About a month and a half ago I had my nipples pierced with 12 gauge (pretty sure) captive bead rings. Did the normal cleaning routine as laid out on your site, with antibacterial soap--tapering off the cleanings after a couple weeks. No problems at all for the first few weeks. However, about three weeks ago I began to notice bumps forming on either side of the piercing. These arered at first, then progress with a white head forming. These bumps then tend to "pop" in my sleep with a yellowish fluid draining and then a small scab forming. However, as soon as the scab disappears, a new bump seems to form no matter how much care I seem to take to leave the piercings alone. My situation does not seem to be uncommon based on the posts on this forum, but the usual advise seems to be to stop cleaning and leave them alone to heal. I have been doing this for a few weeks to no avail. Not sure if I should continue to wait it out, or cut my losses and remove the rings. There does not seem to be an infection (little redness and swelling and no odor), and the bumps do not seem to be getting worse, but they aren't getting better either. What do I do?
Do you sleep on your tummy? Or at least prone to sleep on your tummy? If so, this could explain why you are having this problem. Since you are not bothering them, the bumps do disappear. The yellowish discharge is from an irritation to the piercing(s). So something is irritating them on a regular basis.
If its not tummy sleeping, then please think about what you do during the daytime that may be irritating them.
Please write back with the answers so that we can assist in resolving this issue.
I have been a belly-sleeper, but since getting pierced have been sleeping on my side. Also, bra-wearing seems to irritate the rings, so I have been avoiding it as much as possible. The piercings don't hurt, I am just concerned about the unsightliness of the bumps and whether or not they will heal properly. I also have my nose pierced and had a bump for a while which eventually went away and the piercing has been fine since (have had it 2 years). So, I should just wait it out and treat them kindly? Could it be an allergy or rejection issues? Thanks so much for the input!
Since you have been a belly sleeper, there is a chance that you do turn onto your stomach during the night. This may be enough to irritate the piercings. We believe that this problem will eventually go away if you do your best not to irritate them. We do not believe that this is an allergy as you have not used descriptive words to that effect.
The issue of rejection is incorrect. Our bodies do not reject. A piercing may migrate because of overcleaning but you are not doing this; you are not moving the jewellery too much and the bumps are a result of an irritation. So do not be worried at this point, just do your best to as you put it "treat them kindly".
Take care and keep in touch
