Treat an Infected Nose Piercing
Nose piercings are one of the most common facial piercings and they're generally quite easy to keep clean. However, sometimes they can become infected. It's easy to treat, and with a quick visit to the doctor you'll be up to snuff in no time! This article will show you what to do, and how to take care of your nose piercing.
Contents
Steps
Treatment By Physician (Recommended)
- Look for signs of infection. If you have just had your nose pierced, it's totally normal to have redness and some pain around the site of the piercing. However, look out for any of these symptoms:
- Red, inflamed streaks or marks on the skin that radiate out from the piercing site.
- Increased pain, redness, swelling, heat, or tenderness around the piercing site.
- Yellow-green pus-like discharge coming from the piercing site. It's normal to see a bit of oozing or bleeding from the pierce, but be alert for pus combined with swelling and redness.
- Swollen or tender lymph glands above or below the piercing.
- Fever. If you're otherwise healthy (no cold or flu), and you develop a fever, this is cause for concern.
- Visit your doctor. If you have any of the above symptoms and you have an infection, it's important to take care of it properly. Most infections of this nature are caused by Staphylococcus and can be quite dangerous if not addressed.
- They will likely prescribe an antibiotic cream or tablets. Apply the cream topically or take the prescribed medication, usually for about ten days to two weeks.
- Take the full course of antibiotics to prevent a recurrence of the infection.
- Keep it clean. Wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and antibacterial soap, scrub under your nails to remove any dirt and air-dry your hands.
- Using a towel could cause your hands to be come un-hygienic again, even if the towel looks clean.
- Do not remove your nose stud. This might seem like a good idea but there is the possibility you'll cause an abscess. Always leave the stud in unless your physician recommends you take it out.
- Note that if you are having an allergic reaction rather than an infection, you'll want to remove the stud immediately. Signs of an allergic reaction include a burning sensation on the skin, an expanding wound, and/or a clear yellow discharge.
Self-Medication
- Consider not treating yourself. While you may be able to clear your infection using home remedies, staph infections can be virulent and dangerous. However, if you are unable to see a doctor, here's what you can try instead:
- Use an antiseptic. Wipe your nose, inside and out, with a natural antiseptic such as sea salt and warm water. Soak a cotton swab with the mix, and allow it to go into the piercing hole. This will help kill any bacteria.
- Stick your nose in it. Try soaking your nose in a glass of saltwater for as long as you can bear to. This won't be comfortable, but it will thoroughly clean the piercing.
- Use natural antibiotics. Tea tree oil is a natural antibiotic that you can buy from just about any store.
- Dip a cotton swab into the tea tree oil, rub it on the infected area for a few seconds, and let dry. Repeat at night. In about a week or two the infection should be gone.
Tips
- Wash hands every time you touch your nose piercing and keep hands away from your face at any other time.
- A clear discharge from the piercing is completely normal, and is no cause for concern.
- While it's important not to over clean your piercing, most people will advise you wash about three times a day.
- Don't put anything on after you cleansed your nose !.
- Don't allow a piercer to use anything other than surgical steel or titanium as a starter stud. Anything else—including gold and silver—can cause problems and even leave you with permanent scarring.
- If it pulls out clean round the ring with an antiseptic wipe and push it back in carefully, then wash it with salt water when it's back in.
- If you wash your face with anything near your new piercing, make sure it's dye and fragrance free and rinse thoroughly.
- Always wash your hands with antibacterial soap before touching the jewelry and avoid submerging your new piercing in any public water where bacteria lives. Bacteria can get into the piercing and grow into an infection.
- Never take out the jewelry if you do not have an infection as the wound needs a way to drain while you're on antibiotics. If you remove the jewelry, it will form an abscess that's very painful and will likely need to be (lanced) cut/drained by a doctor.
Warnings
- Use sea salt only, not table salt, as it contains iodine which is an irritant.
- As well as sea salt soaks, chamomile tea is just as effective as to soothing your piercing. Simply boil some water adding the tea bag (you can add your 1/4 tsp of salt here if you so wish) and when cool enough place the tea bag as a compress on your piercing. It is advised twice daily if you do not include the salt.
- Always DILUTE Tea Tree oil, it will burn the skin if undiluted! Never ever put it on undiluted.
- Never touch your piercing with dirty hands and try not to fiddle with it as this will grind dirt into the wound.
- Do not change your jewelry unless it's been 3 months as the piercing is still in its healing process and this will grind more dirt into the wound.
- Never use bottled solutions, TCP and peroxide as they will kill bacteria, cleaning the wound, but they also kill healthy cells, which then increases the risk of infection.
Things You'll Need
- Sea salt
- Hot water
- Cotton Swabs
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