Summary

• Healing Time 3 - 12 months, depending on the amount of cartilage pierced
• Don't even think of having nose piercings done with a piercing gun
• Do not touch your piercing, or let others touch it while it is healing
• Clean your healing piercing once a day only, using antibacterial soap
• Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide or tea tree oil to clean your piercing
• Pain, redness and unusual discharge may be due to infection. Consult your piercer or a physician if you develop any of these symptoms
• Take vitamin C and zinc to maximise your healing
• Wait till your piercing is healed before changing jewelry yourself

Daily Care Routine

• Do not touch your piercing unless you are cleaning it. Unwashed hands carry bacteria and your piercing is a point where these bacteria can penetrate below your skin and cause an infection.
• While healing your piercing will need to be cleaned once daily.
• Cleaning more often than this will harm your piercing.
• You will need to use an antibacterial soap that contains either chloroxylenol or triclosan.

  The step-by-step procedure is:

1. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
2. Wet the piercing with plain water.
3. Put a few drops of antibacterial soap on the piercing and work them into a lather with a cotton bud.
4. Try to loosen any crusted discharge and float it off the jewelry and your skin with the cotton bud.
5. Leave the antibacterial soap on the piercing for two minutes while rotating the jewelry back and forth, allowing the disinfectant to penetrate the piercing.
6. Rinse with water and air dry thoroughly. Do not dry with a towel, which may carry bacteria.

Piercing Options and Jewelry Choices

• Ala (Side of Nose)
  • "Ala" is the medical term for the side of the nose. It is composed of skin covered cartilage.
  • Healing Time 3 - 6 months
  • Suitable jewelry:
    1. Studs
    2. Rings - 3/8 to 1/2 inch diameter
    3. 18g or 16g diameter
• Bridge (Top of Nose)
  • The bridge is the top part of the nose where it joins the forehead.
  • Piercing here travels through the skin but does not traverse cartilage.
  • Healing Time 3 - 6 months
  • Suitable jewelry:
    1. Straight barbells
    2. 16g or 14g thickness
• Septum (Bottom of Nose)
  • The septum is the largely hidden midline structure of the nose, exposed only on the nose's inferior surface.
  • It is at the visible inferior part of the septum that piercing is undertaken.
  • Healing Time 2 - 6 months
  • Suitable jewelry for new piercings:
    1. Straight barbells 14 gauge thickness
    2. Circular barbells 3/8 to 1/2 inch internal diameter, 14 gauge thickness
    3. Septum retainers, 14 gauge thickness

  Suitable Types:

  1. Barbells
     Either choose internally threaded barbells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be sure that no threads are exposed.
  2. Captured bead rings
     Rings are much cheaper than barbells. Special pliers may be required to remove or replace the bead, especially for thicker gauge jewelry.
     Avoid sleepers as the sharp edges at the joint may damage your piercing.
  3. Studs
     Studs come in many different styles:
     1. Plain or jewelled
     2. Round, flat, spiked.
     There are also various types of internal arrangement to hold the stud in place:
     1. Plain tail
     2. Curly tail
     3. Beaded
     .
  Suitable Materials:
  Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, 14 carat gold, titanium, niobium, PTFE.

  Do not use 9 carat gold, silver (which can stain the tissues permanently), or gold plated jewelry in new piercings. In a healing piercing the gold plating will wear off the jewelry before the piercing is healed. This is not such a problem in healed piercings.

  Changing Jewelry:
  You may damage your piercing by changing jewelry during the healing period. This is best done by a professional piercer. Once a piercing is healed you can change the jewelry yourself.

Other Issues

• Bacterial Infections
  Symptoms include increased pain, increased redness and an increase in the amount and thickness of the discharge. The infected discharge is usually thick and yellow, green or grey and may have an unusual odour. Consult with your physician or piercer and do not remove the jewelry until you seek advice. Removing the jewelry may prevent pus draining and cause an abscess to form.
• Cleaning Agents
  Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, methylated spirit, or tea tree oil to clean your piercing. These do kill bacteria but they also destroy your healing flesh. The killed flesh then becomes easily infected.
• Keloids
  Helix piercings are prone to keloid formation,and much more so when a piercing gun is used.
• Lavender Oil
  This essential oil lubricates the piercing and is reputed to reduce scar tissue and prevent tightening. It must be used in its dilute form, a drop applied to the piercing with a cotton bud, the excess removed, and then the jewelry moved back and forth through the piercing. The correct dilution is 10 drops lavender oil in 15mls grapeseed or sweet almond oil.
• Sleeping
  Consider wearing a small patch of hypoallergenic tape over alar piercings at night for the first week or two. They can easily become dislodged during sleep.
• Smoking
  
  1. Smoking slows healing by suppressing your immune system and blood circulation to the skin.
  2. Smoking will increase the healing time of cartilage piercings by months.
  3. If you cannot stop smoking then you should reconsider having any piercings.
• Swimming
  Swimming is not prohibited while your piercing is healing, but you should only swim for short periods in pools that are thoroughly chlorine- or ozone-treated. If you swim in the ocean or waterways, do not swim after heavy rain since storm water run-off often contains bacteria and parasites.
• Viral Infections
  Viruses such as Hepatitis A, B, and C, and HIV can penetrate a piercing that has not healed. These viruses may be present in the blood, saliva, semen, sweat and vaginal secretions of infected persons. Until your piercing has healed avoid any other person's bodily fluids contacting your piercing.
• Vitamins
  Studies have shown that vitamin C and zinc promote wound healing. Aim for about 2000-3000 mg vitamin C and 100 mg zinc daily. Note that these amounts are not available in multivitamin tablets. Ask at your pharmacist or health-food store for advice on suitable products. If you are taking any medications, ask your pharmacist to make sure there are no interactions between them and the vitamin C and zinc you intend to take. For example, vitamin C can delay the absorption of the contraceptive pill - they should be taken at different times.