Is my nose piercing infected?
Piercing
Updated February 13, 2023
If you’re worried your nose piercing has an infection, we’re here to help you out. Keep reading for some tips, and products we suggest if you find yourself in this position.
What’s normal during healing:
Healing can look different for everyone, however during the healing process it is normal to see the following:
- Redness
- Inflammation
- Yellow crusty discharge
- A small amount of blood
- Pain when knocked
These are all normal signs your piercing is healing as it should, and nothing you will need to worry about!
Signs Your Piercing Might Be Infected
If you notice the following, you may have an infected nose piercing. See the below to check over your nostril piercing:
- Creamy or green discharge
- The area is highly inflamed and red
- The area is throbbing with pain even when you are not touching it
- Swollen glands behind the ear
My piercing has a bump, what now?
Your piercing bump or lump is likely to be a granuloma! Granulomas are bumps that may commonly occur on the skin when there is inflammation. This is a collection of white blood cells present from an immune system response to trauma.
If you have a piercing bump on your nose piercing, this is extremely common. To help shrink your piercing bump down, there is nothing better than our Calm Piercing Bump Treatment Dots. Our Bump Dots are hydrocolloid protective bandages that suck fluid and gunk from the piercing bump.
We have a whole blog dedicated to piercing bumps, check it out here.
Recommended Aftercare
Our 2 Step Sterilear Piercing Spray system has been designed to provide optimum healing for ear and body piercings for the first month after your piercing and can then be used throughout the healing process to clean and care for your piercings.
- Sterilear Step 1
Use for week 1 & 2 after your piercing, this is the best spray you can use to assist in the initial stage of your nose piercing’s healing process. Spray front and back twice a day, directly over the piercing and jewellery. Spray sparingly and rinse after use. Not for oral use. External use only.
- Sterilear Step 2
From week 3, start using our Sterilear Step 2 Spray. Spray front and back twice a day directly over the piercing and jewellery. Avoid eye contact. Not for oral use. External use only. - Calm Piercing Bump Treatment Dots
As mentioned above, if you are starting to get a piercing lump or bump you should consider our Calm – Piercing Bump Dots! These are the best product to suck out the fluid and gunk, reducing inflammation. To apply these to your piercing it is important to cut a slit in the bump dot, and to carefully apply it around the piercing. This is important, as you do not want the bandage to pull on the piercing when you remove it. Keep our bump dots on overnight for best results.
Jewellery changeover
It’s important to know when your nose piercing is ready to change over. If you change over your piercing’s jewellery too early this could result in inflammation, infection and irritation. It also adds risk to how your piercing heals, and possibly the piercing closing over if done so too early.
We recommend waiting about 12 weeks before changing over your nose piercing jewellery.
When it’s time to upgrade and update your jewellery we recommend 20 gauge or 18 gauge jewellery for nose piercings.
When choosing your body jewellery check out our range in salon, and our full range on Essential Beauty Shop! You can shop from a range of nose rings, pigtail studs, l-shape studs, flatback labrets, and more! It is important to only upgrade to high quality body jewellery options, Essential Beauty & Piercing salons have a fantastic range of
If you have any concerns, talk to the Piercing Experts! Visit our piercing specialists in your local Essential Beauty salon.