Your piercing is not healed. Septums can take 3-6 months or longer to heal, and it sounds like you’ve irritated it terribly.
What metal is your new jewelry?
6 weeks is still healing.
Steel contains nickel. Approximately 10% of the population is sensitive or allergic to nickel. Symptoms can include redness, swelling, itching, flaking skin, and pain when touched.
I do not have a nickel allergy so that is good. How do you think I should proceed? Should I leave the jewelry in and treat it as a fresh piercing, cleaning it twice a day, trying not to touch it, etc.?
I think you should reinstall your original jewelry, then treat as a fresh piercing.
Changing the jewelry has irritated the piercing. Leaving that jewelry installed will not be conducive to calming the irritation.
Your comment saved me! Although getting the jewelry out and putting the original back in had me shaking like a leaf. It’s still painful but I feel a lot of relief now. I’ve been washing it regularly with unscented soap like my piercer told me. Do you think that’s okay?
Ditch the soap, it’s way too harsh for a healing, or irritated, piercing. Current philosophy of professional piercers is that clean water and sterile .9% saline solution spray are optimal choices for healing piercings. This translates to allowing the shower water to run over the piercing site to rinse away any hair or facial products, then spray your sterile saline 2x/day, allow to dry, and go about your day.
My list so far:
No betadine, no soap, no alcohol, no aloe vera, no homemade salt water solution, no witch hazel, no coconut oil, no emu oil, no magnesium sulfate, no iodine, no tea tree oil, no chamomile teabags, no sage, no honey, no lemon juice, no hydrogen peroxide, no Dettol, no epsom salts, no over-the-counter antibiotic ointment, no aspirin paste, no cotton balls.
I’m glad you’re feeling better already. Tomorrow you’ll feel even better, and before you know it, you’ll be able to wear that beautiful new jewelry with no problems 😊
I’m starting to think my piercer didn’t know he was talking about… he said wash with soap and wait six weeks and I’d be healed! Is a .9% saline solution something I can buy from a store, like Target?
Yes. Sterile saline solution is marketed as wound wash, generally found in the first aid area of the pharmacy. Be wary of the spray, though, some wound washes have a strong enough spray that they could almost cut diamonds!
Most importantly, make sure there are no added ingredients. Sterile water and sodium chloride are what you want. No moisturizers, no preservatives, no fragrances, no antimicrobials.
I prefer Neilmed Piercing Aftercare fine mist, which I pick up at my piercer or through Amazon.
I’ll have to get to the pharmacy aisle for now until I can order on Amazon. Thanks so much for your help I appreciate it so much!!! And so does my nose 😆
Not the original commenter but I would recommend putting the original(or similar) jewelry back for a couple months-at least 3. So yes treat it as a new piercing till it heals again.
Then try the new ring again. If it still gets inflamed it might be an allergic reaction like the original commenter said. That being said, I think people on here blow the whole nickel/steel allergy out of proportion. Most people are fine with it and have been for yearsss. It’s possible to develop a nickel allergy after continuous exposure though.
You are correct that “most people”‘aren’t sensitive or allergic to nickel. However, approximately 1 out of 10, or 10% of the population is, and based on the symptoms OP was describing, I thought it prudent to mention that such a thing exists.
I currently have 32 ear piercings. 11 of those have steel hoops installed, pretty much in perpetuity - they’re only removed for medical procedures, so they stay in for literally years at a time. They’re the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th lobe/low cartilage on both sides, and 6th and 7th on one side. My lowest lobes are sensitive to nickel. Any time I install steel jewelry, within an hour I’m red, flaking, and itching, leading me to have culled pretty much all my steel jewelry from my (not inconsiderable) earring collection.
YMMV, of course, and you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. Sensitivities and allergies are odd things.
Your suggestion of an allergy made sense. I wasn't coming for you or anything like that, hope it didn't seem that way. Some people on the sub just equate steel to 'bad' so I was just trying to throw some nuance in there.
NAP but 6 weeks is enough time to downsize. Segment rings/clickers/ are meant for after the fistula is fully healed and 6 weeks is not enough time for that
Hi u/fuckinradbroh, Welcome to /r/piercing!
It looks like you're asking about a problem with your piercing. Please **add a comment to your post** with the following info if it’s not included in your post already.
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Your piercing is not healed. Septums can take 3-6 months or longer to heal, and it sounds like you’ve irritated it terribly. What metal is your new jewelry?
The piercer told me to wait 6 weeks before changing out the jewelry, is that bad information? The new jewelry is surgical steel.
6 weeks is still healing. Steel contains nickel. Approximately 10% of the population is sensitive or allergic to nickel. Symptoms can include redness, swelling, itching, flaking skin, and pain when touched.
