Last updated: 17 September 2026
A new nose piercing needs simple, gentle aftercare while it heals. Wash your hands before touching it, clean it with sterile saline, dry it gently and otherwise leave the jewellery alone. Avoid alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and harsh antibacterial products, which can irritate healing tissue.
Quick answer: how to clean a nose piercing
- Wash and dry your hands thoroughly.
- Spray or rinse the piercing with sterile 0.9% saline wound wash.
- Let any crust soften rather than picking it off.
- Gently dry the area with clean disposable gauze or paper.
- Leave the jewellery in place and don't twist or rotate it unnecessarily.
Jump to: How to clean it | What to use | Nose piercing aftercare | Healing time | What's normal | Signs of infection | Changing your jewellery | FAQs
How to clean your nose piercing
You don't need a complicated cleaning routine. In fact, doing too much can irritate a new piercing and make healing harder.
1. Wash your hands
Always wash your hands thoroughly before touching your piercing or the jewellery. Outside cleaning, try to leave it alone as much as possible.
2. Clean with sterile saline
Use a packaged sterile saline wound wash containing 0.9% sodium chloride. Spray or rinse the piercing so the saline reaches the outside of the piercing and the accessible area just inside the nostril.
You don't need to remove your nose stud or nose ring to clean the piercing, and you shouldn't remove jewellery from a new piercing simply to clean it.
3. Soften any crust rather than picking it
A small amount of pale fluid can dry around a healing piercing and form a crust. Let saline or warm shower water soften it first. If it comes away easily, gently remove it without scraping or picking at the piercing.
4. Dry it gently
Pat the area dry using clean disposable gauze or paper. Avoid rubbing it with a bath towel, which can catch on the jewellery as well as carrying bacteria from repeated use.
5. Leave the jewellery alone
You don't need to spin or rotate your nose jewellery to stop it becoming stuck. Moving jewellery unnecessarily can disturb the tissue inside the piercing. Clean it, dry it and then leave it alone.
What should you use to clean a nose piercing?
The simplest option is a sterile 0.9% saline wound wash. Check the ingredients: you're looking for sodium chloride and water without fragrances, moisturisers or antibacterial additives.
Don't confuse sterile wound-wash saline with contact lens solution, eye drops or other products that happen to contain saline.
It's also better not to mix your own salt water if packaged sterile saline is available. Homemade mixtures are difficult to get to the right concentration and can easily end up too salty, which may dry or irritate the piercing.
This follows the aftercare guidance from the Association of Professional Piercers, which recommends sterile saline labelled as a wound wash and no longer suggests mixing your own salt solution. The APP also advises that moving or rotating jewellery while cleaning isn't necessary and may irritate the piercing.
What shouldn't you put on a healing nose piercing?
- Rubbing alcohol
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Iodine
- Harsh or antibacterial soaps
- Ointments unless a healthcare professional has told you to use one
- Perfumed skincare or cosmetic products directly around the piercing
More cleaning isn't necessarily better either. Repeatedly scrubbing or treating the piercing with strong products can cause irritation rather than speeding up healing.
How to look after a nose piercing while it heals
Cleaning is only part of nose piercing aftercare. The other important bit is avoiding unnecessary irritation while the channel through your nostril is healing.
- Keep your hands off it. Don't fiddle with the stud or ring during the day.
- Don't twist the jewellery. It isn't necessary for healing and can irritate the piercing.
- Be careful when washing your face. Towels, flannels and clothing can catch surprisingly easily on a nose stud.
- Keep makeup and skincare away from the piercing. Foundation, moisturiser, sunscreen and other products can get into the healing channel.
- Avoid unnecessary pressure or friction. Knocking or repeatedly catching a piercing can prolong irritation.
- Keep bedding clean. You're spending several hours a night with your face against it.
- Be cautious with swimming while it is healing. Pools, hot tubs, lakes and the sea expose a healing piercing to water that isn't sterile.
- Leave the original jewellery in. Unless there's a problem with its fit or material, let the piercing heal around the jewellery fitted by your piercer.
If the initial jewellery is causing problems or needs resizing during healing, see a professional piercer rather than changing it yourself.
How long does a nose piercing take to heal?
A nose piercing can look fine on the outside before the tissue inside has finished healing. According to WebMD, a pierced nose takes 2 to 4 months to completely heal, and healing time varies from person to person.
