Nose Piercing Aftercare Tips & Tricks
Well, you just got your new nose piercing. Congratulations!
However, before you can enjoy your fresh nose piercing, you have to follow some simple nose piercing aftercare tips to avoid anything unpleasant!
Most likely you’ll be given aftercare guidelines at the piercing studio. Nevertheless, I’ll give you a few universal nose piercing aftercare recommendations. If you are unsure about anything in this article, or if our advice contradicts advice given to you by your piercing professional, you can contact me by leaving a message at the end of the post. I’ll do my best to help.
So, what’s going to happen right after the nose piercing is done? The fresh nose piercing will swell up a little bit. But don’t worry, it’s normal. A piercing is a wound, and wounds take time to heal. The swelling is going to disappear within the next few days, and the pain will subside as well, if there’s any.
There a several types of nose piercing – like nostril piercing, septum piercing, bridge piercing etc. Pain during the piercing and the healing periods will differ. However, the piercing cleaning guidelines are more or less the same.
So the first nose piercing aftercare recommendation – never touch your fresh nose piercing with dirty hands. Use common sense and wash your hands before touching, cleaning or moving your fresh nose ring, stud or barbell.
Secondly – cleaning. This is pretty simple as well. You just have to get a saline solution and clean the nose piercing 2 – 3 times daily. If you can’t get one in a drugstore, you can make the saline solution yourself. Just dilute about 4 teaspoons of non iodized sea salt to 1 gallon of boiled water and the cleansing liquid is ready to use.
For fresh nose piercing cleaning you can use simple cotton buds. Just don’t forget to change them when cleaning the inside and the outside of the piercing to avoid cross-contamination. At the end, when you’ve cleaned the fresh nose piercing, just wipe the excess moisture off using a new dry cotton wool bud and that’s it!
Another nose piercing aftercare tip – when applying make-up, avoid covering your fresh nose piercing with it. This one is obviously more relevant to girls. And if you’ve just got a septum piercing, you can’t really get your make-up inside of the nose! But for other types of nose piercing – nostril piercing and bridge piercing – please keep in mind not to apply make-up to the area.
The last nose piercing aftercare tip – don’t try to insert a new nose ring before the piercing has healed well. The new skin that forms inside the fresh nose piercing is very tender, and you can damage it very easily. So it’s better to wait until the piercing is well healed, it’s not tender to touch and not swollen or red in color.
The approximate healing times for the nose piercings are following – nostril piercing 4 – 6 weeks. Septum piercing – 1 – 3 months. And bridge piercing can take up to a year. So as you can see, the easiest to heal is the simple nostril piercing, but the most difficult is the bridge piercing because it’s essentially a surface piercing.
Well, that’s it about nose piercing aftercare – everything is simple and you just have to use common sense. Wash hands before touching the nose ring, clean it a few times a day with saline solution, and keep the nose ring, stud or barbell in until the piercing is well healed.
And, of course, if you notice any discharge from the fresh nose piercing, go back to the piercing studio or visit your doctor. Especially – if the piercing is swollen and it’s oozing yellow or green substances.
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Jose on Mon, 29th Jun 2009 11:46 am
Thanks a bunch for the superb article
Anna on Sun, 19th Jul 2009 12:43 am
Thnx for the info. I didn’t actually get any guidelines when I got my nose pierced but figured it’s similar care to ears pierced. I even found a nose pierce car video on youtube lol.
Great site you have here .. cheers.
Megan on Thu, 13th Aug 2009 7:25 pm
Thanks for the article, I just got a nose piercing today and I was so excited that I didn’t listen to the piercer as he was explaining the aftercare.
RIA on Mon, 21st Sep 2009 3:04 am
hello
ria on Thu, 24th Sep 2009 1:50 am
um.i got my nose pierced and as i re-inserted it,it hurt.u know..as i was inserting it ,it came to a part where the pain was awful..plizz tell me what the problem is….i will apreciate it very much.thankz.
Mistie on Tue, 13th Oct 2009 6:23 am
I just got my nose pierced and this article was very helpful but I’m wondering what to expect with my piercing. What is normal and what is sign of infection. Could you please give me some information on that? That would help me out so much. Thanks!
Kael on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 2:51 am
great information just a few things check the piercer out if you don’t feel comfortable leave i got my septum done and i kinda had a bad feeling but i ignored it bad move he got through fine in the left side but he missed on the right and went through the flesh under my nose yes it hurt ALOT so go with your gut feeling second if they come at you with a gun WALK OUT and to answer one of the questions about how will you know it’s infected well the smell the pus redness swelling pain lets just say you’ll know anyway that’s my two cents so i hope i have added to the helpfulness of this article
Rhonda on Thu, 3rd Dec 2009 4:41 am
I got my septum pierced on nov 6th 2009. And i never knew how much of a pain it would be to get the ball back in…its been bout a month i took it out and out back in it really didnt hurt does that mean its healed or almost done healing?
Tiffany on Wed, 16th Dec 2009 9:55 pm
i got my nostril pierced today at a friend’s shop. it was pierced with a gun and while it didnt hurt at all and the price was right, i have a big stud in my nose for at least a month.i suggest a needle and sea salt DOES work, or lavender oil i got at my grocery store with warm water and a CLEAN face towel.i have no pain unless i inadvertantly rub my nose
Hope that helps anyone and enjoy your piercings!
