Hi.
First of all, I'd like to start this post by saying I have spent time going through the archive of posts on this subject. However I still have some concerns. I had my nose pierced on December 27th 2006, a nostril screw was placed in my nose and has been left in since. Like other posters here, I was told to do sea salt soaks by the piercer and I followed those instructions. Within a week I was starting to develop a small bump, which I thought was just a little pimple and ignored it.
As it started to get bigger, I tried treating it with more salt soaks and some tee trea oil. And yes, I did pick at it and pop it, which I know was a very bad choice now. It is now bigger than the jewelry in my nose and much to my embarrassment, kind of resembles a decent sized wart. I feel like a witch for crying out loud.
So far, it has changed in size slightly over the past weeks. It sometimes will get dry flakes at the top, that will come off after a hot water soak. Sometimes it gets a fluid filled head much like a pimple, especially after I put a hot compress on it. I've tried to follow the advice seen on your forum and have left it alone as much as possible. Unfortunately there are times I have bumped it or touched it in my sleep, and I'm not sure how to really prevent this from happening.
I'm concerned that if this keeps up, it will eventually become a keloid. I know I'm not in danger of this yet, but at what point should I become concerned? I don't want to just sit around and ignore it until it's at the point I need to go get a doctor to remove it from my nose. As of this afternoon, another flake came off (removed with a q-tip soaked in water) and now it is a pink color and looks kind of soft and squishy. It seems that every couple days with regular hot compresses, these flakes develop and then either fall off or are easily removed with a slight brush of a wet q-tip. I'm doing my very best to avoid touching it, bumping it or catching it on any towels etc.
So, should I just keep on doing what I am doing? I kind of feel at a loss at this point, I really just want a cute little nostril stud, not this big old lump. But I do understand I did things in the beginning that caused this issue, I'm just..frustrated. And as I said, starting to become a bit concerned.
Thank you for your time and advice.
I understand your feelings exactly. Your story is absolutely identically to mine. I got mine pierced Dec. 23 2006 and unknowingly made all those mistakes (salt water, tea tree oil, etc) because this is what my piercer recommended.
I'm at this moment walking around with a "wart" on my nose as well. It's really cramping my style and it's really horrible being self-conscious about it 24 7.
The only encouraging thing I have to say at this point is that I tried really hard to not mess with my bump at all, and it really improved!! I was very excited until I blew my nose and it flared up again.
So...I think that blowing your nose, even very gently is enough to start it all over again. So, after my relaspe I've left it alone since yesterday and it seems a little less red and it's drying out (again). I always seem to go through the cycle that you're talking about (bump looks bad, so leave it alone, starts to dry out and maybe shrinks a little, top skin flakes off, which is good, but exposes red fluid filled bump, then you seem to start all over....)
But I have to say that every time it flares up again, I can usually think of something that might have bothered it. So, I'm trying again, to REALLY leave it alone, to the point where I'm NOT blowing my nose EVER, not even touching bump with a q tip, and sleeping on my side opposite of the bump.
I'm a pretty still sleeper, so I don't think I'm doing anything in my sleep, but if you are, I heard bandaids are a bad idea, but someone suggested taping (loosly) a piece of gauze over your pierce to protect it....I'm not sure if the admin of this forum recommends this.
Anyway, I'm going to stick it out because I really want this nose stud and plus I don't think the bump will go away faster if I take it out.
I can keep you posted about my bump progress and I hope to have something encouraging to tell you, I hope you keep in touch also since our ordeals are so similar and age of piercing is the same.
If I were you, I wouldn't even touch it with a q-tip and I would go out of your way to make sure nothing bumps it, but this is easier said then done. Even if there is a big piece of skin hanging off your bump, don't take it off. I did that once, and even the slightest little peeling upset my bump and it was red and squishy like you said. It's my understanding that if it's squishy, it's full of fluid, and if it's full of fluid, i'ts irriated. No matter how big your temptation....leave it alone!!
Take heart!! I plan on beating this thing! I'm so impatient for it to GO AWAY, and it seems to take longer because you are reminded of it everytime you look in the mirror.
I hope you see improvement soon! Keep in touch.
Good luck!
Thank you very much for your reply! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one walking around with a big bump on my nose :\
I'm trying my best to leave it alone and hoping it will eventually heal on it's own. I'll definitely keep you posted and appreciate you doing the same. Maybe eventually we can have cute little nose studs instead of lumps :P
If you look at ChristiH27's thread, you will read what our recommendations are and you can follow them as well.
The most important point to remember is that leaving it alone is the best and let the body heal itself.
Hey there, shecky, how's your bump?
Mine looks a little better today, I'm going to the extreme to leave it alone and it's not as red and it's no longer the first thing you notice on my face! So that's good. I can't say it's shrunk,( It's definately not bigger and it might have shrunk the tiniest bit, but not sure) though because it's a more normal skin color, you really cant see it unless your up close to me or if the light hits it just right.
So I hope changing color is a good sign and it is starting to dry out (again).
Hope your bump is doing better
My bump has dried out some since my last post, but I can't say that it is any smaller. I'm doing my best to leave it alone, and I feel a little better now that it seems to not be so red and irritated looking. I guess we'll just have to see, I'm hoping things start to improve soon as I really am getting tired of feeling self-conscious about this damn thing.
Hope your bump gets better soon too!
If the piercing has been drying out, then it has been getting smaller. The drying out means that the fluid inside is no longer present.
Your bump is no longer as noticeable and it should continue to get better, just keep doing what we recommended.
Just wanted to send a big thank you to those of you who contributed advice. My bump has really shrunk in the past week. my boyfriend noticed the difference right away, so did my dad and he only sees me once a week or so. While it is still there, it's not the first thing that stands out when you look at me, and I no longer feel like I'm walking around with a big wart on my nose.
I'm not considering myself out of the woods just yet, but I can say that following the advice here and leaving it alone truly has helped.
My bump is still going through changes it seems. It will get large for one or two days, and then dry out and shrink for another few days. I'm guessing this is a good sign? Until recently it was pretty much always big and and didn't change much at all. I understand that when it gets big, it is probably because I have done something to upset it, but the fact it goes back down so fast seems like a positive thing to me.
Yes, when the bump does this up and down process, it means that the body is starting to deal with the bump.
Try doing some very warm water compresses for 10 minutes morning evening. This should help calm down the tissues and give the body a chance to absorb the fluid inside the bump.
Keep in touch
