# Infected Nose Ring Question...



## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

I got it done in the beginning of March (maybe the 3rd) so it's about 2 months old. Done at a very reputable shop, new materials, etc. I was told to clean it 4 times a day with Dial. Me being all natural and crap, I thought it was overkill and washed it once a day, rinsing it with warm water 3 or 4 times a day.

For 3 weeks it looked and felt GREAT. (only discomfort when it was really cold out or I snagged it) Then it got a swollen area around it...kinda looked like that thing Sarah Jessica Parker has on her face...not red, no irritation, just raised.

Then it started to pus out when I stuck my finger in my nose to push it up (to clean the post). Not a lot, but enough to be gross. It was yellow pus.

Then it swelled a little more and became kinda tender. The bump kinda looked open and raw on one side.

On week 6 or so, I took the ring out (it's the one with the curved post) and soaked it in alcohol, and put some oil (It's actually ear oil I bought for my son when he had an infection--it's a mixture with Almond Oil as a base, EO of TTO, Eucalyptus, Garlic and echinacea) on the bump and inside my nose. Left the ring out for 30 min, then put it back, making sure to get the oil _in_ the hole. it slid in and felt great. Next morning, the bump was about 80% gone, no redness, no pus, no pain, etc. So I used the oil about 3 times a day for two days and all was well.

Then a week later it started pussing again. Well, now we're back to the large swollen bump, and it looks really raw (almost looks like how I'd imagine it'd look if the ring got ripped out...hard to explain) and it's tender. Everytime I swab it to clean it, there's some blood, and there's dried blood around the stud. It hasn't bled since the day I got it done until now!

So i repeated my whole "remove the ring, alcohol it, oil the nose" thing last night, and this am it looks a *little* better. Noticable, but not nearly what I had hoped for.

I'm kinda pushing it by having a nose ring at work in the 1st place. Me showing up with this ugly thing on my nose, having to clean crust off it 4 or 5 times per shift sure won't help. I don't want to take it out because I love it--I was just getting to the point where I was accepting it as a part of me, yk? But I also don't want to end up with a hug or ugly scar there because the skin is so raw and open, nor do i want a bigger infection...

Should I keep up the oil? How many times a day? Should I buy some purer TTO (without the other stuff)? Should I clean it with soap? Alcohol? Take it out? Use heat? Cold?

TIA!!

Kelly


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## Kerrie (Jul 23, 2003)

When I got mine about 4 weeks ago, I was told to spray it with some salt water stuff that they gave me in an aresole can. Maybe mix up some salt water and put that on? Hope it gets better soon.


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

sounds like bad jewelry. is it titanium or 316 LVM (not just L) surgical stainless steel? also oil could be trapping infection in there. the best thing to do would be sea salt soaks (assuming the jewelry is decent). take 1/8 a teaspoon of sea salt and mix it with hot water. it should be as salty as your tears, too much salt can be drying. apply this to a cottonball and hold it on your piercing for 5-10 minutes. rinse off completely. do this a couple times a day. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR PIERCING. ever. with your hands. with salt soaks you shouldn't need any soap either. good luck and feel free to IM if you have any questions. H2ocean is a product that is similiar to this, but homemade salt soaks work just as well as long as you don't make it too strong.

i posted this in your other thread.


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## moondiapers (Apr 14, 2002)

Sounds like your body is rejecting it. Is it make of nickel silver or surgical steel?


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

You know what...? That sounds like it could be it, because it kinda looks like the way my back looked when my body was rejecting the inner sutures and "spitting then out". The rawness I mean.

I hate to admit, but I forgot what kind of metal the post is. I'll call the shop and ask them...hope they use the same metal for all piercings, because I chose this one out of a bunch of others....

I'll go ccall them now. In the meantime, do you think if I changed metals, that would help? (and where do I buy good nose rings...all the ones I've seen are the thin little $3 pieces of crap...)

Kelly


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

NO ALCOHOL!!!!! It will dry it out and cause more problems.

Do sea salt soaks and some titanium jewelry like mothra said and get some Vitamin E oil. You don't need to clean it as often as they told you either.

Your piercing isn't healed yet so don't take out your jewelry. You could go to a shop to get the new stud and they can put it in for you.

It sounds a lot like what mine did.


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

I just called. It's surgical steel. She said to leave it in, that my body wouldn't be rejecting it after this long, and to use TTO. (but the stitches I rejected took a good 3-4 weeks to start to reject...)

I should get titanium you think? Just call around to diff shops and see who sells titanium nose rings? Are those more expensive?

I'll def pick up some sea salts today....


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## perl (Jan 17, 2006)

I third (fourth? whatever) the sea salt soaks. I got lazy with mine and stopped doing them and it got kinda gross. Now I do them every other day and it's doing great. I'd keep off any soaps, oils, alcohol, or anything else. Just do the soaks (you can also blow nose bubbles - fun!) morning and night then gently wipe with a water-moistened q-tip. Really, in dealing with the piercings, less is more. Plus, the salt is a natural antibacterial. Hope your nostril is better soon!!


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## its_our_family (Sep 8, 2002)

Just an FYI-- As a peircing is healing crust is normal. My nose ring is just now healed, I had issues like you, and it jsut now stopped crusting during the day.

So, don't let the crust freak you out!


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## talk de jour (Apr 21, 2005)

Stop messing with it, first. Stop putting all of the irritant chemicals in it and stop touching it, taking it out, turning it, anything. It will be fine by itself.

