Stubborn bump.
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Friday February 8th, 2008 @ 1:50 PM
Filed under: Nose
Roughly 1 month ago, I snagged my 1 month old nostril stud on my sheet, and developed ‘the bump’. I immediately began chamomile tea compresses 2-3 times a day and did that for 2 weeks without noticing any real change. 2 weeks after snagging it, I was at my piercing shop buying some jewelry and one of the piercers told me that I should be doing sea salt soaks for about 20 mins daily, so I started doing the sea salt soaks along with one chamomile tea soak a day, and washing my piercing once a day with Neutrogena soap. It started to get better at first, but then it actually got much bigger. After a full week of the sea salt soaks, after I got out of the shower one day the bump burst and started oozing pus, which I squeezed out and then cleaned. I kept doing the sea salt soaks for another week (2 weeks total) without noticing a change. I went to see my piercer again and they told me to try helichrysum water , which I have been using 3 times a day for 15 mins each time since Monday, and it would definitely clear up in 2 weeks. The bump got a hard covering on it which flaked off when I scratched my nose yesterday, but nothing else has changed. I’m going to keep doing the helichrysum water compresses for another week, but if nothing changes, what’s my next step?
Here’s a picture of the bump. I have a 14g nose elbow in it now.
Well, you’ve certainly been through a wide range of things you could try…and there are probably lots of other things you could try. However, my instinct is that none of the other things you are going to try would be the magical solution either.
You probably aren’t going to like my advice, but I would suggest you take out the jewelry, let things settle down, and have it re-pierced at a later time. While it’s true that “the bump” isn’t uncommon with nose piercings, yours is different in a couple of ways:
1) The sheer size of it. While I have seen a few larger than yours, it’s definitely larger than “average”
2) Yours seems to have obviously been caused directly by some trauma
Given the length of time you’ve been dealing with it, and the myriad of things you’ve tried, and nothing has produced much improvement, I think removing it is your best option. One you remove the jewelry, you will have gotten rid of the thing that is irritating your body and keeping it from healing the bump. Things should start to settle down quickly.
I have to admit, I’m not sure exactly what type of jewelry a “nose elbow” is…or at least I’m unfamiliar with that term.
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5 Responses to “Stubborn bump.”
My guess is that a “nose elbow” is an “L” shaped nostril stud.
Jess on February 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pmActually, 3 weeks of helichrysum water did the trick! It started improving, and healed completely!
Kirby Gray on February 9th, 2008 at 5:45 pmI have the bump,tried cleaning it more,cleaning it less,tea tree oil,sea salt,changed to an elbow last night along with the baby asprin paste. What is helichrysum water,Where can you find it and how do you use it???????????????
kristy on April 11th, 2008 at 11:05 amI’m wondering the same thing. I have that bump on 1 of my ear piercings, and want to get rid of it… So what’s the helichrysum water, and the procedure for using it?
Jeff on December 25th, 2008 at 7:20 pmHelichrysum water is a floral water prepared from several varieties of the Helichrysum plant, also known as the “strawflower” and “everlasting.” The usual variety is Helichrysum italicum, and you can find helichrysum water at some health food stores or shops that stock aromatherapy and essential oils. Helichrysum water is reputed to be good for healing scars and keloids, but it’s best you talk to your piercer and you doctor before you start using it or anything else, for that matter.
Nahshon on April 2nd, 2009 at 1:35 pmLeave a Comment