At jewellerybox, our guidance has traditionally been to leave a nose piercing for at least 8–10 weeks before changing the jewellery. It's important to understand that this doesn't necessarily mean the piercing is completely healed at 8–10 weeks. Longer is better, particularly if there is still tenderness, swelling, discharge or irritation.
If you're not sure whether yours is ready for a change, ask your piercer. Our guide to when you can change a piercing also covers this in more detail.
What's normal while a nose piercing is healing?
A new piercing is a healing wound, so a little irritation doesn't automatically mean that it is infected.
During the early stages you may notice:
- some local tenderness or swelling
- mild redness, or darker discolouration depending on your skin tone
- some itching as it heals
- a small amount of pale or whitish-yellow fluid that dries into crust around the jewellery
Those symptoms should generally improve as healing progresses. Don't pick at dried crust or repeatedly move the jewellery to check it.
How can you tell if a nose piercing is infected?
Some redness and tenderness can be normal in a new piercing. What matters is whether symptoms are becoming more severe rather than gradually settling down.
Possible signs of infection include:
- increasing swelling or pain
- the area feeling hot
- marked redness or darkening around the piercing
- blood or pus coming from the piercing
- white, yellow or green pus
- feeling hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell
If you think your nose piercing is infected, seek medical advice promptly through your GP or NHS 111.
Don't automatically take the jewellery out if you suspect an infection. NHS advice is to leave piercing jewellery in unless a doctor tells you to remove it.
A professional piercer can help with jewellery fit and irritation, but suspected infection needs medical advice. Antibiotics may sometimes be needed, which is something for a healthcare professional to assess.
When can you change your nose stud?
Wait until the piercing has had time to heal before swapping the jewellery your piercer fitted. Don't judge it purely by how it looks: a piercing heals from the outside in, so the surface can look settled while the tissue inside is still fragile.
We recommend waiting at least 8–10 weeks before changing nose jewellery, and longer if the piercing doesn't feel completely settled. If in doubt, let your piercer check it first.
When you're ready to change it, wash your hands and make sure the new jewellery is clean before you begin. Don't use rubbing alcohol on the piercing and don't use tweezers to force jewellery through it.
Check the gauge before changing jewellery too. Nose studs have two different measurements: the size of the decorative top and the gauge, which is the thickness of the pin. Our jewellery measurement guide explains gauges if you're unsure which size you wear.
If you're changing your jewellery for the first time, see our guide to different nose stud styles and our step-by-step guide to putting in a nose stud or nose ring.
Nose piercing cleaning and aftercare FAQs
How often should I clean my nose piercing?
Cleaning twice a day is a reasonable routine for a new piercing. Avoid repeatedly cleaning it throughout the day unless your piercer or healthcare professional has advised otherwise, as over-cleaning can irritate healing tissue.
Should I twist my nose stud while cleaning it?
No. You don't need to rotate jewellery through a healing piercing. Spray or rinse around it with saline and leave the jewellery in its normal position.
Can I use salt water to clean a nose piercing?
Sterile 0.9% saline wound wash is preferable to homemade salt water because its concentration and sterility are controlled. Homemade mixtures can easily be made too strong and irritate the piercing.
Can I use alcohol to clean my nose piercing?
No. Rubbing alcohol is too harsh for routine piercing aftercare and can irritate healing tissue. The same applies to hydrogen peroxide and other strong antiseptic products unless a healthcare professional has specifically told you to use something.
Should I remove crust from my nose piercing?
Don't pick at it. Let saline or warm shower water soften any dried discharge, then gently remove only what comes away easily.
Can I take my nose stud out to clean the piercing?
No. Keep the jewellery in while the piercing heals unless a qualified piercer needs to change it for a specific reason or a healthcare professional tells you otherwise. Even established piercings can tighten when jewellery is removed.
Why does my nose piercing still hurt after a few weeks?
Some tenderness can continue while the piercing is healing, particularly if it has been knocked or irritated. If pain is worsening, the area is hot or increasingly swollen, you're getting pus, or you feel unwell, seek medical advice.
Can I put makeup around a new nose piercing?
It's best to keep foundation, moisturiser and other cosmetic or skincare products away from the piercing while it heals. You don't want product collecting around or entering the healing channel.
Once your piercing is ready for a jewellery change, browse our nose studs and nose rings, including sterling silver and 9ct gold styles.