All About Nose Piercings

The second most popular type of body piercing in the world after ears is the nostril piercing. A longtime presence in Indian, African and South Pacific cultures, in the last two decades this small bit of body jewelry has gone from rare to everywhere in the US and Europe. Yet as prevalent as this piercing seems, it can be tricky to heal without complications and is cause of some debate in the professional working world.

Here is information on the types of nose piercings you can get, healing and aftercare tips, options for nose jewelry, videos of nose piercings being done, how to recognize if you have an infection, some piercing "no-nos" to avoid and much more.

Nostril - this is the most common place for a nose piercing. The jewelry is placed somewhere along the rim of the nostril, either on the left or the right side of the nose. There is no significance or meaning to which side you get pierced, it's just your own preference. A ring or stud is best for starting but make sure the jewelry is not too tight to the nose if it is a stud. That can lead to healing problems.

Septum - these piercings are placed in the cartilage wall between the chambers of the nose, at the bottom of the nostrils. It's sometimes called a "bull ring" as you sometimes see cattle with this style of nostril piercing. It can be a bit sensitive to pierce, or if the ring gets snagged. This is the only type of nose piercing that can be made completely and truly invisible.

Bridge - sometimes called an "Earl" piercing after the first man to regularly get this type of jewelry, this piercing is done on the surface of the nose, through the skin of the bridge of the nose. This is the hardest to heal and carries the most potential for rejection or healing out.

Ring - a tiny captive or fixed bead ring is very popular for nose piercings, and is the best-recommended for starter jewelry until the initial healing period is over as they make it easy to clean the piercing thoroughly and it allows room for any swelling.

Screw - a nostril screw is a style of jewelry from India and have become very popular in Western piercing. It has a short post which then goes into a small curl. This curl takes the place of a backing and holds the jewelry in place.

Bones/Pins/Studs - This is a short post-style piece of jewelry with a small bead or decoration that rests on the outside of the nostril. Items described as "bones" or "pins" often do not have a conventional backing. Sometimes they are just a straight post and sometimes the inside end terminates with a larger bead end. I get a lot of email from people complaining that bones are hard to get in and out and are painful to change. DO NOT GET THIS TYPE OF JEWELRY WHEN YOU FIRST GET YOUR NOSE PIERCED. Essentially, you'll just wind up ripping it out of your nose later if you ever want to change it.

U-Bend - this is a jewelry option just for septum piercings. It is a small "U" shaped piece that can be worn with the ends flipped up inside the nostrils, thus making the piercing undetectable. This is the only type of nose piercing jewelry that can truly be entirely invisible.

Spikes - this is another jewelry option for septums, and sometimes bridge piercings. It's essentially a straight taper worn horizontally through the piercing, with pointed ends that stick out. Not for new piercings!

1. Do not get your nose pierced with a piercing gun! These were not invented for noses and the jewelry is very blunt and often way too tight. This increases your chances of infection, keloids and scarring. But the really big reason is that the employees of places that use these tools are not trailed properly about blood-born disease transmission and the piercing guns are not sterilized properly in between customers to prevent the spread of HIV or Hepatitis C!

2. Do not wear sterling silver in a new/healing pierced nose! The tarnishing of this metal worn in a healing piercing can permanently stain the skin, leaving a black mark around the piercing site that will never, ever go away. New nose piercings need to be healed wearing stainless steel, niobioum, titanium or 14k gold.

3. Do not change your nose jewelry too soon! Noses take three months to fully heal and some people find that if they take out the jewelry sooner, the piercing collapses or closes down and they can't get any jewelry back in, thus losing the piercing entirely.

4. Do not use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean your new piercing! They both can cause tissue burns and increase irritation, which slows down healing and increases the chances of scar tissue or "bumps" forming.

The trauma of getting a nose piercing causes some redness, tenderness and swelling and that these may not show up for a day or two. It's when you've got all of the following going on that you have a problem.

Infections are most-often characterized by:

• increasing redness
• increasing tenderness and pain
• increasing swelling
• discharge that is yellow or green in color

If you think you have an infection, go back to see your piercer again or go see a doctor! I am not a medical professional and cannot make any sort of diagnosis.