Nose bump

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Sunday January 27th, 2008 @ 9:54 AM

Filed under: Nose

Help! I’ve had my nose pierced for 15 months. I love it, but I keep getting this blood filled growth right next to the piercing. If it’s infected why is there only a tiny amount of white gunk? It started like the 3rd month I had it. I’ve talked to the guy that pierced me a few times. He said that I was over cleaning my nose and that it would go away if I only cleaned it once a day and got lots of sleep. It’s been clear lately, but now it’s back! Is he right? Do I just need more sleep? Today I blew my nose and it opened. It took a minute or so to stop the bleeding. What do I need to do to stop this from happening? It doesn’t hurt, but it’s very ugly and annoying! Do I need to take it out and let it heal? I don’t want to, but if it stops this from repeating again, I will. Thanks for your help.

The “nose bump” happens to a large percentage of people when their nose is healing. Most commonly it shows up around the 1 month to 2 month mark, but it will sometimes show up later. The bump typically goes away after a bit of time, as your piercing heals up and becomes a little “tougher”.

The bump is not an infection…it is a build-up of fluids and skin cells that gather around the edge of the piercing. Most often, the bump is a sign of irritation…your body is unhappy with something that is going on with your piercing. Over-cleaning could be the source of irritation, but so could cleaning it with something too harsh and/or touching it too much and/or lots of other things. Getting plenty of sleep and taking good care of your body in general is a good idea when trying to heal a piercing, but I doubt that’s what’s going on in your case.

If you’ve had the piercing for 15 months, and you are still getting the bump occasionally, I would start to look at the jewelry as the potential problem. If you are wearing a nostril screw type of jewelry, it’s likely that the jewelry needs to be adjusted so it fits your nose better. If it’s too loose, it will move around which can irritate your piercing. It is also more likely to get caught on towels, shirts and bedding, which can irritate it. If the jewelry fits too tightly, that can cause a problem as well. Although, generally, if it was fitting to tightly, you would have more of a consistent problem. If you’re wearing a ring, they can be prone to getting knocked around, since they stick away from your nose, which can cause a problem. In that case, you may want to consider changing to a nostril screw/stud for a while.

It could also be that your body isn’t happy with the material the jewelry is made of and/or the quality of the jewelry. If you’re currently wearing jewelry made of stainless steel, you might want to consider changing to a titanium piece of jewelry. What you are describing isn’t a typical allergic reaction, but it could be that a slight nickel sensitivity is keeping the piercing from settling down. I’m not really sure how to advise you on the quality of the jewelry, but many piercing studios use low-quality, inexpensive jewelry that isn’t polished very well. That can definitely lead to prolonged healing and healing difficulties.

Hopefully some of this helps to at least put you in the right direction of trying to figure out what the problem is.

Good luck!

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