to ask about nose piercings??

[kissinggiraffe]

My daughter, 15, had her nose pierced yesterday ( without my knowledge or consent).
It is pierced with a stud with an arrow shape on the end ( the end inside her nostril).
At the moment it looks clean and she says it is not sore unless she knocks it.
It was pierced with a nose gun. she was not told how to clean or look after it or how long until she can change the stud. The bar is quite long and pokes the inside of her nose.
How do we even take it out? Does the arrow have to slide through the hole? I know nothing!

It'll be a long stud to accommodate for swelling.
Google 'bone bar nose stud' - is it one of these?
If it is, I accidentally used one once and my husband had to snip it with some snips from his tool bag to get it out!

If you want to keep it, it's 12 weeks healing time and I cleaned mine with saline solution followed by tea tree oil. Everybody has their preferred method.

Well- I assume that she will have to remove it for school tomorrow ( or they may allow her to put a plaster on top). Have you done a note to the school? Depending on policy she could be excluded tomorrow.

in order to keep the piercing she needs to keep it in. She is right in that it does only hurt when you knock it. In around 5/6 weeks she will be able to remove it and put in a more perminent (and smaller) piece. Salt water by far the best, and turning

Hmm. The only bit of advice I can offer is don't take it out in first three weeks unless she wants it out permanently or have it redone. From what I remember hearing around the internet has lots of advice (see if you spot trends in advice; should be reasonably accurate then) and that they should be pierced with a needle rather than a gun to prevent tissue damage. Obviously too late now for that one -unhelpful
Maybe pop into a piercings and tattoo shop and see if someone there has advice? Good luck!

Okay. Listen to the other posters - three weeks is obviously waaaay too short. I also know nothing and was going on how long I knew skin cells to keep on trying really really hard to close a wound before just giving up and scarring over. I guess she'll have to wear a plaster for six to twelve weeks - just pretend it's a giant zit if the teachers query!

I've had my nose piercing for a year now and it was a good four months until I could change it. Don't turn it! It'll drive dirt into the wound.

It's not ideal having it pierced with a gun... A lot of reputable body piercers insist on doing it with a needle. I've had mine done with both the gun and needle, gun hurt more and healing took a lot longer. Also I now have a lump on the inside of my nostril which is scar tissue from the time it was pierced with a gun. It was sore for ages actually, every time it got knocked I hit the roof.

Thankfully for you I guess the nose doesnt generally scar when it's removed and it isn't an overly obvious piercing either if you were happy for her to keep it... Depends on school policies I guess. Could have been worse, she could have been 13 with a big lip ring like me .

I have my nose pierced both sides and I have the half curl studs with quite a thick post. This means there's no uncomfortable post sticking inside the nostril and they don't often work their way loose in the night while I'm moving around. The pic is similar to what I have both sides.
Have your Dd clean it with cooled boiled salt water.

I once used one of those bars with the tiny ball in the inside, I had to cut it off to get it out.

And apart from cleaning it, leave it for at least a couple of months.

If she has a normal ear stud with no back on it will fall out very quickly, mine did and it was fucking painful putting it back in. She needs to change it for a proper piece of hypoallergenic body jewellery such as a ball close ring or a short stud with a ball screw end. She should go to a body piercing place to choose something suitable. Piercing guns and ear studs are not meant for noses but probably no harm done.

Body piercer here. First things first, a nose piercing (or any other cartilage piercing, for that matter) should never be performed with a gun. They are designed for earlobes (and shouldn't really be used on those either, due to sterilisation issues, amongst other problems), not for considerably thicker cartilage - the piercing stud that your daughter was pierced with is blunt compared to a needle, and causes unnecessary trauma to the area.

Go into a different piercing studio - one that pierces ONLY with needles - and ask them to switch the jewellery out for something designed for fresh nose piercings, such as a titanium nostril screw. Don't let your daughter attempt to do this herself as the new jewellery MUST be sterile due to the 'freshness' of the piercing, and it will be much easier for a professional to insert the new jewellery with minimal irritation (poking around in a fresh piercing can cause further swelling and lead to infection).

Once the jewellery has been changed for something more suitable, leave it in place for a minimum of 8 weeks, preferably 12. Clean it twice a day with a saline solution, and DON'T fiddle with it or touch it with unwashed hands.

If the school have an issue with the piercing, which does raise the question of why it was done in the first place, the safest option is to removed the jewellery completely and let the hole close over - taking it out and putting it back in over and over again is a recipe for infection and potential scarring.

