Piercing is a really common thing that people all across the world experience. It is just like adding an element to your personality with some accessories. When you pierce your nose, ears, or any other part of your face, it is really important to take good care of that area. If you have recently got yourself or your kid pierced, you need to be responsible. If the right care is not given, there are major chances of getting the infection. So you need to know how to take care of the piercing and clean the nose piercing.
What is an Infected Nose Piercing?
When you pierce your ear or nose, you create a puncture that needs time to get healed. In many cases, this puncture heals in some time, and the skin gets back to normal. However, this does not happen with everyone. In many cases, people get infected, and the skin worsens. Infection majorly happens when you don’t take good care of your piercing. The general symptoms of the infection are unusual pain in the area that has piercing, bleeding, and the area taking a lot of time to heal. By infection, we mean that the microorganisms had started growing in that area and spreading around. Infection can worsen as it generally happens when you keep your piercing wound open in pollution and dirt, and you don’t know how to clean your nose piercing thoroughly.
Symptoms of an Infected Piercing
With the following symptoms, you can easily identify if the piercing is infected or not. If you observe any of these, you must pay attention and try to heal them as soon as possible.
1. Pain
When your pierced area catches an infection, it becomes red and tender. Experiencing pain around the area is normal. If you start feeling any pain around your nose piercing and find it unusual, then it’s an infection.
2. Bumps Around the Area
Bumps are another common symptom through which you can find out if the area is infected. But you need to ensure that the bumps are red only. If there are bumps around the pierced area, but it is not red, they might be because of irritation. Bumps due to irritation can be treated with any soothing gel.
3. Redness
When the pierced area gets infected, it usually turns red completely. And that entire red area pains a lot. So if you are suffering from something like this with your piercing, it’s an infection.
4. Fever
If your infection is severe, which means advanced stage, then there are chances that you might get a fever because of all the pain. If you find fever and pain, it is high time you consult a doctor and get this one treated. The above situation can even lead to other health issues.
5. Bleeding
Bleeding is nothing new when you get your ears or nose pierced, but it is really important to see that it’s not normal if you are bleeding for a long time. If the bleeding doesn’t stop immediately after the piercing, there is some issue. Treating the same with the right medication is a convenient way to ensure no bleeding can bother you.
6. Swelling
Swelling can also be seen around the infected area. Mostly when you get your nose pierced, swelling happens. This swelling lasts for a maximum of 3 days. But even after three days, if your swelling is not going, it is something to worry about.
7. Discharge
In most infections, you will see a yellow-white kind of discharge that also has a foul smell. If the swelling is there and you feel that you are getting some yellow, brown, or gray discharge, then it’s the infection.
Why Does This Infection Catch the Piercing?
In common words, the infection occurs when the microorganisms like fungi or bacteria attack your piercing area. But the question is, how does this happen, and in what conditions do they attack. So first, let’s check out the reasons behind the infections.
1. Unsterilized Tool for Piercing
It is very important to check hygiene, especially if you are doing something around your skin like piercing. Your skin is, anyways, really very sensitive. If the tool used for the piercing is not sterilized or clean enough, then there are higher chances of your catching the infection. This infection transmits from person to person easily if unclean tools are used.
2. Using Wrong Metal
It is really important to pick the right metal for your jewelry pieces. Though we don’t pay much attention there, it is always recommended to avoid cheap jewelry pieces as these cheap jewelry items are made up of nickel which is not good for the skin. When you wear any nickel jewelry piece, it will lead to irritation. When you continue to scratch your skin because of irritation, you will tear it off. If your skin is torn off, the germs will get in the way to enter your skin and cause infection and this is the time when you will get to see all the symptoms of an infection.
3. Using Public Swimming Pools
Many of us are careless in taking care of the piercing well. As a result, we end up jumping in swimming pools at a time when the piercing is not even healed. When we don’t wait for the piercing to heal, the germs in the water attack the piercing and cause infection. When your piercing catches the infection, you scratch your skin because of irritation. This is when the situation gets worse.
4. Touching Unhealed Piercing
When you get your ear pierced, it is your responsibility to be careful about it. You don’t have to touch your piercing unnecessarily. However, it is always suggested to avoid touching the piercing repeatedly. This is because our hands usually carry germs that can be passed on to the piercing and cause infection.
Treatment of Infected Nose Piercing
If you just got your nose pierced and you can observe all the symptoms of infection, then it is high time to take the right medication and treat it. The infection can worsen and causes many issues if not treated on time. So let’s see the most preferred treatments in case of piercing infections.
Medication
If you want to treat the problem with medication, then, first of all, you need to visit your skin doctor and take consultancy. It is suggested to avoid taking any medicine on your own. Still, if you are experiencing pain, the best medicine for quick relief is a pain killer. Pain killers help you to get instant relief from pain. Moreover, you can always take antibiotics. These are one of the best solutions to any infection as they help fight germs and heal the infection easily. Antibiotics can treat any symptoms, including swelling, discharge, redness, etc.
