Nowadays, nose piercings are equally common as piercings in the ears.
Additionally, the healing process for a nose piercing takes between four and six months.
Really, it depends on the place of the nose piercing (nostril, septum, etc.) the Jewelry components, such as nickel, whether they are made of 18 or 24-karat gold, steel, stainless, titanium, or niobium, and how well you look after it.
Let’s examine the various types of nose piercings’ healing times, what you can do to ensure effective healing, and what to do if healing doesn’t go as expected.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
✅ Even though nose piercings heal a little more slowly than other popular piercings, they shouldn’t take longer than nine months.
✅ If you have any strange or uncomfortable symptoms or if healing is taking longer than nine months, consult your piercer or a healthcare professional.
Method of healing a nose piercing
Here are the phases that you might anticipate after getting a nose piercing.
Stage 1: Acceptance/inflammatory
Your body seals off the wound where the jewelry entered during the course of the first several days or weeks. It follows these steps to replace punctured tissue with fresh tissue:
- The blood around the jewelry and piercings clots and hardens.
- Collagen-rich skin and tissue are repaired by white blood cells.
- Tissue begins to bulge around the jewelry in an effort to reject the piercing. This is because the jewelry interferes with your body’s ability to fully heal, which causes it to perceive it as a foreign thing.
Around the piercing site, you could also feel the following during this phase:
- pain
- tenderness
- warmth
- bleeding
Stage 2: Regenerative/healing stage
This stage develops during the following few weeks and months when the swelling and redness on the surface become less obvious. The general breakdown of this stage is as follows:
- From one opening of the piercing to the other, your body begins to form a fistula, which is a tube-like structure made of scar tissue.
- Close to the piercing, a yellow-tinged fluid made up of lymph, blood plasma, and dead blood cells are formed. It builds up around the opening, hardening, and starts to scar.
- Discharge finally comes to an end. The creation of scar tissue is complete as the two sides of the fistula around the punctured sites begin to entirely join.
If the piercing resulted in any unanticipated stress or injury to the area, your piercing may feel quite uncomfortable over the next few weeks or months. If you experience a lot of discharge or pain, exercise extra caution.
Stage 3: the maturing or seasoning stage
The last step is this. The piercing will completely recover. You can change your jewelry or briefly take it off without endangering the piercing. It can take a few more weeks or months to finish this section.
At this point:
- The interior linings of the fistula thicken, which secures the jewelry in place and makes it simpler to take off and replace it.
- Because the tissue has completely healed, the piercing is also less prone to close. It won’t attempt to keep shutting down.
However, it’s not always the case. After removing jewelry, certain nose piercings may begin to close in less than a day. Quickly replace the jewelry to avoid this.
Healing via various piercings
Not all nose piercings recover equally quickly. The length of time it may take for each type of nose piercing to recover is broken down below.
Nostril
It typically takes 4 to 6 months for nostril piercings to recover. This may be greatly influenced by the jewelry’s type. A thin ring may soon close. It could take longer to make a thicker gauge ring or stud.
Septum
Septum piercings often heal in two to three months. Between your two nostrils is a slender layer of skin, nerves, and blood arteries called the septum. It is delicate and typically hurts more than getting your nose pierced. However, because there is less tissue for your body to rebuild, it heals more quickly.
Rhino
Healing time for rhino piercings ranges from 6 to 9 months. It takes longer than with other types of nose piercings for the tissue to properly heal since the tissue higher up on your nose is thicker.
Bridge
Bridge piercings usually recover in two to three months. Because relatively little tissue is penetrated, bridge piercings often heal significantly more quickly than other types of nose piercings. Only a small patch of skin at the top of your nose, between your eyes, is permeable to the jewelry.
Nasal
Healing time for nasallang piercings ranges from 4 to 6 months. Because they pass through both your nostrils and your septum, these piercings are complicated. Hire an expert piercer to do this one.
Best guidelines for good aftercare
You will receive thorough aftercare instructions from your piercer. Here are some general pointers for maintaining the health and cleanliness of your piercing while it heals:
- Wash your hands with soap and water before touching your nose piercing.
- Use a saline solution and warm water to rinse your piercing twice a day. Dry it off gently with a fresh towel or paper towel.
- Wash the piercing gently with unscented soap. Make sure to thoroughly rinse everything.
Evidence of inadequate healing
If you observe any of the following indications of incorrect nose piercing healing, consult your piercer or a medical professional:
- Unusually irritable itching
- redness
- development of blisters
- Dry or thick skin
- Unusual skin color
- discomfort or burning near the piercing
- Very delicate to the touch piercing
- an unpleasant odor surrounding the piercing
- discharge that is green or yellow from the piercing
At what point can you get a new nose piercing?
A nose piercing cannot be changed or removed until it has reached the end of the healing process. This implies that you could have to wait up to or longer than 8 months to replace your jewelry. You shouldn’t be experiencing any pain, tenderness, discharge, or discomfort at this point.
If you’re unsure as to whether your piercing has totally healed, consult your piercer. Removing jewelry too soon risked infection or piercing closure. Additionally, your piercer can make sure the new jewelry is put correctly.