The nose piercing saga.

So, I figured I had learnt so much about nose piercings and the associated bumps by now that it would be a shame not to share the wealth of knowledge I gleaned from google with the world.

Not too far in the recent past, my dance teacher and I went to get our nostrils pierced after exchanging excited text messages that we should get it done; it's now or never!

We reached Bleed Blue, a small store hidden behind a nondescript campus building @ 10.30 PM. After a 45 minute wait, I bravely went ahead after mentally freaking out for said 45 minutes and got my right nostril pierced (much against k's wishes who declared that women look beautiful only if their left nostril is pierced, the north Indian style). My dance teacher went next and I was glad I went first because the needle was huge and it did hurt! I was too excited to listen to the piercer's instructions but I managed to focus and get the gist of it. It wasn't too comfortable for me to get to sleep that night and the next few nights but I was thrilled. I accomplished a daring feat! I got my nose pierced!

I took meticulous care of my nose and used the saline spray three times a day as the lady had instructed. One night, when I was telling r~ to be careful around my nose, k smirked and said, "It's all healed by now. You got it pierced 2 weeks before!" And so, like any devoted wife, I nodded and became a bit more careless about my nose. I used a qtip to clean my nose and in the process moved the jewelry quite a bit and assumed since it was healed, it was more important that I had a clean nose than not to irritate the piercing (Do not make that mistake no matter what your husband says!)

A few days later, I noticed a circular white crust/small bump right behind my piercing like it's twin sister. I was aghast! How could this happen to my beautiful nose. I turned to k with rage. He shrugged and said, "I told you, get your left nose pierced." Grrr. So I contacted the piercer and since she wasn't going to get any more $ from me, she suggested some remedies and said I had to be patient. That it took at least 3 months to heal.

Here are some of the remedies she suggested and I googled, hopefully some of this is helpful to you if you are fighting the bump :)

1. Warm water compress - Warm water in a cup. Soak cotton balls in it and press on your bump. Do it thrice a day, 10-15 mins each time.

2. Tea tree oil - Add a few drops of tea tree oil (available in natural food/whole food stores) to the warm water and do the same as 1. I tried this for 3 weeks. Not much improvement in my case. I also tried applying the oil directly to the bump. It just reddened it, did not help for me (don't try it if you have sensitive skin).

3. Aspirin paste - Crush a few aspirins with a few drops of water and apply on the bump. Leave for 10 mins or so and rinse with water. Do it three times a day. This seemed to sort of work for me. The bump got a bit smaller.

4. Chamomile tea compress - Same as 1. Dip the tea bags in warm water and press on the bump. This was the most promising solution. It really made the bump smaller and seemed to be working until

I started ignoring my nose during a week long vacation and then the bump grew bigger and when we returned, my daughter in a moment of extra energy flailed her arms and bumped the bump (The piercer had told me I could try this with a sterilized needle as a last resort). It bled and bled. I went to the doc, got it cleaned with hydrogen peroxide and now the bump looks much smaller. This however is not recommended unless you have a toddler at home in which case this will happen eventually :p

So, that's it. Wish me luck with my piercing and I wish you the same :)

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