The sea salt solution also softens any crust around the piercing so it won’t hurt to remove it. When you wash the piercing, gently wipe away the crust with a clean paper towel. [2] X Research source Use sea salt or non-iodized salt. The chemicals in iodized table salt don’t dissolve completely and could further irritate your skin.
As long as you have swelling, do this as often as once every 4 hours. Ice is only going to be beneficial for the first day or two after the infection starts, when you might have swelling. If there’s no swelling, switch to warm compresses.
If you get relief from this, feel free to continue doing it as often as once every 2 hours.
When the tea bag cools, feel free to repeat the process again. This is a gentle treatment you can keep doing as often as you like. Use the same tea bag multiple times. When it starts to feel like you’re not getting the same benefit, go ahead and start with a fresh one.
Wash your piercing with salt water and pat it dry before applying aloe vera gel.
Lotion or cream is best—don’t use ointments because they block air circulation and will slow the overall healing process. [9] X Research source
If you take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory for 2-3 days and don’t notice any reduction in your symptoms, talk to your doctor.
They’ll likely examine your piercing and may ask you to take your piercing out. But leave it in unless your doctor tells you to take it out.
Tell your doctor when and where you got pierced, when you first started noticing symptoms of infection, and what you’ve done to treat the infection. That’ll help them better assess your condition so they can provide proper care.
Redness by itself might not indicate an infection. Look for redness combined with any of the other symptoms of infection.
Excessive crustiness goes along with this as the discharge dries. Don’t try to rub or pick off the crusty bits while your skin is dry—the infection will spread more easily on damaged skin.
If you’ve been outside or you’ve been sweating, clean the piercing site again as soon as possible. If you don’t want to use soap and water, a saline solution also works. Your piercer might have a specific saline solution or other cleaner that they recommend—if so, use that.
It’s okay to continue to use some of these products on the rest of your face—just keep them away from your nose. This also means you need to be very careful when you’re out in the sun. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun off your face and nose since you can’t wear sunscreen.
Spin your jewelry around a few times immediately after you’ve cleaned your piercing to loosen the crust around it and keep it free from your healing skin. But do this while your skin is still wet—otherwise, you might accidentally tear it. [22] X Research source
Keep in mind that it can take 4-6 weeks for a nose piercing to heal. If you had to battle an infection, though, you’re looking at more like 6-8 weeks.
