Nose piercing infection

I got my nose pierced over 2 months ago at blue banana and have been caring for it well, not messing with it etc. I've been swabbing it with a mild saline solution and applying diluted tea tree oil but this just seemed to make it worse. It's gotten into a cycle of a small bump filled with liquid appearing up next to the stud, then this bump draining itself when I clean my piercing. After this it gets extremely scabby with loads of yellowish crap around it. After a few days, the scabbyness heals up, but then that god damn bump is back and it happens all over again.

Someone told me that germolene worked for them and I have been using it for 2 days and it's helped slightly but is there anything better anyone can recommend? I would really like to change my stud/not have weird yellow crap around it..

PS - Please don't tell me to take it out because I refuse to undergo the pain again. And as for going to my piercer, he just keeps telling me to do the "salt soaks".

tea tree oil is too strong. You also might have the wrong jewelry in it? do you know what you are wearing?

I've had mine pierced twice in the last year.
I assume you had yours done with a gun?
The first time, I got it done by hippies with a needle ¬_¬ so yeah - now that's painful! Blood went everywhere. They also did it in the wrong place. This piercing got infected, and no matter what I tried, nothing worked. Then I gave up, and just let the hole heal by taking the stud out.
About 2 months ago, I got it done with a gun.. it was painless.
I got a sterile solution, and use a cotton bud. I also take it out now and then clean it.. It hasn't fully healed yet, but it is getting slightly better.
Also, don't change your stud too often, and use a small one until the infection has gone. When you're in the shower, put a small plaster on top of it too, as hot water aggrevates it.
Hope this helps.

Dodgy as hell advice. OP, don't pay much attention to this. A gun piercing is NOT the way to do it. Nor is it sensible or recommended to change the jewellery until it is FULLY healed.

OP, you may be overcleaning it. Clean it when it's crusty - once a day at the most. Salt water and nothing else. Keep hands off it and don't change the jewellery (Unless it is dodgy jewellery to begin with, and then I'd recommend you see a different piercing studio to sort it out for you). Stop with the tea-tree oil - it's too harsh, and just give it time.

Ahhh, I have been cleaning it 2-3 times a day and showering everyday too so that might be the problem. I had mine done with an autoclave but it's only started playing up in the past month or so and was well behaved before then, but I think the jewelry is okay.. I might go down to another piercing studio for advice anyway cause blue banana sucks and their advice leaflet says that if your piercing gets infected to clean it up to 4 times a day.

Honey, an autoclave is a piece of machinery used to sterilise the equipment. It's not a piece of piercing equipment!! You had it done with a gun???

Lol i was just going to post that! I can't believe they did it with a gun, i knew they were **** but seriously??!!

and why am i the only one suggesting antibiotics? its clearly infected due to the gunk

Honey, an autoclave is a piece of machinery used to sterilise the equipment. It's not a piece of piercing equipment!! You had it done with a gun???

It's unlikely it's infected. It sounds irritated more than anything. A granuloma is pretty normal on piercings if they're irritated. So for now, the best course of action would be to slow down on the cleaning and just do basic saline soaks. If it's not improving, then I'd suggest she go back to a (more reputable) piercer and ask their advice. GP's generally don't approve of piercings so will automatically tell you to take it out, which is incorrect advice. So GP visits are an absolute last resort.

granulomas are fine but its more of a concern over whether they are necrotic or not, and as she's talking about the yellow stuff- this makes me think it could be and necrosis tends to be caused by infection

Yes, but it wouldn't warrant anti-biotics at this stage, I don't think. I'm not a doctor, but piercings, I do know and it sounds to me like she's overcleaning and causing a reaction. Anti-biotics would clear up any infection if it was present, but it won't stop the irritation occuring from the overcleaning. Like I said, it's best to try a simple solution first, then onto more extreme measures as a last resort. I honestly believe (and I have had over a decade's worth of experience with piercings) that with a lot less cleaning and a more informed method of cleaning, that it will clear up in time.

oh ffs, when I asked the woman there if they sterilise guns etc she said that they have an autoclave so from that I assumed an autoclave was a sterilisable gun..

Yeah I had it with a gun lol