It depends on the person, i.e. how well they heal overall and how their scar tissue forms, and also on how long the piercing has been in. The longer you’ve had the piercing for, the longer it’ll take to close up. It also depends on the placing of the piercing, for example a nostril piercing would close faster than a septum.
Any piercing that is freshly pierced, will and could close in a matter of minutes or hours.
- A nostril piercing that is pierced within 6 months, will close extremely fast in a matter of days. For a fully healed nostril piercing, once you take it out, the hole will close in a month or more (in several weeks).
- A septum piercing, if empty, will close in around half a year, or within 8 months. A bridge piercing will close in around 10 weeks maximum.
The Location Of Your Piercing Matters
According to Ouellette, the location of your piercing can definitely make a difference. “The act of piercing creates a channel through the skin. During healing your body produces epithelial skin cells along the jewelry from the outside-in,” he tells me. “Once the new cells have formed]all the way along the length of the piercing they mature into a fistula which is basically a tube. Once fully matured, fistulas can stay open for months or years after the jewelry has been]removed and some fistulas mature thicker and heartier than others.”
Ouellette explains, for example, that a fistula on a navel or nipple can stay open much longer than a nostril because the interior of the nasal cavity is lined with mucosa. Guess I know why that navel piercing has become permanent, am I right?
Healing/proliferative stage
This stage happens during the next few weeks and months after the swelling and redness becomes less visible on the surface. Here’s a general breakdown of this stage:
Your body starts making a tube-like structure out of scar tissue, called a fistula, from one opening of the piercing to the other.
A yellow-tinged fluid consisting of lymph, blood plasma, and dead blood cells is produced near the piercing. It gathers around the opening, hardening and beginning the scarring process.
Discharge eventually stops. The two sides of the fistula around the pierced areas start to fully connect, completing the scar tissue formation.
Your piercing may feel really tender for these few weeks or months if the piercing caused some unexpected damage or trauma to the area. Be especially careful if you notice a lot of discharge or pain.
I Need to Take My Piercing out, but I Don’t Want It to Close Up
Young nose piercings — less than a year — can close very quickly. Having it in for less than a year means the fistula is still thin and weak. Your nose piercing can close within a matter of minutes or hours.
The Hole Is Still Visible, but the Jewelry Won’t Go In
You still see the puncture, but it seems to have closed up from the inside. How come? If you recently got the piercing in the last couple of months, it can close up in less than a day. Why is this?
The inside of your nostrils is lined with mucous membranes that seal up quickly once the jewelry has been removed. The hole on the outside, however, will remain open longer. That’s because the outside of your nose has no protective lining and is drier. Don’t be surprised if the external hole stays open for years.
If you’ve had your piercing for years, you’ve allowed it to heal and develop a strong fistula. This can leave you with a semi-permanent hole in your nostril for years. It’ll become a tiny scar that resembles an enlarged pore. Fully-developed fistulas can grow to be strong and mighty and stay open for years.
Will a nose piercing leave a permanent hole?
It is possible to keep your nose piercing lasting forever, but there is one catch – you have to wear the piercing once in a while after it is healed of course. This will hinder the speeding of the hole closing. In the months of healing, the jewelry has to stay inside at all times, preferably. After that, ensure ‘maintenance’ whenever you can by inserting the piercing occasionally.
The Age Of The Piercing Can Have An Effect
As long as your piercing has completely healed and remained healthy, the length of time since you were in that piercer’s chair will likely affect how quickly it closes. Ouellette cautions that there isn’t a guarantee it will remain open with jewelry installed, but typically, the older the piercing the slower the close.
Is It Safe to Re-Pierce?
Your nose piercing has closed up, and you really miss it. We’ve all been there. If your old piercing was scarred and you want to re-pierce that same location, it might be risky.
Scar tissue isn’t as strong as healthy tissue. If that scarring is because your body rejected the first piercing, don’t pierce it again. This can cause bacteria and oil to build up in the old location and the piercing will never look as good as virgin skin. Irritation Will Mess With Closing Time
If a piercing is irritated it may close up much faster once the jewelry is removed. According to Ouellette, that can even happen on the same day because of the inflammation and discharge that problematic piercings usually have. “Both those [factors] keep a healthy fistula from maturing,” Ryan explains. Of course, once your piercing has become irritated, it’s best to consult a piercing professional before you remove your jewelry to be on the safe side.
Not All Piercings Will Close On Their Own
Unfortunately, not every piercing will fully close by itself. For example, some people can go years without wearing earrings without the holes fully closing. Ouellette explains that this “is because the lobe heals a very tough fistula and this isn’t limited to the earlobe — if a piercing forms a mature fistula it will tighten over time, but [it] may not fully ‘close’ for quite some time.” So if you really want to get daring with your piercing, stick to the earlobes.
Summary
It might seem unbelievable that a piercing you’ve had for almost a year can close up in a few hours. Piercing your body isn’t a natural thing, so your body will do its best to try to remove the piercing from it. The healing process is a fight against your body’s instincts. Kind of cool, huh? That’s why it’ll jump at the first chance to close up the wound.
If your piercing is fresh, it can close up in a matter of minutes. If you’ve had it for less than a year, you can expect it to close up within a few hours or days. The inside of the hole can close up rather quickly, even if you’ve had the piercing for years.
Sophie
Sophie is a fashion&jewelry lover. She is also a fashion jewelry manufacturer that helps thousands of small businesses to grow and also do business with some big fashion jewelry brands. She is a true jewelry expert and she will keep sharing some information you are looking for.
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