Nose piercing keloid/hypertrophic scarring

Apr 5, 2012

Sofia C.

Hey ladies! I got my nose pierced 3 months ago and last week it was finally (the recommended) time to change the stud to a ring. I had had some red swollen irritation around the stud a couple times as the 3 months went by but treated it with twice daily washing with baby soap/saline solution and tea tree oil. I finally had it at bay and all seemed well when it was finally time to change my jewelry. That was more painful than the peircing, and it bled....which I guess irritated the scar tissue because now I have a huge red bubble that is inarguably a keloid, worse than any I got before...Im applying tea tree oil but that makes it flake (I guess since its drying out) and unfortunately this morning I picked it...so now it's worse. I just applied sea salt, chamomile tea bags and a last dab of tea tree oil hoping itll be better by morning.
Any tips or treatments that worked for any of you pierced gals? :/

Apr 5, 2012

Soma S.

Salt water was too harsh for me, but the H2o ocean solution worked wonders! You can find it online or in hot topic stores... Good luck!

Apr 5, 2012

Tanja K.

I guess the reason that it hurt and bled when you changed to a ring is that most rings are bigger than studs. When I changed to a ring I had to buy another stud first that would enlarge the pierced hole so that the ring would easily fit in.

As for treatments I just googled a bit around and if Soma's tip won't work for you you could try one of those special scarring salves.

For any infection and if chamomille things won't make it better: I just had an infection on my navel piercing (after 10 years -.-) and used a salve that's called Tyrosur here in Germany but the active agent in it is tyrothricin and it really helped me.

Last but not least: have you called your piercing studio? They should be able to tell you what to do!

Apr 5, 2012

Lauren C.

Apple cider vinegar, I know it sounds weird but my best friend developed a keloid on her ear after getting her tracks pierced and she swears by using apple cider vinegar to remove it.

Apr 5, 2012

Elenna L.

Sofia you are on a roll! Got a nose ring, chopped your hair off, what's next? lol :D

Apr 7, 2012

Jessica W.

That happened to me when I changed my stud to a ring the first time, I had ear piercing solution left over from my old job so I cleaned it with that and applied a generous amount of neosporin every night before bed. It healed well, also remember to clean the ring/stud too before using them. If you dont have anything handy, you can use your own saliva to clean em. Good luck.

May 17, 2012

Jamie A.

I would def remove the jewelry...its not working. unlikely a keloid as they dont appear on the face generally...i believe they can do an injection at derm office for scars if u really need it...if its not terrible u could try micro/peel

May 18, 2012

Zenaida Z.

The same thing happened to me. I just continued to clean it with the Soap they gave me when I first got it done and i made sure to keep from touching it when I wasn't supposed to. It cleared up after about a month and I haven't had any other problems with it and I've had it for 6 years! :) good luck!

May 18, 2012

Fancie B.

I have a nose piercing and was having the same problem over and over again. At first I was thinking it was the type of rings I was using (size, material, etc) but I'm still using the same stud and haven't had any issues. I think this problem is more so caused by healing than the jewelry. I think these parlors are telling us that we can swap out our rings way too soon. I kept getting this bump and had to faithfully treat it with tea tree oil and sea salt water everyday. After the last time I stopped getting them altogether. It took like a year for this to stop happening. I think when you change rings too soon you're disrupting the healing process and causing problems. If you must change it again still do so. But try to find a stud you're comfortable with and leave it in for a while

May 18, 2012

Cloey B.

i had the same problem just remove the dead skin off of your nose before placing the new ring in....also clean it wit alcohol that's what i do it helps the keloid go away faster... its best to get the L shaped nose ring because you don't have to worry about it ever failing out&& its less painful than a Stud...

May 18, 2012

Kim M.

I had the same problem with my nose ring! My first attempt at changing the ring out was a bloody mess... so I left it alone. I eventually took out the ring that was inserted at the time of piercing and replaced it with a smaller one which isn't noticeable. (I never really wanted my nose pierced anyway.) The little red bump disappeared over time so yours may do the same! (Fingers crossed!) =)

May 21, 2012

Crystal G.

you also don't want to over clean it because it might make it worse

May 24, 2012

Cristina H.

Whatever you do, don't let the piercing close. I've had a few infected piercings on my right ear and I removed the jewelry... it left these ugly brown bumps where the piecings were. I had one on my lip and I did the same thing and now I have the same results. I learned MY LESSON. My next piercings I boiled water and added regular salt, grabbed a clean cloth, dipped it in the water, and applied it to my piercings(it will help the blood flow and heal the piercings), I put the jewelry in alcohol , ..... after a while I would put them back in. I agree with the above comment , don't over clean. Do this twice a day once in the morning and once at night. I did this with my tongue piercing, four different lip piercings (after I got tired of them I let them close) , and a nose piercing. No scary purple/brown scarring yet. I hope this helps :)

May 25, 2012

Sammy C.

I have lots of piercings including my nose. Some people are just prone to keloids and sometimes theres not a whole lot you can do. Try simply saline. And clean it about twice a day. This shoild help at least a little but like crystal said dont over clean it! That can just irritate it and make ot worse. Sadly though sometimes the only way to get it to go away is to take your nose ring out completely and once its completed healed get it repierced thats what i had to do with my industrial. 

May 25, 2012

Erin P.

I wouldn't ever use tea tree oil on a new piercing, all you need is a mild sea salt solution and to keep it clean. AVOID tea tree oil it's too harsh for any piercing especially a new one, I would suggest to just use the salt water solution or just very warm water a few times a day. If that doesn't work, take it out and let it heal completely, you don't want to damage yourself more than necessary.

May 25, 2012

Lexi C.

Try useing a Nickel Free stud u might be alergic to the stud. Also i recamend takeing vitaminE for ur skin,hair n Nails and get a vitimin E oil to put on it helps Ur skin! 

Feb 6, 2013

Whitney D.

I have had a few keliods with my nose piercing when it was "relatively" new (shortly after it was healed). Luckily my boyfriend at the time was a piercer. He told me to clean it twice daily with saline (or H2Ocean) and apply teatree oil afterwards. Just put a drop on a QTip & apply to the keliod. Yes, it made it dry & flakey, but after a week or so... Alas! The stupid keliod was gone!
And it's worked like a charm every time I had one. Stay away from neosporin, peroxide, & alcohol- they can kill the good healing bacteria along w/ the bad. Just try to not change your jewelery until it is FULLY healed! I swear it took mine MONTHS to 100% heal. Even 5-6 months after getting mine done, if I had to take my ring out even for a shift at work, I felt like it started to close up within those few hours.

Feb 6, 2013

Whitney D.

But I suggest going to a tattoo/ piercing shop & just talk to a piercer about it. Just maybe not the one where you got it done... Haha.

Feb 6, 2013

Rachel C.

This happened to me. I took it out and I put cotton on the inside and outside and squeezed to pop it and kept cleaning it with alcohol and I did keep the piercing in to let it drain even though it was painful it was gone in a few days

Apr 6, 2013

Peyton M.

I had that too. I ended up taking my nose ring out and letting it heal and got it redone. :)