Getting a new piercing is always an exciting thing to do and adds an extra touch to your look. However, it can turn into a nightmare if the piercing area becomes infected. Some people are prone to infections more than others, but you can easily keep your nose or the area you pierced healthy and avoid it. Follow these points how to clean a nose Piercing ?
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Get your nose Piercing by a Professional
It is common knowledge among people who get tattoos or piercings that there is the right way to do it and the wrong way. Go to a reputable store with experienced professionals. If you take the time and effort to go to a professional, your piercing will heal properly and quickly. In addition, a piercing professional will advise you on how to clean a nose Piercing. There are various recommendations for safe piercing.
The hollow needle. Professional piercers use hollow needles, as they are hygienic and easy to control, for a secure insertion of the jewelry that will heal quickly.
Avoid the piercing gun. Piercing guns are not recommended for nose piercings, as they are not appropriate. Secondly, piercing guns are more difficult to clean and therefore can more easily transmit an infectious virus.
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Keep your hands clean when caring for your piercing
You should wash your hands with an antibacterial soap every time you touch and clean your piercing. Your face is already greasy and this grease contains secretions from your recent piercing (clear fluid, sometimes blood) and dust on your hands can cause an infection.
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Leave the Jewelry in Place
Once you have been pierced, do not remove the piercing from your nose for at least 6 to 8 weeks, which is the typical healing time. Only remove it if there is something wrong with the size or material of the jewelry. If you want to change your jewelry during the healing time, you should contact the professional who gave you the piercing to help you do so.
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Clean your piercing regularly.
Be gentle. First, use a cotton ball or cotton swab with water to clean any small crusts that may have formed. Cleaning with alcohol or peroxide will not only kill the bacterial cells, but also the healing cells next to and in the nose. Also, do not use harsh disinfectants. The safest thing to do is to use a saline solution. Sea water is a mild and effective saline solution. Clean your nose for 5-10 minutes by soaking it in a container of saline solution at least once a day. Then, rinse your nose thoroughly with clean water to remove all traces of the saline solution, which you can make yourself with the following ingredients:
- 1/4 teaspoon non-iodized sea salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) warm distilled water
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Look for signs of infection.
Sometimes a piercing will be clearly infected. Other times, the infection is not easily identified. When you first get a piercing, there may be blood or swelling around the piercing, tenderness, bruising, itching, or a yellowish-white discharge (not pus) from the piercing. This discharge can form some crusts on the jewel, but this is normal. Knowing the difference between the normal side effects and those of an infection allows you to better treat the infection. The most common signs of an infection are
- Persistent redness or itching after the normal healing period,
- Tenderness and pain that continues after the healing period,
- A warm, burning sensation,
- A yellow-green discharge, like pus, coming out of the piercing
- A foul odor from the piercing.
How to Clean a Nose Piercing ?
Keeping the Nose piercing clean
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Be careful not to irritate your piercing.
When dressing or undressing, be careful not to snag any fabric on your piercing! Take your time so you don’t risk injury. Some people sleep on the opposite side of their piercing or use a neck pillow to avoid irritating the piercing while sleeping.
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Avoid using makeup around your piercing.
During the healing process, do not use makeup or cleansing lotions that may irritate the area and hole of your piercing. If anything does get into the piercing hole, rinse thoroughly with a saline solution.
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Avoid contact with un-sterilized water.
Lake water, private or public swimming pools, or hot springs may contain contaminants that could cause an infection on a freshly pierced nose. If your piercing comes into contact with this type of water, use a waterproof bandage and keep the piercing as watertight as possible. You should be able to find this type of bandage at any pharmacy.
Treating Infections
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Look for Symptoms.
Infection and allergic reaction have the same symptoms and the best way to recognize one from the other is to know what makes them different. An allergic reaction is different from an infection. For the former, you will feel a strong burning sensation, the piercing hole will be larger than it was at first (as if the skin is trying to pull away from the metal of the piercing), and there will be a yellowish discharge rather than a yellow-green discharge. If you think you are experiencing symptoms of an allergic reaction, you should remove your piercing immediately and seek medical attention.
Some materials cause allergic reactions, so it is best to use a quality metal made from surgical material, such as titanium, platinum, niobium or gold if it is 14 karat or higher.
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Continue the Disinfection Treatment.
Continuing to clean your piercing with soap and water or a saline solution will help remove the bacteria causing the infection. An infection in your nose piercing can be caused by several things, including external pathogens (bacteria and fungi), very small jewelry pieces, or poor hygiene. Clean your piercing regularly until it is completely healed (6-8 weeks after piercing).
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Try Home Remedies.
If you think it’s possible, try to treat your infection without going to a doctor. There are several things you can try.
“Warm saline compresses” will help blood flow to the infected area (more blood means more cells to fight the infection) and may help cure the infection faster.
“Cold compresses” will help reduce the swelling and pain felt near the infection. Just as when you bump your knee against the corner of a table, a cold compress will limit swelling. Never apply ice directly to the area of your piercing. Direct contact of the ice with the skin can damage it. Wrap a towel or cloth around the ice before applying it to the skin.
“Chamomile tea bag” compress. Make a compress with a chamomile tea bag that you have previously infused in hot water and apply to the piercing. Let it sit for about ten minutes or until the bag cools. When it is cold, soak the packet in hot water again and repeat.
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Avoid harsh disinfectants.
When cleaning your piercing regularly, you should avoid harsh disinfectants, especially on an infected area. People who have a piercing infection should avoid any lotion containing alcohol, but also tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, as their use could cause bumps and scars around the infected area.
The chemical strength of these substances will cause more discomfort with burning sensations and they will kill the cells that fight the infection.
Other antibacterial creams can potentially block airflow to the infected area and slow down the healing process. Use sparingly.
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Seek medical advice.
If your infection doesn’t show signs of improvement within a few days (a week at most), the best thing to do is to see a doctor, GP or dermatologist. However, if you cannot afford to see a doctor or specialist, ask the professional who performed the piercing.
