Nothing Ever Goes Perfectly
The most common cause of delayed healing is by knocking or tearing the stud and taking the stud in and out before the wound is fully healed. This will lead to a small lump forming around the piercing. These lumps are called granulomas.
The best course of action to heal granulomas is to apply hot compresses to the wound once or twice a day. Soak a clean paper towel under hot tap water, making sure that it’s not so hot that it burns your skin, but hot enough to penetrate the wound. Leave on till the heat dissipates. Continue this remedy twice a day.
If the hot compresses don’t work, the best course of action is to remove the jewellery for a short period of time to allow the wound to recover. When the lump goes down (usually 4-5 days) the jewellery may be reinserted. If the lump inflames again it’s best to remove the jewellery, leave your nose to heal and have it re-pierced at a later date.
I seem to have developed one of these granulomas. 
Treatment begins immediately. *sigh*
tags: nose piercing
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on June 27, 2005 at 9:17 am
Tamara said:
I had one of those in my ear where I had the cartilage pierced — I wish I’d known there was a treatment for it! It made it difficult to deal with the piercing for over a year, then it just went away. Not sure how gradually, but one day it was just gone. I hope you can get rid of yours more quickly than that! Good luck.
It looks cute, btw! — I doubt my boss at my new job would be happy about me getting one, plus I’m weird about permanent things like piercings and tattoos on my face or body — I guess my ears are exempt, I’ve got four on one side and two on the other! But I love it on you, so I hope you can get everything straightened out!
on October 31, 2005 at 2:12 am
Pressgo said:
Yah….I got one pretty damn recently, didn’t know what the hell it was. It’s been there for like….freaking few weeks now. It’s not huge and obvious but it’s bothering me, I want it to heel so I can change it. Obviously I won’t dare to change it till it’s out I guess.
It’s a pain in the ass.
on December 21, 2005 at 10:48 am
Syd said:
The best thing to do with the granuloma is to go to your dermatologist, listen to the diatribe on why you shouldn’t have gotten a nose piercing, and then get the doc to cauterize the granuloma. I had one that was red and inflamed, couldn’t take looking at it, and got the dermatologist to cauterize it. No more granuloma. I tried the sea salt compresses to no avail. I didn’t want to have to be repierced. Cautery is painful but much less so than the actual piercing.
on July 14, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Jacaen said:
I have one now, and it’s extremely frustrating to look at. It’s not so much big, slightly noticeable, and sometimes I generally want to freak out and rip out my whole nose ring. All violence aside, I tried the compresses, they didn’t work. I tried leaving it alone and it did help it a little bit, as far as it not being red anymore and just the color of my skin, but the lump still resided. I’m not sure what to do with it now, whether to go to the dermatologist as Syd described, or whether to use hydrocortisone, a topical steroid said to help with the treatment of granulomas. I also heard a very convincing success story with it, so I might give it a shot. Who knows? I’ll write if anything changes.
on August 7, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Sarah said:
Well, I too have developed one of these “lovely” granulomas… just 3 weeks after having my nose pierced. So, I called the place that did the piercing only to be told that its a “keloid” and to treat it 2-3 times a day with vitamin E oil. I’ve been doing this for 2 days and it seems to be working. The lump is not so red and angry and has decreased in size. Maybe it will also work for you - anything is worth a try!
on February 14, 2007 at 3:45 am
Ashley said:
I too developed a granuloma on my nose piercing just a few weeks after i had it pierced,although they’re not a serious problem,they can be unsightly so i decided to check out the net and find the best solution to my problem.at first my lump was filled with white puss,like a small spot so i decided to prick it with a needle nd get all the gunk out of it,i didnt want the infection to spread and so i made sure I cleaned it well.It was after that that my lump developed nd a few times Iv accidently pulled my nose stud out,causing trauma,which also could have caused the lump to develop.However as i was saying before i checked out the net and i read that t-tree oil was the best course of action,also amplying hot compresses works so i tried this And within 2 dayS the lump decreased in size and after 4 days it peeled off.well worth a try if you feel you just cant get rid of that unsightly lump.
on March 4, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Kate said:
Wow.. what a relief.. i hate pain but i wanted my nose done so bad so i sucked it up and went. then i got this stupid lump on my nose and i was pissed.. went on the net to see wht it would tell me about the stupid lump.. going to try the hot water trick and hope it works. really dont want to have to go through the pain of getting it re done.. thanks for everyones advice. I will try it all!
on March 7, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Ashley said:
I think I may have one of those lumps on my nose piercing. Only it’s not near the piercing, it’s right on the piercing. There’s a lump on top and a lump inside my nose in the same spot. It hurts and the skin is red. Is this the same thing or something totally different? I’m thinking about just giving up on my piercing, though I love it.
on March 28, 2007 at 6:52 am
lauren said:
I went to a dermatologist about my keloids from piercings and was told that surgery is the only option- LIE! Garlic oil around the earring the in the piercing gets rid of the keloid within 1-2 days.
on April 30, 2007 at 12:50 am
Steph said:
I’ve had my nose pierced 6 weeks, and I’ve developed the dreaded bump on my nose, as well as one on the inside. I’m not sure what to do with the bump on the inside, because now I can’t even put my original screw in! I’ve had to resort to nose bones that end up popping out. The bump on the outside isn’t as noticeable, but it still bugs me, so I’m going to try the hot compresses and tea tree oil and see if that works out. I’ll reply here in a few days with some progress.
on May 12, 2007 at 9:29 am
Charlotte said:
The hot compresses work really well for me, although I’ve found that it’s best to continue the compresses for a couple days after the granuloma peels off otherwise it will come right back. It took about a week to go away the first time, and came back over night once I stopped the hot compress treatments.
on May 27, 2007 at 10:03 am
Natalie said:
I, too, have developed this nasty bump on my nose about 4 weeks after having it pierced! I was considering giving up and just taking my screw out until I stumbled upon this site. I’m looking forward to trying all of these ideas to get rid of this thing…especially so people can look me in the eye when they’re talking to me, rather than staring at this hideous growth on my nose. Thanks for the hope!
on June 10, 2007 at 1:08 am
Kristen said:
Tea Tree Oil… 2-3 days and its gone! fixed Mine No Problem… Welcome!
on June 10, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Nicole said:
I got my nose pierced in Feb, and have had this since 2-3 weeks after my piercing…I’m close to giving up. I have tried leaving it alone, tea tree oil, hydrocortisone…all to no avail. Today I started with the hot compresses. Since paper towel and cotton balls lose heat so fast, I put hot water in a zip loc bag and held it against my nose. Afterward it looked bigger than ever. I’ll keep trying. I’m so close to just getting rid of it. I paid for a piercing, not a lump. It’s actually bigger than the stud. Very unsightly.
on July 9, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Lori said:
I have the bump too. Got my nose pierced about a month ago. I just went out and bought some tea tree oil so wish me luck guys!! I wll update in a few days.