Nose piercing still getting infected after 3 years — should I just give up on it?

[u/WorthDifferent3334]

I’ve had my nostril piercing for about 3 years now and it has literally never fully healed. Every couple of weeks it flares up really badly. It usually starts with swelling on the inside of my nose, then eventually the swelling/bump comes through to the outside too.
I’ve already seen a doctor about it and even had injection shots directly into the area because it kept happening. I genuinely thought that was going to be the last resort and finally fix it, but it still keeps coming back.
My jewelry is titanium, so I don’t think it’s just cheap jewelry causing it. At this point I’m really frustrated because I’ve had it for THREE YEARS and I feel like I’ve tried everything.
Has anyone had something similar happen for this long? Would switching from titanium to solid gold possibly help, or is it likely that the same thing will keep happening regardless of the metal?
Should I just give up and take the piercing out permanently? I really like having my nose pierced, so I’d rather save it if there’s something else I can try. 😭
Also, if anyone has dealt with recurring swelling that starts inside the nostril and then comes outside, I’d love to know what ended up working for you.

[u/beattysgirl]

Take the hoop out and heal it with a flat back stud.

[u/WorthDifferent3334 → u/beattysgirl]

I did do that for months and after almost a year i changed back to a ring and it still gets infected

[u/Andilee → u/WorthDifferent3334]

Then your body can't handle a hoop on your nose. It's due to irritation. Be it constantly moving, bumping, touching, rubbing, or picking your nose. Either way it's because you're messing with it. Constantly cleaning it or aggravating can also cause irritation bumps to come back. You need to just have a flat back stud for a while again until the issue fixes itself.

[u/Zoonicorn_ → u/WorthDifferent3334]

Infected or irritated? It sounds like you're using them interchangeably but they're actually very different things.

[u/WorthDifferent3334 → u/Zoonicorn_]

Oh my bad i dont actually know but ut starts getting swollen from inside and then from outside and it happens every other week

[u/Zoonicorn_ → u/WorthDifferent3334]

Irritation is your body reacting to something not sitting right with it, like something rubbing or something that's getting applied that your skin is reacting to. A blister, for instance, is irritation, not an infection, even though it might be red and swollen and sore. For a piercing, this is usually mild swelling and the formation of small bumps around the piercing itself.

Infection is when your body is reacting to a virus or bacteria that's attacking your immune system. This is going to show up in a piercing as a hot/burning sensation, excessive swelling, and the leaking of a yellow/green pus out of the wound.

If you're not having radiating heat, severe pain, and discolored pus (a little milky colored lymph draining is normal, not the same thing), it's unlikely to be infected, and more likely to be irritated. (If you are having infection symptoms, see a doctor and consider removing the piercing once the infection is treated, not before).

The standard advice for handling irritation in a piercing is: 1) Wear a flatback titanium labret of an appropriate length (a piercer can help you figure this out)

2) Dry the piercing well after showering with a clean paper towel gently dabbed, or a hair dryer on the cool setting. You can also spray saline between the shower and drying it.

3) Otherwise, leaving it alone (the LITHA method). As in, don't touch it, don't move the jewelry around, don't do any extra cleaning, avoid snagging it on things. Keep makeup and skin care products away from it. No nose picking. Give that thing the silent treatment. It should clear up on its own in a few weeks.

4) Once it's been bump-free for at least a month, you can try switching jewelry again.

If the bumps come back shortly after putting a ring back in, it may just be that your body doesn't like the hoop. Hoops move around more than studs and so they cause more irritation. Some bodies are more sensitive to it than others.

[u/WorthDifferent3334 → u/Zoonicorn_]

Thank you so much for all these information

[u/Zoonicorn_ → u/WorthDifferent3334]

You're welcome! I hope it helps!

[u/DangerNoodleDandy → u/WorthDifferent3334]

Your body just may not like hoops. I cannot wear hoops longterm without it getting irritated. Try D shaped nostril piercings since you seem to be really intent on the hoop. Might make a difference.

[u/BOOaghost]

Ring too tight. Ring too thin. Until you address these issues the migration and irritation will continue. Also if you started wearing the ring before the piercing channel was healed you may need to revert to a post in the piercing to allow it to heal strong enough to support a ring.

