How long does a nose piercing take to heal?

Longer than most people expect. The Tattooing and Body Piercing Guidance Toolkit — the national guidance endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Public Health England and the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union — puts a nose piercing at up to 6 months, against 6 to 8 weeks for an ear lobe. Those are approximate and depend on how healthy you are and how well you look after it. A piercing can feel settled long before the tissue inside the channel has finished healing, so the six-month figure is the one to plan around rather than the two-week point where it stops being sore.

Does a nose piercing hurt?

It is quick, and most people describe a sharp sting and watering eyes rather than pain. Your eyes watering is a reflex, not a sign anything is wrong. Expect some swelling and soreness afterwards — the national guidance notes that any knock or bang can make swelling and soreness flare up again at any point during healing, which is why a new nostril piercing is worth protecting from towels, jumpers being pulled off and sleeping face-down.

What jewellery will I be pierced with?

A medical-grade titanium nose ring. Titanium matters: the Association of Professional Piercers recommends implant-certified titanium and describes it as ideal for anyone with concerns about nickel sensitivity, which is the single most common cause of an allergic reaction to jewellery. The same guidance warns that jewellery which is too tight restricts air and blood circulation and can interfere with normal drainage, while jewellery that is too small risks embedding and jewellery that is too large catches and causes trauma — so the fit is chosen for your nose, not from a tray.

When can I change my nose stud?

Not as soon as it stops hurting. The channel is still fragile while it heals, and changing jewellery early is the most common way people set their own healing back. Come in for a jewellery change or downsizing instead — that is a 15-minute appointment from £10, which includes the titanium post. If you want a specific piece of jewellery, contact us before booking so it can be ordered in time and the price confirmed.

How do I clean a new nose piercing?

With a warm salt-water solution, twice a day, preferably after washing or bathing. The Public Health England aftercare leaflet gives the recipe as a quarter of a level teaspoon of (preferably sea) salt to an egg cup or shot glass of warm water. Soak the area or hold a clean cloth or gauze against it as a warm compress to soften any crusting, then dry with fresh disposable paper towel — never a bath towel. One point that is specific to noses: antibacterial washes and soaps are fine on an ear piercing but the same guidance says they are NOT suitable for nostrils or septums because the tissue is delicate. Salt water only.

I have a bump around my nose piercing — is that an infection?

Usually not. The NHS says small lumps can form around ear or nose cartilage piercings, that these are granulomas — trapped fluid — and that you can treat them by soaking a pad in warm water and holding it against them once a day. The national piercing guidance says the same and suggests the warm compress replaces one of your daily cleanings rather than being added to them. What is NOT normal is swelling and redness that keeps increasing, severe burning or throbbing, pain that gets worse rather than better, or a yellow or green discharge with a smell. If you see any of those, ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 — and leave the jewellery in unless a doctor tells you to take it out.

Can under-18s have a nose piercing?

With parental consent, yes, and for some piercings a parent or guardian needs to be present. There is no national minimum age for piercing in England — the Tattooing of Minors Act 1969 sets 18 for tattoos, but it covers only the insertion of colouring into the skin and says nothing about piercing — so this is our own rule rather than a law we are quoting at you. Please get in touch before booking if you have any questions about suitability.

Nose Piercing in Bracknell — £30 with Titanium Jewellery

A nostril piercing is one of the quickest things on the menu and one of the slowest to heal. That is the honest shape of it: twenty minutes in the studio, and then a healing period measured in months rather than weeks. Almost everything that goes wrong with a nose piercing goes wrong in those months, not on the day — which is why this page spends more words on aftercare than on the appointment.

At Lady Young’s a nose piercing is £30 and includes a medical-grade titanium nose ring. Two nostrils done together are £50. Safina does the piercing herself, in a private one-to-one studio in Bracknell, with sterile single-use equipment — the same room and the same standards as every other treatment on the ear and body piercing menu.

Nostril, not septum

“Nose piercing” covers two quite different things, and it is worth being clear which one you are booking. What is offered here is the nostrilpiercing — through the soft tissue at the side of the nose, which is where the familiar stud or small ring sits. A septum piercing goes through the middle. As the clinical review of piercing complications in American Family Physician explains, a septum piercing is normally placed through the inferior fleshy part of the septum and not through cartilage, precisely because piercing cartilage can cause significant bleeding and lead to a septal haematoma, which is often accompanied by infection. Anyone offering to put a ring straight through the hard part of your nose is doing something you should decline.

And if what you actually want to change is the shapeof your nose rather than to decorate it, that is a different conversation entirely — see non-surgical rhinoplasty, which uses filler rather than jewellery and carries a completely different set of risks.

What happens

Your appointment, step by step

Placement comes first
Before anything is marked, we talk about where the piercing will actually sit. Nostrils are not symmetrical and the crease of your nose is personal to you, so the right spot is the one that suits your face and the jewellery you want to wear later — not a standard measurement. If you are thinking about a second nostril eventually, say so now: the two are planned together far more easily than retro-fitted.
Marked, and checked in a mirror
The spot is marked and you see it before anything happens. It is much easier to move a mark than to move a piercing, so take your time at this stage.
A clean, single-use set-up
Every piercing is done with sterile, single-use equipment and sterile medical-grade titanium jewellery. This is the part that matters most and the part you should ask any piercer about, anywhere.
The piercing itself
Quick. The whole appointment is 20 minutes and the piercing is a small part of it; most of the time is placement, preparation and aftercare. Expect your eyes to water.
Aftercare, in writing and out loud
You leave knowing exactly how to clean it, what is normal in the first few weeks, what is not, and roughly when to come back to have the jewellery downsized. If anything worries you afterwards, get in touch rather than guessing.

