Before changing out your nose piercing, you must make sure it’s completely healed. A nostril piercing usually takes 2-3 months to heal sufficiently enough for the jewelry to be removed. Once you’re confident the piercing has finished healing, you can proceed to change out the jewelry.
Unfortunately, nose piercings take longer to heal than most other common piercings. The reason has to do with your circulatory system, there isn’t much blood flowing into nostril cartilage, and this slows down healing times.
When Can I Change My Nose Piercing Rings?
If you have a pierced septum, you can expect it to heal a bit quicker. About 6-8 weeks.
| After Nose Piercing Times | Description |
|---|---|
| After One Day | Most definitely not. It is almost unthinkable that you could be able to even touch it on the first day. the amount of swelling and throbbing pain on your face could not let you change it even if you tried. |
| After 2 Days | This is still a no-go zone. Though about 48 hours after piercing impact, you are still suffering from some minor headaches or migraines most probably on the side you got your piercing. There is no way anyone is going close to that piercing at this stage. Even cleaning it is a challenge. |
| After One Week | There is bound to be swelling still evident and your nose may have a bit of a flush color with all the extra throbbing going on around it. If you truly hate your piercing, changing your it now is maybe possible if you consult your clinician. By no means are you allowed to try anything yourself because if all you want is a change of the ring, it’s possible? Just be ready for the pain. |
| After 3 Weeks | At this stage, the piercing has become a normal thing and you barely notice it. Maybe if you tug at it with your sweater, you will feel some sharp pain that will cause you to tear up. There is increased crusting. Changing your piercing at this stage is possible too but it will no doubt cost you financially and in some physical pain as well. |
| After 4 Weeks | This is not so different from week 3. Maybe, just maybe, based on your DNA you heal better than most and you feel confident that you can take out your nose ring for a while, you could go for it. Remember that no one knows you more than you do, so only you should be in control of how much you try. Just remember nose piercings could close up in minutes. it is painful to get it redone. |
| After 6 Weeks | No. Ideally, the length of time to wait to change your first nose ring is 6 months. So, at 6 weeks, the most you can do is clean it. If you must change the piercing, consult your clinician, and follow their instructions. |
Healing Times By Types Of Nose Piercing
Not all nose piercings heal at the same rate. Here’s the breakdown of how long each type of nose piercing might take to heal.
| Types Of Nose Piercing | Healing Times |
|---|---|
| Nostril piercing | Nostril piercings take about 4 to 6 months to heal. This can largely depend on the type of jewelry. A thin ring may close quickly. A thicker gauge ring or stud can take more time. |
| Septum | Septum piercings take about 2 to 3 months to heal. The septum is a thin layer of skin, nerves, and blood vessels between your two nostrils. It’s delicate and usually hurts more than a nostril piercing. However, it heals quickly because there’s less tissue for your body to reconstruct. |
| Nasallang piercing | Nasallang piercings take about 4 to 6 months to heal. These piercings are complex because they go through your septum and both of your nostrils. Get this one done by an experienced piercerTrusted Source. |
| Rhino piercing | Rhino piercings take about 6 to 9 months to heal. The tissue higher on your nose is thicker, so it takes longer than the other types of nose piercings for the tissue to fully heal. |
| Bridge piercing | Bridge piercings heal in about 2 to 3 months. Bridge piercings typically heal much faster than other nose piercings because very little tissue is pierced. The jewelry only passes through a small section of skin at the top of your nose between your eyes. |
Nose Piercing Healing Process
Here are the stages you can expect when you get a nose piercing.
1. Acceptance/inflammatory stage
During the first few days or weeks, your body closes off the wound where jewelry entered. It replaces pierced tissue with new tissue in these steps:
- Blood clots and hardens around the piercing holes and jewelry.
- White blood cells restore skin and tissue with collagen.
- The tissue around the jewelry starts to swell to try and reject the piercing. This is because your body sees the jewelry as a foreign object since it can’t fully complete the healing process like it normally does.