Soak the area with a solution of sea salt in water (the proper ratio will taste like tears) three times a day and rinse.

Also look into getting titanium jewelry, plain-colored with no paint or coating.


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## SleepyMamaBear (Jun 5, 2005)

also. i second, third fourth and fifteenth the sea salt soaks. BEST thing for piercings.
my nostril only healed when i had a CBR in it thats a nose RING not a nose "stud"
and the surgical stainless steel should be grade 316 or higher. TI might help too.


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

Okay...so where do i get the titanium from? I don't have to work till 3 tomorrow, so I can go to a few places during the day.

Dumb question (probably), but can I get titanium with a small stone on it? Or does it have to be a ring? I'm almost positive my job will not let me have a ring (hoop).

Thanks,
Kelly


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## Rmeg (Jul 8, 2005)

....


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## talk de jour (Apr 21, 2005)

For titanium, I'd either look online or at a body piercing shop. You're very unlikely to find it at a place like Hot Topic or Claire's.

You can get a stone if the stud is 100% titanium and the stone is backed with it so nothing but titanium actually touches your nose.

One more thing -- try to get a nose SCREW instead of a nose BONE. A screw is straight, and you bend it inside the nostril to keep it on (if this sounds tricky, get a piercer to do it), and a bone has a small ball on the end that keeps it on inside your nose. That ball can tear and injure cartilage whenever the jewelry is pulled on, removed, or inserted.

Here's a few Ti nose screws:

http://www.tonguestud.com/Catalog/ca...=Search+%3E%3E


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

there is a huge difference between 316 L SSS and 316 LVM. 316 LVM is a much higher grade of metal (lower nickel content). i can't think of anywhere off the top of my head on long island to recommend, but if you feel like driving to the city there are some great shops.


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

A screw is what I have. And what I'd like to stay with.

Mothra--I would *never* drive to the city! But next time I take the train there, I'll maybe PM you and you can hook me up to some good places.

Thanks guys! I'll call around and see who has the titanium nose screws and try and find a good one.









Kelly


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## ombra*luna (May 1, 2003)

Wish I had some advice for you, but mine never got infected so I really don't know. (Plus I had it done all wrong, and probably did everything wrong pretty much, a long time ago.)

I know when my dd had hers done a few years ago, the piercer (who is very good) said to soak in sea salt (as other posters have written) so I would go with that. I think at first, he also had her put Bactine on it, but I'm pretty sure that was only for the first week or so.

Hope it works out for you!


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## LISSA~K (Jun 30, 2005)

I know that hydrogen peroxide is kinda icky, but that's what they recommended back when I got mine pierced. Mine never fit right though, almost like it was on an exposed nerve or something. If I moved it, it would send a sharp cold stab through my upper teeth. So I took it out and now have just had the leftover half closed up hole for the past 10 years


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

I was told to never put peroxide on it....hmmm

Talk de jour---Those nose screws on the webiste (I love them)--do you know if they come screwed, or straight? I'd like to order some but I'd have no way of bending them properly myself.

Kelly

PS-It's looking much better with salt soaks once a day. Bump is still there, but smaller and not red or irritated at all.


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## lauraess (Mar 8, 2002)

Cookie> I hope it heals well for you. I also had a lot of trouble with mine for months and the bump too. I really really loved it, even had a hoop which is what the piercing place only used for noses at the time and got somewhat used to that. But the day before i went into labor my stud came out accidently and because of my sinus inflamation being preggers and all i could not get it back in.








I always want to try again but am chicken to deal with all that again.


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## Altair (May 1, 2005)

i second the sea salt soaks. (make sure to rinse with clean water).

also, temporarily take extra zinc.

don't EVER move around the ring when it's crusty. you will re-break the skin. don't touch the ring at all.


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## sammysmammy (Nov 21, 2002)

I've had mine done for about 5 years now,without much trouble at all.Normally I wear the studs that have a short shaft with the small "bulb"on the end.It's kind of a pain(literally)pushing that bulb through to get it in,but they don't come out easily then.Actually,I have a relatively new ring in now and it's a small hoop.My friend who's also active here at MDC(oldermamatofive)had hers done and had quite a bit of trouble.Frequent and diligent salt soaks and I think some Doc Bronners is what got her through.

Good Luck!


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## chicabanana (May 25, 2006)

hello, i have my nose peirced and the exact same thing happened to me! it wouldn't heal, i used saline, i used salt and mixed it in water. it keeped pussing up and it got so bad that i would use rubbing alcohol and pop the puss out with a needle. i know i know i know...your not supposed to do this but i was over 3 months and it wouldn't heal. i decieded to go to a different piercer and ask someone elses advice. they told me right off the bat that i had cheap jewelry. i had not idea. i have my belly button peirced for over 6 years and it's a steal pericing and i've never had a problem with it. well they had to remove my pericing out and replace it with a better quality jewelry. so whether you leave it alone or not your body probably doesn't like the metal...you need to either get a silver or gold jewelry do it soon...or you will have a terrible scar from this! when i changed the jewelry it healed within a week and it didn't puss at all....so i KNOW it was the jewelry. hope this help! i've had my peircing for 2 years now and no problems.


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## CarrieMF (Mar 7, 2004)

I hope changing the metal helps. I had mine done 13years ago, improperly of course I was 17 and hadn't researched anything. I did it because back then nobody had them. I never had problems with mine other than the first night taking mine out in my sleep and then spending 30minutes laying on the bathroom floor(in case I passed out) putting it back in. A friend of mine who had hers done at the same time had nothing but problems with hers.


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