Nose piercing has become a trend in the past decade. Yet, researchers argue that complications of nose piercing involve more than infections and nerve damage.
People get their nose pierced for a cosmetic purpose: it’ll make them look unique. Moreover, your nose has three pierceable spots:
- Around the nostrils’ fleshy skin,
- On the septum (the cartilage that separates the nostrils), and
- On the soft flesh below the septum
However, there are times when these piercings lead to complications. The section below would inform you about some of the most significant complications of nose piercing.
Contents
7 Complications of Nose Piercing (and Side Effects)
1. Infections
You can become a victim of complications after getting your nose pierced. Such infections often cause more severe complications. Infections usually occur when the piercer isn’t aware of the sanitation and sterile measures for the procedure. Nevertheless, sterilization is essential since piercing tools often hold various harmful microorganisms.
Examples of disease-causing microorganisms that can enter your body (during the nose piercing process) include Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These microorganisms move around freely and set on surfaces they come in contact with.
Besides using sterilized tools for piercing, the professional piercer should sterilize the jewelry of your choice.
2. Jewelry-induced Problems
Aside from the procedure itself, nose jewelry issues are worth noting. Cases involved loosened jewelry, causing more complications to your body.
What’s even worse is that you may unknowingly end up swallowing the piece when trying to put the loosened stud in place. Swallowing sharp-ended pieces might require you to undergo necessary surgery.
You may also suffer from breathing difficulties if the stud gets stuck inside your windpipe.
Improperly placed nose jewelry can worsen the situation. In such cases, the stud may get entangled in your nose, causing some debilitating issues. If you feel your piercer punched the stud wrongly, let a professional medically remove it.
3. Rejection
You must have heard about the human body rejecting implants and transplanted organs. Similarly, your body can reject any jewelry inserted into the nose. Your nose tissues reject the stud by pushing the piece out gradually.
This mostly happens if the stud gets placed wrongly or is much more prominent in size than what your nose tissue can handle. Your body might also reject the jewelry if it comes with an off-putting coating.
Suppose your skin is allergic to metal (or any other material) used for crafting the stud. In that case, your nose tissues would reject the piece at a high possibility.
However, the signs of rejection, in such cases, would be different. Instead of pushing the nose jewelry out, it can cause severe swelling around the pierced area. You’ll notice pus formation when this happens. Furthermore, get your body tested for compatibility with the jewelry piece you’ll insert before piercing it in your nose.
4. Scar Tissue and Nerve Damage
While some perceive that nose piercing is just a one-punch process, professionals state it isn’t as easy as 1-2-3.
Inexperienced piercers could contribute to severe complications to nose piercing procedures. Since they’re unaware of the delicate nerves in your nose, they could end up damaging them.
Worst cases happen when you lose sensitivity and form scar tissues permanently. These are just some of the situations that make it extremely important to get your nose pierced by a professional one.
5. Necrosis (Cell Injury) in your Nasal Wall
If you develop necrosis, the tissue forming your nose will not tolerate a prick’s presence. The condition would cause the cells around the jewelry to die off.
Your chances of developing necrosis would be exceptionally high if you had a traumatic nose piercing. This condition intensifies you have allergies to a piercing tool used in the process.
6. Septal Hematoma
You may have a septal hematoma on the nose after getting it exposed to any trauma-causing activity. However, a wrongly executed nose piercing worsens the situation.
For those who don’t know: the septum is a structure made of cartilage, keeping the nostrils separated from one another. Further, the septum doesn’t have any blood supply of its own.
The traumatic piercing process can injure the septum. It can cause severe bleeding and blood accumulation in the affected area.
Some common symptoms of the condition include swollen nose and difficulty breathing. Thus, you’ll have to spend more on treatments restoring your septum’s blood supply. If it’s not treated immediately, the septum might lose its functions.
7. Ugly Scar
We started the article by saying that people get their nose pierced to look good. However, this often leaves them with ugly scars on their nose.
Nonetheless, you can effectively remove your nose piercing scar by trying out at-home remedies.
Safety Measures for Nose Piercing
Getting a licensed professional to do the piercing hasn’t hurt anyone. Never let yourself or your friend do the nose piercing unless you want to experience the complications mentioned above.
Furthermore, here are the safety measures before getting your nose pierced:
- Make sure that you’ve consulted your doctor before piercing your nose. In this case, any health condition might worsen the after-pierce results.
- Ensure that your piercer uses sterilized tools and needles.
- Disinfect the nose following the proper rules of sanitation. Professionals use antiseptic liquid or alcohol.
- Let the piercer open the needle package in front of you to guarantee that the tools are new.
- Make sure that the professional follow sanitation rules before piercing your nose.
Nose piercing is a quick process, but it’ll take at least two to four months to heal completely. In this stage, make sure you follow the after-care procedures your doctor recommended. Some of them include:
- Clean your nose using a saline rinse (or tea tree oil) and cotton balls at least twice a day. Make sure you washed your hands before cleaning your nose.
- Don’t change your piercing’s position, as it would only cause an infection or nerve damage. It would help if you didn’t use over-the-counter antiseptics and hydrogen peroxide.
- Avoid touching your nose piercing.
- Clean your nose jewelry by removing any oil and dirt. This process eliminates dirt buildup that can cause infection to the pierced area.
- Never share nose jewelry or ring with other people.
- Opt for quality nose rings, especially those advised by professional piercers.
Key Takeaways
To conclude, it is worth mentioning to rely on professional piercers alone. It’s the only way to avoid all the complications of nose piercing discussed above.
To prevent any infection, make sure to follow your piercer’s aftercare advice.