During this stage, you may also experience the following around the piercing site:
- pain
- tenderness
- warmth
- bleeding
2. Healing/proliferative stage
This stage happens during the next few weeks and months after the swelling and redness become 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.
3. Seasoning/maturation stage
This is the final stage. The piercing will be fully healed. You may switch out jewelry or briefly remove it altogether without compromising the piercing. This part may take a few more weeks and months to complete. At this stage:
- The inside linings of the fistula get thick and secure the jewelry in place while also making it easier to remove and replace jewelry.
- The piercing is also less likely to close because the tissue is fully healed. It won’t try to continue closing itself.
But this isn’t always the case. Some nose piercings may start to close in less than a day after taking out jewelry. To prevent this, quickly replace the jewelry.
How do I Know My Nose Piercing is Healed?
You need to give your piercing a minimum of four months after getting it done to start feeling like it’s is completely healed.
Even then, it may only look and feel healed on the outside. The inside flesh might still be tender or not quite healed.
The general rule suggests that if a few weeks pass by with no leaking pus or crust forming then your piercing could be considered healed.
It is better, though, to confirm this with a professional.
How Do I Care For My Nose Piercing?
Getting a nose piercing is a relatively quick process, which takes just a few minutes. However, the healing process takes several months. Nose piercing aftercare is a crucial part of the healing process.
Frequent cleaning is the first step in nose piercing aftercare. A professional body piercer will recommend the following aftercare guidelines:
- cleaning the site at least twice a day using a saline solution
- avoiding touching the piercing site except to clean it with recently washed hands
- cleaning the site with gentle, unscented soap once the piercing has healed completely
- using tea tree oil or coconut oil to moisturize the area
- Nose piercing aftercare is important because it prevents infections and other complications, such as nasal trauma and changes in the nose’s shape.
Symptoms Of The Nose Piercing Infection
If your nose is newly pierced, it’s normal to experience some swelling, tenderness, and redness, says Jeannette Graf, MD, board-certified dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
However, symptoms beyond this should be closely monitored for infection. Graf says signs of an infected nose piercing are similar to other infected piercings and can include:
- More pain than usual
- Throbbing
- Abnormal odor
- Pus oozing from the piercing site (white pus is normally a sign of a very mild infection, while green or yellow pus indicates a more serious infection)
If you’re experiencing a fever or severe pain, it’s advised that you see a doctor ASAP.
How To Treat The Nose Piercing Infection?
If your infection isn’t causing you serious, persistent, or worsening pain you can first try treating it at home with the following remedies:
Warm compresses: Using a warm compress on the infected area can help reduce swelling. Be sure to use a clean cloth, soak it in warm water, and apply gently to the area.
Sea salt solutions: Saline solutions are natural antiseptics. You can make your own by mixing about 1/8th of a teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water.
If the infection doesn’t respond to home remedies, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics, and if the infection leads to an abscess (a swollen collection of infected pus), the doctor will likely need to drain it.
If you don’t treat a serious piercing infection, Manes says it’s possible for the infection to spread to nearby areas of the face and, in rare cases, result in a life-threatening condition called sepsis.
How to Change the Nose Piercing Rings?
Because nose piercings are sometimes vulnerable to infections for months or even years after the date of the piercing, it’s important to know how to change your piercing cleanly and safely.
Wait for your piercing to heal fully before changing it.
- Wash your hands thoroughly. Never skip this step or your piercing might become infected. When drying your hands, use a paper towel rather than a used towel that may contain bacteria and other germs.
- Remove your current nose stud. There are different types of nose studs, but most of the ones piercers start you off with can be simply eased out by gently and slowly pulling it through.
- Make sure your piercing and jewelry are clean.
- Remove the bead on your new nose ring or pull it open (depending on the model).
- Gently and carefully slide the thinnest end of the jewelry into your piercing. Proceed slowly and stop if you experience any pain.
- Close the jewelry. If it is a captive ring (held in place with a bead), replace the bead.
- Consult a professional piercer if you experience any problems or complications. Don’t force a piercing through, decide to just put up with the pain, or ignore injuries or problems that arise when changing your nose ring. Get advice from a professional before things get worse.
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