Do you feel that your nipple piercing has become infected? Mild infections can be dealt with at home. However, severe infections require medical assistance.
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How to Identify Nipple Piercing Infection?
Symptoms of an Infected Nipple Piercing
These are some of the common signs of an infected nipple piercing:
1. The pierced area exhibits persistent warmth
What does this mean? If there is an infection, especially when it involves the skin, muscles, or fascia, there is a surge of blood toward this site.
The body makes way for white blood cells and antibodies to quickly work on the infected site to control the infection’s spread.
The additional blood supply to the infected site causes it to become warmer than the adjacent tissue. The differences in the temperature of the skin can easily be differentiated through touch.
2. Sensitivity
If your nipple piercing is infected, it will feel most tender, especially when there is any pressure. By pressure, we refer not just to regular touch by your hands but also pressure from clothing or underwear.
While it is normal for folks to feel pain, especially when the nipple piercing is freshly done, it is not reasonable to feel tenderness and unbearable pain weeks after the piercing has been done.
3. Discharges from the nipple
Clear discharge is normal, especially in the beginning. Clear discharge is likely just fluid from the lymph nodes charged with the task of stopping infections. Mild infections are also common occurrences with any piercing as piercings are open wounds.
However, what is not normal is when piercings begin to produce different kinds of discharge like greenish discharge or yellowish discharge (usually this is pus) or brown discharge (a mix of blood and pus).
4. Swelling (alarming sign)
Again, a little swelling and pain are reasonable initially, but if the site suddenly swells and becomes red and painful, there’s something wrong with your nipple piercing.
In some cases, an infected nipple piercing can also exhibit undesirable odors. This may be due to the crusting or discharge from the area of tissue damage from an ongoing infection.
Some people develop fever, fatigue, body aches, and rashes during an infection. Some of these symptoms may also be associated with allergies to the barbell or post material used in the fresh piercing.
How to Clean and Care for a Nipple Piercing?
Personal hygiene is essential for maintaining good health after getting anybody’s modification or piercing. It would help if you didn’t get infected, so you need to remember the following tips for cleaning and taking care of a new nipple piercing.
Tips for cleaning and taking care of a new nipple piercing
– Rinse the pierced are a couple of times per day to ensure that the site is free from bacteria. Saline solution is the best type of rinse of body piercings and modifications.
Submersion allows the antibacterial solution to enter areas that may not have been as accessible when you are just rinsing the area. Alternatively, you may also use cotton that has been soaked in saline solution to submerge the pierced nipples.
Take note that there will be some stinging involved, but the stinging will be mostly short-lived.
– Whenever you bathe or shower, avoid scrubbing the area adjacent to the piercing. Rubbing the nipple to clean it is also a big no-no.
Do not use antibacterial ointments unless the physician recommends
– We do not suggest the use of antibacterial ointments or creams unless your physician explicitly states that you could use them. Creams tend to trap air and bacteria, and since the wound is specialized (across the nipple tissue), antibacterial creams may delay the healing of the wound instead of speed it up.
– Scented soaps, shower gels, and body washes are a huge no-no. These may contain fragrances and other chemicals that can irritate the pierced nipple. Use non-scented and natural soaps only to clean the area around the nipple when you shower gently.
Do not swimming during nipple piercing healing
– We do not recommend swimming while your nipple piercing is still healing.
– Pierced nipples are very sensitive – even more, sensitive than they usually are. Disturbing the site in any way can cause tissue damage, small tears in the nipple, and swelling. When you are getting dressed, avoiding exerting too much pressure on the wound to avoid pain and irritation.
– Cotton clothes are excellent for protecting healing piercings. If you are a woman, we also recommend that you wear bras with extra padding. The padding will help reduce any impact on your bosom area, especially when performing physical activities like sports or exercise.
– For most of your days, we recommend clothes on the looser side instead of, the tighter side. The reason for this is that all kinds of open wounds require air, and the more air you introduce to the area, the faster the piercing will heal over time. Air reduces the incidence of the proliferation of anaerobic bacteria that cause severe infections.
How to Prevent a Nipple Piercing Infection?
The most common cause of nipple piercing infections is frequent handling or touching of the pierced site. Understandably, people would tend to touch something painful. The problem is that the hands are almost always dirty, and an open wound can easily get infected with just a small quantity of bacteria from the hands.
The nipples are delicate, to begin with, and the pain associated with an open wound on this area can be extreme. This is why we dissuade anyone from touching their pierced nipples and changing the barbell or post unless the professional piercer says that it is safe to do so. Otherwise, you are just exposing yourself to risks for infection.
When is it Time to See a Doctor?
See your doctor ASAP if you detect any of the signs of infection that we outlined above. Do not delay, as delaying may cause a more severe infection.
How to Know if Your Nipple Piercing is Healed?
Nipple piercing healing happens within nine months to twelve months after the piercing. You will know that the nipple piercing is fully healed when there is no longer any pain, and the site is dry and looks just like before it was pierced.
More articles about piercings you may interest:
Nipple Piercing Aftercare: Do’s and Don’ts For Fresh Nipple Piercing
Nipple Piercing Guide: All You Need to Know About Before Making a Decision