Mary on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 6:43 am
thanks! i got my nose pierced yesterday and the guy said the aftercare instructions, but im paranoid so i needed to actually READ them lol. <33
Cupcake on Mon, 15th Feb 2010 11:45 am
Thanks!! I needed that information! This is the second time I’ve got my nose pierced and by reading over this I know to take extra care of it=)
Kaitlynn Pocius on Mon, 22nd Feb 2010 10:43 am
I just got my nose peirced and it helped a lil bite
Kaitlynn Pocius on Mon, 22nd Feb 2010 10:45 am
thank i just got my nose pierced and need to make sure
that i can use the stuff i bought
jennifer c on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 5:55 am
thank you for the advice! i am getting mine done in less than five months and was wondering how long do you have to do this cleaning process for? do i just do it for a certain amount of weeks or all of the time?
William on Mon, 15th Mar 2010 11:48 am
Healing time can be from 3-12 months depending on the amount of cartilage pierced. A strict cleaning routine should be followed. Care is needed throughout the life of the piercing but its not as important as the time during healing of the piercing wound. When you get your piercing done, your piercer will give you more specific instructions.
Brittany on Fri, 26th Mar 2010 9:24 am
I got most of this information from my piercing studio but this article definately helped back that info up!
Caitlin on Mon, 12th Apr 2010 12:24 pm
Hi, I got my nose peirced yesterday and wanted to know if I can use the same stuff I used to clean my ears when I got my ears peirced? Would it hurt it at all? Or what about soap that is unscented…
rania on Thu, 15th Apr 2010 12:35 am
hi
i’ve piercerd my nose 4 weeks ago with a gun,and i keep changing nose studs because they keep falling .two days ago i graped it by mistake ang blood came out and i think the hole is bigger now and i fing blood round the stud .i keep putting anti- bactirial cream .is there something else i cn do ?
thank you
Brittny on Fri, 23rd Apr 2010 12:40 pm
I just got my nose pierced on Monday (and today is Friday.) I’ve noticed that it doesn’t hurt and there isn’t any swelling or redness, or even discharge. Is it remotely possible that it’s healing faster or is this just normal?
Thanks, Brit
Sarah on Sun, 23rd May 2010 3:03 pm
To Raina: Don’t use antibacterial ointment on your piercing! On the tube it says DO NOT USE ON PUNCTURE WOUNDS — a piercing is a puncture would. It will trap things in the wound and make it worse. Only use a sea salt rinse — nothing else.
Alison on Sun, 30th May 2010 2:23 am
Brilliant piece of info, Thanks.
bob bill on Tue, 1st Jun 2010 1:35 pm
i got my nose pierced and i had to take it out fro school, i put a clear retainer in and it is big n puffy underneath. i dont no wat to do plz help. =[ xx <3
DJ on Wed, 2nd Jun 2010 9:29 pm
I got my nose done in the middle of March…..The young man said they were out of aftercare….so until I got the h2Ocean I used the homemade stuff with distilled water. Problem is he told me everything wrong….He told me to rotate my ring as much as possible, .Now it looks like there is permanent redness, and a bump like scaring. It doesn’t hurt per say, only when I try to take the ring out….I waited longer than the 4-6 weeks because some of the medication I take can hinder healing. He never gave me any instructions and now the shop is no longer there. The nose ring still slips around and the C sticks out at times and I have to shove it back into my nose. I need desperate help. There is no infection, should I go to a bigger gauge? Have someone else take my nose screw out and replace it? Like I said it is a bit tender still and I use the h2Ocean a few times a day still.HELP!!!!
DJ
renee on Fri, 4th Jun 2010 12:14 pm
My daughter had her nose pierced. It was a local shop and it was recommened to her. The ring was put in so fast I hadn’t the chance of making sure it ws all clean material used. She formed a bump around the area of the ring and was being told to pop it an duse the solution. I told her not to pop the bump, use the solution, perxiode and let it heal as it should. After a few days we noticed it’s just not seeming to heal nor had the bump gone down so she decided to take it out. Question: Should I take her to the doctor, will the bump ever go away and is there anything other I can do to make sure it heals, bumps goes away and suggestions as to what and were she can go to have it re pierced later time? Please help her. thanks!
Nena on Sun, 6th Jun 2010 11:36 am
I got my nose pierced yesterday and i dont know what to use to for the after care i heard sea salt makes it swell any other disinfectants i can use ?
Bethany on Mon, 7th Jun 2010 9:05 am
So, i just got my nose done yesterday for my birthday and i left my aftercare info in my friends car. :/ I am just kinda concerned that it will come out. since i have a little 1yr old daughter, would it be fine to cover my ring with a bandage or something small so she does not mess with it or cause anything to go wrong?
this page is very helpful. Thnx XD
jane Bishop on Sat, 12th Jun 2010 6:29 am
Hi there, just had my left nostril pierced bathed it in saline solution for about 5 days after, had no pain and everything seems great, no infection or swelling.How long do i need to bath it for?
Thank you x
Alejandra on Fri, 25th Jun 2010 5:06 pm
WEll i need help because today i got my nose pierced and im 13. the piercer did Not give me no Cleaning products and to only clean it with soap and water. and i dont think its right. and do i clean it Today when i got it a couple of hours ago?
Lindsay on Tue, 29th Jun 2010 7:15 pm
You should clean the piercing about 3 times a day, never touch it with unwashed hands. also, I use SALINE solution. It helps to clean and keep all debris out of the piercing. Apply with a q-tip around the piercing (on both sides).
DO NOT USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE OR RUBBING ALCOHOL!!!
Using these can actually keep the piercing from healing properly.
My Piercing artist said after 3-4 weeks i could bring him a new nose jewelery and he would change it for me. You should not ever take out the piercing while in the healing stages unless you have a bad infection (Check with your piercing artist or doctor before deciding you have an infection)
do not assume the piercing is fully healed just because you have no pain or redness.. I wouldn’t feel my piercings were fully healed til after 1 year. After about 3-4 months you should be able to safely change your own piercings. Stick with gold, titanium or surgical steel piercings.