't play with a piercing. You leave it be because your skin is already irritated and such. You should have been keeping it clean with a salt water solution at least the times a day; that's a minimum of the times a day. Now it is infected. The more you touch a piercing the more bacteria etc.you expose to the fresh wound. You can take it out like your Dr says or you can continue to clean it. I recommend a wash cloth that you soak in warm salt water solution being applied to that spot. You could dry out the rest of your face, but it is the best option.
In addition, go neck to the piercer and have the piercing replaced with a stud.

Jun 20, 2015

Alyx T.

Again, definitely do not take it out. At best it can result in your body getting sick and just a little nose acne, at worst it can create a huge bubble of infection that needs surgery to remove plus tons of antibacterial creams.

If you put warm sea salt water in a shot glass and just hold it against your nose (or set in on a table and lean into it) hold it for a minute or two. Don't hold a cloth to it, especially with a hoop that'll just irritate it more. You could also put it in a spray bottle and spray it on your nose before bed, along with soaking it three times a day. It'll heal at full potential overnight if you do that. Again, do not take it out, do not mess with it.

I would honestly just avoid the piercer you went to. If they pierced it with a hoop, and gave you bad advice, they deserve to be fired. They didn't even tell you how long it'll take to fully heal. Maybe go to a pricier reputable piercer and talk to them, just asking questions will be free, but you'd be talking to someone who knows what they're doing. In addition I'd call and tell the manager about the person who pierced you, because that's not acceptable behavior.

Jun 20, 2015

Stephanie G.

Listen to your doctor, not random people on the Internet. He went to school for 8 years, plus at least 3 years of internship and residency. He's probably seen an infected piercing before. Probably many times. It's better to have it drained than have it spread. Your nose is right next to your brain. If it's a staph infection it could be serious.

Jun 20, 2015

Alyx T.

Stephanie - doctors are not trained with piercings, especially if they're older. Yes they're trained to look for infection but in this case removing the piercing would be the WORST thing she could do. It's literally trapping the infection inside the skin. If she takes it out, it could make her sick, get into her blood cells, cause more problems with her immune system, and may grow into a big boil of nasty bacteria that would need to be lanced and scrapped out if she was lucky and it grew outside the skin, and if she wasn't lucky and it grew underneath the skin she's looking at months of antibacterial creams, surgery and never being able to have that piercing again.

Jun 20, 2015

Alyx T.

Because it's graphic, I don't want to show it, but if you Google images "infected piercing taken out" the ones that are blown our, big boils or look like narcotic tissue are the ones that took out their piercings and trapped the infection in their body. This isn't stuff I've learned just from the Internet, this is from personal experience, having a large knowledge on medical health, and having been interested in becoming a piercer, so I have read the training books and I have spoken with mine and plenty other trained piercers.

Jun 20, 2015

Stephanie G.

Regardless, I can tell you right now that the earring is clearly too tight and is not suitable for something that is swelling. The infection is just going to get worse if it can't drain. Again, doctors not only have years of schooling but usually many years of practical experience.

Jun 20, 2015

Stephanie G.

Honestly, I'd ask a different piercer than who did your piercing. I know rings are bad for healing piercings. Since taking it out may not be a good idea, and honestly leaving it in might not be either, maybe there is a third option or a good course of action he can recommend. Go to the association of professional piercers website to find a good piercer, and find one who is Red Cross certified.

Jun 20, 2015

Alyx T.

Again, most doctors are not trained with piercings. I know the Canadian medical training has no sections on piercings, because they aren't considered normal yet. The only ones who would have had experience would be the ones who had to deal with it at a hospital in emergency, which most general doctors wouldn't have seen. They will almost all say take it out because it's infected, but that's the worst thing to do. My doctor used to say the same thing when my sister's lip was infected, then I told him and he went "Yeah, that makes perfect sense, it would get worse if you took it out, the infection wouldn't be able to be cleaned out" and was amazed at how many people he had told to take out the piercing. Piercings are not like general wounds, and most doctors don't realize that.

Yes, the hoop is too small and she can't change it right now, due to it being a new piercing it's already swollen still and the infection. But taking it out will do more harm than good. Closing the wound on either side of the infection will not allow it to drain any easier (its literally putting up walls around it) than keeping it in and cleaning it till it's healed.

Jun 20, 2015

Brittany F.

Basically everything Alyx said. Any properly trained piercer and anyone with any sort of experience will tell you it is dangerous to remove an infected piercing. One thing that will help though is chamomile. Seep a chamomile bag in hot water and the apply directly to the area until cool

Jun 21, 2015

Grace K.

As far as advice goes, I think everything really has been covered. :)
I just want to throw out there that this is most likely either a keloid or hypertrophic scarring, more often it's just hypertrophic scarring!
I had my nostril pierced for 3 years or so and it was a repeated problem with me, I'm not sure why.
Tea tree oil always cleared it up for me no problem or my piercer once told me to crush up an Aspirin and mix it with a tiny bit of water to make a paste. The paste right on the bump cleared it up overnight. :)

Jun 21, 2015

Kristine N.

Take it out because your bump might grow over your ring that happen to my friend

Jun 21, 2015

Alyx T.

Kristine- it's better to leave it in, read my comments above.

Jun 22, 2015

Elizabeth M.

You can see the piercer

Jun 24, 2015

Ashley C.

I had the exact same problem, waited months and it never completely went away. I gave up, removed it and years later decided to try again. The piercer told me that I had an allergic reaction to the nose ring material the first time and that I should've used surgical stainless steel instead. She pierced me with one made from that material and I never once saw a bump again. I've had it for years and it's a pain to find pure surgical stainless steel piercings but they're worth it. Good luck!

Jun 24, 2015

Harlyn T.

You're NEVER supposed to touch a piercing...

Jun 24, 2015

Harlyn T.

And, use gauze, not a cloth, cloth holds bacteria in terribly.