Treating a piercing bump is a basic but essential DIY that we all need to know. It’s fairly common for bumps to form after piercing. Bumps are typically harmless and are always expected to heal on their own. But a bump might get infected if not treated with care.
To treat a piercing bump, it’s necessary to keep it clean at all times. This helps you keep away infections that might complicate matters. Start by identifying things that might put pressure on the bump, like sleeping patterns, skin allergies, and space jewelry allow for swelling. Once these have been isolated, consider home remedies like salt soak and chamomile tea.
What Is a Piercing Bump
Healthline describes piercing bumps as small itchy lumps that form after piercing. The ear and nose cartilage is often prone to piercing bumps. Piercing bumps do not necessarily need treatment. However, steps should be taken to clean them to prevent infection and allow the piercing to heal. Like cuts or cracks on the skin, piercing can result in scars and infection.
What Differentiates Keloids from Piercing Bump?
As you would expect, many people mistake keloids with piercing bumps. A keloid is an elevated scar that occurs due to compression or injury to the skin. In some cases, the keloid may form due to piercing, making it difficult to differentiate it from piercing bumps. However, bumps tend to appear more quickly and remain constant in size. Keloids take time to develop but continue to grow over time.
Keloids will usually need the attention of a doctor or a dermatologist. It may be itchy, painful, tender but firm to the touch.
How to Treat Piercing Bumps
It is normal for skin changes to occur in areas that have been pierced. These changes are not likely to cause concern for most people involved. However, piercing bumps deserve keen attention since they can degenerate into keloids which are more dangerous.
According to Cleveland Clinic, there is no need to fear piercing bumps since they are part of the body’s natural reaction to a wound. However, you can take measures to avoid infection and ensure the area is clean.
The following are the recommended steps to take to effectively treat piercing bumps.
Identify and Remove the Irritant
Numerous circumstances may aid the development of a bump. To eliminate this, it is critical to look at your daily routine. Narrow it down to what engagements are triggering irritation on the piercing. In turn, you will be able to identify moments in which you interfered with or overwhelmed the piercing.
In some cases, you will realize that bumps get worse when you sleep on the fresh piercing. Other contributing factors include jewelry that’s not fitted properly, the profile of the jewelry, and an allergic reaction. It is always advisable to buy jewelry made of items that are not harmful to the skin.
You may experience symptoms like a hole that appears larger than the jewelry, a rash or redness around the piercing, intense itchiness. And skin that is tender to the touch if you have a metal allergy. Note that even if your jewelry is the cause of the problem, you cannot remove it until the symptoms improve.
Give It Time
When you get a piercing, your body’s primary reaction is to get the wound healed as quickly as possible. This tends to work best when the body is left alone to do it. Your piercing will typically take between 3 to 12 months to heal. When healed, you can change your jewelry.
Keep the Piercing Clean
Cleaning your piercing every day with antibacterial detergent is the key to eliminating abscesses. You might also find a salt soak useful for your cleaning routine. Salt soak is also ideal for clearing away irritants. When cleaning the piercing and surrounding area, avoid using hydrogen peroxide, iodopovidone (Betadine), chlorhexidine (Hibiclens), rubbing alcohol, and benzalkonium chloride (BZK)
Seek Remedies
Some piercing bumps may need herbal compress like chamomile tea in hot water. This helps to reduce inflammation and improves blood flow to the pierce bump. You can use a warm chamomile compress by placing a bag of chamomile tea in hot water for 6 minutes.
Hold the tea bag against the piercing for 5 minutes and refresh the water before it dries. After that, rinse your piercing and dry with a paper towel. Repeat until you see an improvement.
You may also realize that your piercing may improve with a change of jewelry, especially higher-grade jewelry. Book an appointment with a local piercing studio and get their professional opinion.
Why Won’t My Piercing Bump Go Away?
If your piercing bump refuses to go away, there could be an infection. An infected piercing may manifest in several ways, including:
- Redness
- Itching and burning
- Swelling
- Constant pain or tenderness
- Yellow pus-like discharge
You need to be sure that you are using reputable jewelry, and it must always be clean. You can consider seeing a dermatologist to help you establish the problem.
Conclusion
Piercing bumps are common and shockingly easy to treat. They can occur in almost any piercing. They should not be confused with keloids which often need medical attention and lead to other serious health complications.