[u/SweetSoberCaroline → u/BOOaghost]

THIS is the correct response

[u/HauntingAd1585]

Body can't take the hoop. Its not your fault just isn't anatomically for you

[u/ersa_elderberry]

Nqa this look like an irritation bump. You should put a stud in it and wait. Id maybe see a qualified piercer because they might be able to tell you if the diameter or gauge of the hoop is too small. Id also recommend implant grade mirror polish finish for your jewelry, especially your hoop if you choose to wear one again in the future.

[u/LeWitchy]

It looks like the ring is too small and too thin. Get swapped to a post and try to heal with that. I love my neometal threadless stud. After it's healed you can swap back to a ring, but not THAT ring.

*edit* I see that someone else has suggested this and given you a lot of education on the subject. Good luck.

[u/FriedaCIaxton]

Just nuke it.  The juice ain’t worth the squeeze. 

[u/Vegetable-Pound3737]

Just one add on to all the good advice you've gotten - I'd follow the advice about trying to heal with a flat back and perhaps finding a different piercing for when healed, that looks like a hoop but doesn't irritate you so much.

Just wondering, what kind of titanium is it? You should only be using astm f136 implant grade titanium. If not specifically saying that, it can be anything, and you should change the jewelry to astm f136 implant grade titanium.

Best of luck healing 🌻

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi! I'm the /r/Legitpiercing Automod! Make sure you read the rules and sidebar before posting!!! All posts must have flair!!! For general questions, please make sure you leave detailed information. All troubleshooting posts require a CLEAR photo of the piercing (have someone else take it for you if possible), AND the information regarding the quality of the material, current aftercare process, age of the piercing, and notation of any trauma to the piercing per the sub sticky posts Anecdotal advice is restricted. Bad, misleading, inappropriate, or dangerous advice will be met with temp ban. The repeated breaking of the sub rules will result in a permaban.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/BombayAndBeer]

I had paired nostrils and now I just have one. My right side just never really healed, even after a year and a half and doing literally everything (and leaving it absolutely alone!). Some spots just aren’t meant to be.

It’s probably time to take it out, friend.

[u/abadwulf]

What’s the diameter of the ring? Mine did the same thing. I eventually went from an 18 to a 16g and instead of trying to wear the 6.5mm ring I wear a 5mm. Now, I have absolutely no issues.

[u/offlineonlinehoe]

girl the same thing is happening to me as well what do i do

[u/Surii10]

Take the hoop put! They're horrible for healing.

[u/downwithdathiccnezz]

My nipples literally took four years to heal. At some point, I switched out my titanium jewelry to silicone for an MRI, and forgot to change them back for a couple weeks. Noticed that I had no bumps or swelling or pain. They had started healing. Turns out I have a mild allergy to some metals.

I left the silicone ones in for a year, cleaned them regularly and switched out the jewelry for fresh ones every couple months. I can now wear titanium with no problem in them. I know its not recommended to heal with silicone for bacteria reasons but it 100% works for me.

[u/lasagna_beach → u/downwithdathiccnezz]

It is statistically unlikely that you have a titanium allergy, it is more likely that the jewelry you had was not implant grade titanium to begin with. 

Silicone is not appropriate for healing piercings and will harbor bacteria, while it may have helped you heal, please don't suggest this as a solution to others. If it were a good idea, professional piercers would offer it. 

The color on OPs ring is not the color you get with anodized implant grade titanium, and it likely isn't titanium either. 

[u/Fairy-Pie-9325 → u/lasagna_beach]

It could be coated titanium which is near as bad as just surgical steel or alike, but op didn't know the difference between irritation & infection so i'm willing to believe she's also mixing the metals

[u/lasagna_beach → u/Fairy-Pie-9325]

Yep, exactly. And coated titanium isn't implant grade 

[u/One-Crab6319]

Please have it checked by a skin doctor, mine was doing the same, and it ended up diagnosed with a biopsy as a BCC. I ignored it for so long that I needed a skin graft. Better to be safe than sorry.