Use Alcohol on the Pierced Area
Alcohol acts as the strongest sanitizer. Therefore, it is best to rub Alcohol on that area from time to time on your piercing. This helps you keep the germs away, and they don’t attack the area. You can rub the area from Alcohol with a swab at least twice a day.
Apply Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree oil is another most used home remedy to treat the infected area. Tea tree oil contains antiseptic properties, which are good to fight any infection. You can apply it to the infected area and see the wonders. It works amazingly and gives instant results.
Use Sea Salt
There are a lot of different and expensive disinfectants available on the market, but the best and most cost-effective among them is sea salt. Using the sea salt solution on your piercing every day at least twice to avoid any infection is suggested. This helps keep your ear clean. You can make your salt solution by adding the sea salt to the water and then give a compress to the pierced area with a cotton ball. There are ready-made solutions also available for sea salt in the market. You can pick any of them too.
How to Clean a Nose Piercing?
You can easily avoid a nose piercing infection if you clean it clearly and perfectly. Moreover, it is super easy to do so. Hence, you have no excuse to be irresponsible this time. Let’s look at the steps to know how to clean nose piercing, when to clean it, and what products to use.
1. Clean Twice a Day
Talking about nose piercing cleaning, you need to be very particular about cleaning it twice a day until it is healed. Cleaning is important and does it two times a day, no more or no less than that. Twice is because if you keep your piercing dirty, it can cause infection, but if you clean it too much, this can also lead to irritation and, hence, cause issues in healing. Hence, it is suggested to be very particular about cleaning the area twice a day.
2. Use the Salt Solution to Clean
The best way to clean your piercing is with the salt solution. Sea salt is the best kind of disinfectant. You can mix the sea salt, which is non-iodized in the water, and then use it to clean the area. Moreover, you can also buy this saline solution from any medical store as it is easily available.
3. Clean your Hands Before Cleaning the Piercing
When you clean your piercing, you have to touch the area with your hands. As mentioned above, our hands have a lot of germs on them, and hence it is always a big no to touch the piercing with your hands without cleaning them. So, before you start cleaning the piercing with the salt solution, the first step is to clean the germs by washing your hands. After that, you can also use sanitizer to avoid even minimal chances of getting an infection.
4. Clean the Area with a Cotton Ball
Cotton balls come in handy to clean your nose piercing. First, you use one cotton ball to clean the piercing once and then throw it, so there is no chance of catching germs or infection. Now, as you have the saltwater ready, you have to dip the cotton ball in the water, squeeze it a bit and then put it on the pierced area for 3-4 minutes. Repeat this 2-3 times to get the perfect cleaning.
5. Use a Tissue to Dry the Area
Once you are done cleaning the piercing, now is the time to get it dry. It is always suggested to pat dry the piercing only with a clean tissue after cleaning it and then throw the tissue away. This ensures that no bacteria are touching your piercing with the tissue. Also, always avoid using any towel for pat drying the area as the towel contains a lot of bacteria since we use it on different body parts. You might find some crust that is there on the piercing. It would help if you left it the way it is and did not remove it like this. How your body protects the piercing from catching an infection.
6. Apply Lavender Oil to the Area
When you are done cleaning the area, you need to top it up with some lavender oil. Lavender oil helps a lot in healing. You can heal fast if you apply lavender oil after cleaning the piercing. You should prefer using a cotton swab or cotton ball to apply the oil. Lavender oil is generally available in different chemist stores from where you can buy one for yourself. Also, when you use fibers like a cotton ball or swab to apply the oil, remove the residual immediately if it gets caught in your piercing.
7. Know What to Avoid
When your skin is just pierced, one needs to be very careful about what to use and what not to. As your skin is super sensitive, using any harsh antiseptic can even lead to a worse situation. Never use the products like Bactin or hydrogen peroxide to clean your piercing until the dermatologist recommends it. These antiseptics are hard for your skin and irritate.
8. Keep Away the Cosmetics
When your nose is pierced, it is strictly suggested to avoid contact with makeup, sunscreen, or any other cosmetic. These products end up clogging your piercing, and in the end, this can cause infection. So, strictly avoid using any makeup around the nose area when you just got pierced.
9. Don’t Remove the Nose Ring
You should not remove the nose ring or stud until your piercing is healed. It is very important to keep them the way they are to avoid issues like closed piercing. Yes, the piercing gets closed right after you remove the nose ring if it is not healed. And when you try to put the stud back into the piercing, it will hurt and cause infection. So you should take care of it.
10. Don’t Sleep On Dirty Pillows
Make sure your pillowcase is clean. You should change it often to ensure no dust is left on it that causes bacteria. If the pillow has bacteria on it, you have a major chance of catching an infection as you sleep on that pillow overnight. Therefore, it is requested to change the pillow cover as frequently as possible and clean it to avoid infection.
Final Words
All the above details about nose piercing will help you know the causes of infection, treatments of the same, and mostly how you can clean nose piercing. Following the above steps and instructions will ensure no infections in your piercing.
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