By the way, this isn't a telling off in any way (just in case I sounded a but preachy!), just advising from a professional perspective

Another thing: do NOT use 'nose bones', the posts with the ball on the back that has to be pushed through the piercing. These can be agony to remove and cause a lot of irritation within the piercing channel. Stick to the kind of jewellery previous posters have mentioned.

I have a nose stud, at the place I buy them they will bend them for you so you just twist it in, if that makes sense, and you don't have a big bit of metal inside your nostril.

I work in a secondary school and kids are allowed a plain stud, but yes check school policy before sending her in.

Could be worse... I came home with a pierced eyebrow aged 17, my mum freaked! (wish I hadn't, still got the bloody scar)

I had my nose pierced three years ago. Mine was done with a needle. I bathed it twice a day in seasalt dissolved in warm boiled water. Did this religiously for three months. I never once took the stud out.
It's imperative to not touch your nose with fingers throughout the day.
I changed my stud to a small sparkly after that and never had any problems.
I now bathe my nose once a week.
I love my piercing but she needs to be very aware of cleanliness.
And her school will probably send her home :(

The first nose piercing I had done was with a gun at age 14. It took ages to heal properly. The second was done with a needle (at age 33 ) and healed like a dream.

It is a stud meant for a nose piercing, not an earring and it was done with a nose gun not an ear gun.
School do not allow nose piercings but she said a lot of girls have them but use a clear stud that is difficult to see so get away with wearing them.

Do you think if I take her to a proper piercer they will be able to change the stud for one she can wear at school?? Would that be safe?

She has made a mistake and is upset that she done it but she does like it and wants to keep it. I don't really want to force her to have it removed unless she really can't get away with it at school.

what goes around comes around......I got my bellybutton pierced at 13 without my parents knowledge. Had to confess when it got infected I'm now thinking of all the other stuff I put my parents through that might now come back to haunt me......

anothergirls can you tell me if there is a legal age to be able to have a nose piercing? She is 15, doesn't look any older and said they didn't ask for id or ask how old she is.

I had my nose pierced with a needle, accidentally knocked the stud out within three days when I was washing my face, couldn't get it back in again (it was a corkscrew shape), and had to have it repierced that night as the skin had grown back already! Managed to keep that one in for another few days, then accidentally knocked it out again, this time when I was drying my face after washing it. Couldn't get it back in again. I chalked it up to experience and realised I am not meant to have a pierced nose. Shame though, as I really liked the piercing when I had it.

There is no such thing as a 'nose gun' or 'ear gun' - they're one and the same thing, so if that's what she was told, I'm afraid she's been spun a line by the person who pierced her. The studs used in this instance are always piercing earrings minus the butterfly back.

A proper piercer will be able to change the jewellery, yes - they can recommend what would be best for your daughter, and the nose studs are usually very reasonably priced.

Legal age is something of a grey area, however most reputable studios say 16 and above, but some will pierce younger clients ONLY with a consenting parent or guardian present (a letter of consent won't do). Nipples and genitals should ALWAYS be 18+ only.

OP, it sounds like the studs the girls wear are retainers - like this maybe www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/nostril_retainers_438.cfm

I've never worn one of them in my nose, but I did used to have one for my lip piercing, and it was really comfy.

The bigger issue though is that she shouldn't change the jewellery until it's healed (as others have said) and piercing places might not have the PTFE retainers in stock. Plus they're not ideal to put into a piercing until it's healed as they are a little soft.

anothergirl it's definitely not an earring, the end of the bar has a circular triangle, arrow shape that is quite a bit bigger than the bar. I wish I could attach a photo.....
Anyhow I'm going to take her to a reputable piercer in town tomorrow and ask if they can remove it.

kissing That definitely sounds like a piercing earring used in modern ear piercing guns - they look quite savage with the butterfly back removed! They're designed with that arrow-shaped post so when the back's put on, it clicks into place and doesn't fall off. I'll try to find a pic.

Best of luck for tomorrow

Where did she have it done and wtf is a nose gun?

OP there's no minimum legal age restriction on nose piercing.

Can you attach a pic of her jewellery? I'm having trouble imagining what it looks like.

kissing The pic is a little blurry, but you can just about see the arrow-shaped end on the earring without a back - is that like what you're describing?

Ok I can't get a decent picture of the inside of her nostril but have found a picture online. The stud she has is exactly the same as this but hers is metal (I think the picture is plastic)