When you pierce your nostril, you are making a puncture wound in a thick piece of cartilage. Cartilage piercings take significantly longer to heal than those that go through a flap of skin, like an earlobe. If you remove a ring from a nostril piercing that is less than six months old, the hole closes within a matter of days. It is not uncommon for a nostril piercing to take up to a year to heal completely.
How Long a Piercing Takes to Close
Removing the ring from a new nostril piercing can cause it to close within 24 hours. The inside of the nostril is lined with mucous membranes, which seal shut quickly without jewelry in them. The hole on the outside of your nose will remain open longer. Some people still have a hole on the outside of their nostril years after the inside hole has closed, particularly if their piercing was healed when they removed the jewelry. The outside hole can become a small scar that looks like an enlarged pore.
Nostril Piercing Jewelry
The two pieces of jewelry commonly used for initial nostril piercings are nostril screws and captive bead rings. A nostril screw looks like a straight pin with a blunt end. The piercer measures the thickness of your nostril and bends the end of the pin into a U-shape with pliers. The screw goes straight through the nose, with the curve holding it in place inside the nostril. A C-shaped captive bead ring uses pressure to hold a bead between its two prongs. If you have been wearing a nostril screw in your piercing, you may be more likely to have a scar even after you remove it, since the bead presses against the skin.
Aftercare and Healing Time
The Association of Professional Piercers recommends soaking new piercings once or twice a day, for five to 10 minutes at a time, in a saline solution made of 1 cup of warm bottled water and 1/4 tsp. of non-iodized sea salt. For facial piercings, it is easiest to make a compress out of sterile gauze and hold it against the piercing. The inside of the nostril is cleaned with the same solution on the end of a cotton swab. After soaking, the outside of the piercing should be washed with an antimicrobial soap. Diligently following the aftercare can speed healing time. Taking vitamin C or zinc may help as well.
Reinserting a Nose Ring That Has Fallen Out
A new nostril piercing that has had the jewelry left out for a day or more may require reopening with a taper. If you want to try reinserting your jewelry yourself, wash the piercing, the jewelry and your hands with antimicrobial soap and warm water. Dip the end of the ring or nostril screw into a drop of soap to lubricate it, and gently try to insert it into your piercing. If it doesn't slip through easily, visit your piercer right away. She may be able to reopen the hole with a taper, which looks like a blunt needle and is used to stretch piercings.
Treating Infection
The most common cause of infection is touching your jewelry with dirty hands. If your piercing is oozing green or yellow pus, has swollen excessively or is hot to the touch, you may have an infection. The swelling can cause a nostril screw to become embedded in the skin, which can be painful. Although you may be tempted to remove the jewelry to allow the piercing to close, doing so could trap the infection inside and lead to abscess, which is particularly dangerous in cartilage. Go to your piercer immediately and have her change your jewelry to a ring to relieve the pressure. Continue with your aftercare until the infection is cleared up, then remove the ring if you no longer wish to keep the piercing. If you have fever or chills, visit your physician or an emergency room immediately.
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