I got my nose piercing close to 3 weeks ago, But it looks infected?

Question

I just got my nose pierced almost 3 weeks ago, for my birthday. But today my mom realized it looked kinda red. She cleaned it right some stuff, but i heard if it gets infected you have to take the stud out otherwise you'll get sick. Is that true? & what should i do? what do i use to get rid of the infection because i really dont want to get rid of it, i went through to much begging and pain to get it.

Answer 1

No...don't take the damn thing out. Use Bactine...you can buy it at Wal- mart...Squirt it on a Q-tip and move the nose ring out (not all the way) so that you can get around it good. Then do the inside(after you push it back in) and start again with a new Q-tip....with a slightly infected nose ring...do that about 3 times....then do it every day...once either before you go to bed or when you get up. If you wear make up, do it morning and night. Peroxide also works.

Answer 2

I doubt it's infected. Do not take the stud out, though. If it IS infected, this could trap the infection within the piercing and cause even more (serious) problems.

Don't touch the jewelry or the area surrounding it unless cleaning it and don't rotate the jewelry at all. Do a daily sea salt soak (use the cotton ball method mentioned below). Leave it alone. That's what you need to do, if you want to keep it. Do not wash it with soap, do not use Bactine (this will cause it to get worse, as Bactine is not meant for piercings/puncture wounds and says so right on the bottle), do not use alcohol or astringent of any kind. Sea salt soak once or twice a day. That's IT.

To do a sea salt soak:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap.
- Place about a pinch of non-iodized sea salt in a small disposable cup (like those that you'd get for your bathroom to rinse after brushing your teeth or for use with mouthwash) or a shotglass.
- Add hot water (has to be hot, but not so hot that you'd burn yourself) to the cup. Fill the cup about 1/2 to 3/4 full or the shotglass nearly to the top. The water should be no saltier than your tears.
- If you can (and it does take some practice), put the cup right over the piercing, even if that means bending into an awkward position to get the cup where it's not spilling, holding it against your skin, and leaning back to a "normal" position.
- If the cup doesn't work (spilling or really weird angle of the piercing), soak a cotton ball in the solution from the cup and hold that over the piercing.
- Soak the piercing for about 5 minutes.
- Rinse thoroughly with water and pat dry with unused/clean towel (used towels carry TONS of bacteria - I usually use a paper towel as it doesn't leave residue/lint).

Why use sea salt? Sea salt will assist in balancing the pH levels of your skin, to prevent infection-causing bacteria from growing around and in your piercing. It's not a 100% guarantee that it will completely prevent an infection, but it DOES definitely help. It also helps loosen "crusties" that can build up around your piercing. Why not just plain table salt? Sea salt is best because it does not contain iodine, as most table salt does. Non-iodized table salt will work, if you cannot find sea salt, as it has the same chemical makeup as sea salt (they're just processed in different ways). The "non-iodized" portion is the important part. Iodine will overly dry your skin and will hinder the balancing of the pH levels. You can find it at your local grocery store in the baking aisle or in any health food store.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to IM me. Good luck :)

Answer 3

nose rings get infected easily.. you should take out the stud disinfect it with some solution and clean the infected area with some warm salt water.. leave it out for about 10 min and then put some first aid cream on and you should be able to put it back in.. your hole wont close up within that time because you have had it for 3 weeks already. It might bleed a little bit but thats okay and normal
hope that helps

Answer 4

dont take it out,the infection could stay in there and thats not good. The same thing happened to me and all i did was wash it with antibaterial soup and did a salt soak 2x a day. It eventually went away, just keep it clean and wash your hands b4 touching it.


to the one commenter below me. I found your answer to be really offending. Telling her to take it out and look like a young lady! And how nose rings look awfull! Body modifacation is a great form of self expression and people girls in particular should not be taught that piercings and tattoos are "un lady like" girls can be just as beautifull if they have tats and piercings are not. And its not just some fad like low pants and what not. People arnt gonna shell out alot of money for something that they dont plan on keeping. BUt then again everyone is entitled to there own (warped) opinion.

Answer 5

Have you had sterling silver in it before? If not...you could be allergic to something in it, or something like that. Kind of like if you get cut by metal and haven't had your tetnis shot- then you get sick. Even if you WEAR sterling silver jewelery...its not the same...This one is in your skin. After 3 days of applying what you're applying, if it doesn't get any better, you should go see a doctor. You don't want to take the risk of something happening. It does sound infected. You might want to put in a different ring to see if it gets better, and then later try again with the silver one. If it happens again, you'll know that's why. Also, fake jewelery tends to do that...just like a gold ring can make your finger turn green. Be sure you're silver isn't fake as well. Good luck.

Answer 6

Do not touch the area. It is normal to have some pus dried around the area for a little while. Clean it a few time per day with an piercing solvent. If it gets sevearly infected you should take it out. But a little reddness and a little dried pus is normal.

Answer 7

Boil some water and add a tablespoon of salt to a cup of it. Let it cool then every morning use a Q-Tip to clean it thouroghly. If you use Bactine or Methylated Spirits it can cost you a bomb and really dry it out... Salt and boiled water is a hell of a lot better. I've used it on 12 piercings and I've never had one get infected.

You won't get sick if you don't tke it out, its normal to be red, but it it starts spurting whitish, clear or green goo, you know its infected and you need to visit your piercer and ask his/her opinion.

Answer 8

Use Tea Tree Oil twice a day. Don't remove the peircing. Put a lil oil on a q-tip and rub it around the infected area. If your not sure, ask a health store professional. Tea Tree oils work wonders for many things, you'd be shocked.

Answer 9

you need to wash it with warm salty water every couple of hours you shouldnt have to take it out
but if your also thinking of getting a tattoo i wouldnt do it untill your nose is completely healed as your body will have trouble fighting all the infection and make your tattoo get infected it will take longer for everything to heal
by the way if this whole thing was a fad like someone else said why do i have all 10 of my piercings in and yes it was the in thing when i had my nose pierced now 7 yrs later its still in and i have never taken it out nor do i ever want to.
its upto u personally if you want to take it out take it out but if not just keep cleaning it like i said it should heel

Answer 10

don't take it out. A piercing is a puncture wound, and if you take the jewlery out, the infection will become trapped under your skin and will ultimately get worse. Clean it with mild soap, and soak it in non iodized sea salts. Check out tribalectic.com for more specific instructions.