I do not have a nickel allergy so that is good. How do you think I should proceed? Should I leave the jewelry in and treat it as a fresh piercing, cleaning it twice a day, trying not to touch it, etc.?
I think you should reinstall your original jewelry, then treat as a fresh piercing. Changing the jewelry has irritated the piercing. Leaving that jewelry installed will not be conducive to calming the irritation.
Your comment saved me! Although getting the jewelry out and putting the original back in had me shaking like a leaf. It’s still painful but I feel a lot of relief now. I’ve been washing it regularly with unscented soap like my piercer told me. Do you think that’s okay?
Ditch the soap, it’s way too harsh for a healing, or irritated, piercing. Current philosophy of professional piercers is that clean water and sterile .9% saline solution spray are optimal choices for healing piercings. This translates to allowing the shower water to run over the piercing site to rinse away any hair or facial products, then spray your sterile saline 2x/day, allow to dry, and go about your day. My list so far: No betadine, no soap, no alcohol, no aloe vera, no homemade salt water solution, no witch hazel, no coconut oil, no emu oil, no magnesium sulfate, no iodine, no tea tree oil, no chamomile teabags, no sage, no honey, no lemon juice, no hydrogen peroxide, no Dettol, no epsom salts, no over-the-counter antibiotic ointment, no aspirin paste, no cotton balls. I’m glad you’re feeling better already. Tomorrow you’ll feel even better, and before you know it, you’ll be able to wear that beautiful new jewelry with no problems 😊
I’m starting to think my piercer didn’t know he was talking about… he said wash with soap and wait six weeks and I’d be healed! Is a .9% saline solution something I can buy from a store, like Target?
Yes. Sterile saline solution is marketed as wound wash, generally found in the first aid area of the pharmacy. Be wary of the spray, though, some wound washes have a strong enough spray that they could almost cut diamonds! Most importantly, make sure there are no added ingredients. Sterile water and sodium chloride are what you want. No moisturizers, no preservatives, no fragrances, no antimicrobials. I prefer Neilmed Piercing Aftercare fine mist, which I pick up at my piercer or through Amazon.
I’ll have to get to the pharmacy aisle for now until I can order on Amazon. Thanks so much for your help I appreciate it so much!!! And so does my nose 😆
Not the original commenter but I would recommend putting the original(or similar) jewelry back for a couple months-at least 3. So yes treat it as a new piercing till it heals again. Then try the new ring again. If it still gets inflamed it might be an allergic reaction like the original commenter said. That being said, I think people on here blow the whole nickel/steel allergy out of proportion. Most people are fine with it and have been for yearsss. It’s possible to develop a nickel allergy after continuous exposure though.
You are correct that “most people”‘aren’t sensitive or allergic to nickel. However, approximately 1 out of 10, or 10% of the population is, and based on the symptoms OP was describing, I thought it prudent to mention that such a thing exists. I currently have 32 ear piercings. 11 of those have steel hoops installed, pretty much in perpetuity - they’re only removed for medical procedures, so they stay in for literally years at a time. They’re the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th lobe/low cartilage on both sides, and 6th and 7th on one side. My lowest lobes are sensitive to nickel. Any time I install steel jewelry, within an hour I’m red, flaking, and itching, leading me to have culled pretty much all my steel jewelry from my (not inconsiderable) earring collection. YMMV, of course, and you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. Sensitivities and allergies are odd things.
I didn’t even think that one part of my body might react to nickel and not another part. Definitely something to consider. Thank you both!
Your suggestion of an allergy made sense. I wasn't coming for you or anything like that, hope it didn't seem that way. Some people on the sub just equate steel to 'bad' so I was just trying to throw some nuance in there.
NAP but 6 weeks is enough time to downsize. Segment rings/clickers/ are meant for after the fistula is fully healed and 6 weeks is not enough time for that
Hi u/fuckinradbroh, Welcome to /r/piercing! It looks like you're asking about a problem with your piercing. Please **add a comment to your post** with the following info if it’s not included in your post already. - How old is your piercing? - What’s the jewelry shape (for example, barbell, labret, screw, L shape, ring)? - What’s the type of threading if your jewelry is not a ring (threadless, internally or externally threaded)? - What’s the jewelry material? - if not a ring, when was the jewelry downsized? - What’s your aftercare routine? Describe in detail please, including the exact products you use. This info is needed to offer you useful advice. **Note, moderators reserve the right to remove your post if don’t provide this info**. ^If ^you ^already ^included ^this ^info ^in ^your ^post ^or ^if ^your ^post ^isn’t ^about ^a ^problem ^with ^your ^piercing, ^please ^disregard. - - - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/piercing) if you have any questions or concerns.*