The bit people underestimate

How long a nose piercing takes to heal

Up to six months. That figure comes from the Tattooing and Body Piercing Guidance Toolkit, the national guidance launched in August 2013 and endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Public Health England, the Health and Safety Laboratory and the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union. Its aftercare leaflet lists an ear lobe at 6 to 8 weeks, an eyebrow at 2 to 4 months and a nose piercing at up to 6 months, with the caveat that the times are approximate and depend “on how healthy you are and whether you look after the piercing properly until healed”.

For the first few weeks it is normal for the area to be red, tender and swollen, and for a pale, odourless fluid to discharge and form a crust. The leaflet is specific that this should not be confused with pus, which would indicate infection. Soreness that has settled is not the same as a healed piercing, and the gap between the two is where most people change their jewellery too early.

The one point the guidance disagrees on

Worth knowing, because you will read both. The NHS advice is to clean twice a day with warm salty water and gently turn the jewellery while cleaning. The Association of Professional Piercers takes the view that moving the jewellery is unnecessary and that over-cleaning delays healing and irritates the piercing. The UK toolkit sits between the two and is the clearest on the thing that actually matters: never move, twist or turn the jewellery while it is dry, because hardened discharge dragged through the channel tears it, lets bacteria in and prolongs healing. Soften first, move gently if at all, and leave it alone the rest of the time.

Aftercare

Looking after a new nostril piercing

This is the national guidance, not a house style — the salt-water method below is the one in the Public Health England-endorsed leaflet, and you will be given the same advice in writing on the day.

Wash your hands first, every time. Hand washing is described in the guidance as the single most important method of reducing infection. Warm water, liquid soap, dried thoroughly on a clean towel.
Salt water, twice a day. A quarter of a level teaspoon of (preferably sea) salt to an egg cup or shot glass of warm water. Wet clean gauze or cloth in it and hold it against the piercing as a warm compress to soften any crusting. Preferably after washing or bathing.
No antibacterial washes on a nostril. They are listed as an option for ear piercings and explicitly ruled out for nostrils and septums because the tissue is too delicate. This is the single most common aftercare mistake on a nose piercing.
Dry with disposable paper towel only. Never a hand or bath towel — it harbours bacteria and catches on jewellery. And never cotton wool: the fibres snag in the piercing.
Don’t pick the crust. That pale crust is a normal part of healing. Soften it off; don’t pull it off.
No swimming for the first 24 hours, and no sunbeds for the first two weeks — or cover the area with a breathable plaster if you do.
Keep make-up and skincare off it. The APP’s guidance is to avoid all beauty and personal care products on or around a healing piercing — foundation, serums, fake tan and hairspray included. Worth planning around if you have a wedding or a big event in the diary.
A lump is usually a granuloma, not an infection. Trapped fluid. Hold a warm, damp pad against it once a day — the guidance suggests this replaces one of your daily cleans rather than being added to them.

When to get it looked at

Swelling and redness that keeps increasing, a severe burning or throbbing sensation, pain that gets worse rather than better, or an unusual yellow or green discharge with an offensive smell. Feeling feverish or generally unwell counts too. The NHS advice is to ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111 if you think a piercing might be infected, and to leave the jewellery in unless a doctor tells you to remove it. Tell us as well — get in touch rather than waiting to see.

Being straight with you

The risks, honestly

Piercing problems are common enough to be worth taking seriously. The largest UK study of the question — a Health Protection Agency household survey of 10,503 adults in England, published in the BMJ in 2008 — found that of the 754 piercings reported by 16 to 24-year-olds, complications were reported with 31.0%, professional help was sought for 15.2%, and 0.9% required admission to hospital. Serious harm is uncommon; irritation, swelling and minor infection are not. Most of that is preventable with hygiene, properly fitted jewellery and patience.

A few risks are specific to the nose rather than general. The American Family Physician review lists infection, swallowing or aspirating the jewellery, perichondritis and necrosis of the nasal wall, and septal haematoma as the recognised nose complications, and notes that an infected nasal piercing needs treatment that covers the Staphylococcusspecies that naturally colonise the nasal mucosa — your nose already carries the bacteria that cause the trouble, which is exactly why the hand-washing rule is not fussiness. A 2012 review in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology adds that nasal and oral jewellery can become embedded and require surgical removal, and lists allergic contact dermatitis — from nickel in particular — scarring and keloid formation among the general risks. That same review is clear that complications vary with the site, the materials used, the experience of the practitioner, hygiene and the aftercare the client does at home. Three of those five are things you can control before you book.

Nostril piercings can also migrate or be pulled out, and studs and backings can embed. None of that is a reason not to have one. It is a reason to have it done properly, with jewellery that fits, and to leave it alone while it heals.

Jewellery

Why titanium, and why the fit matters

Your nose piercing comes with a medical-grade titanium nose ring. The Association of Professional Piercers’ standard for initial jewellery is implant-certified titanium — Ti6Al4V ELI, compliant with ASTM F-136 — and it describes titanium as a lightweight metal ideal for people with concerns about nickel sensitivity. Anything going into a fresh piercing also has to survive the heat and pressure of autoclave sterilisation and be inert in the body, which rules out a lot of what is sold as jewellery.

Fit is the other half of it, and it is the half that gets ignored. The same standard warns that jewellery which is too tight does not allow for air and blood circulation and can interfere with normal drainage; too small risks swelling and embedding; too large catches and causes excessive trauma. A new piercing is fitted with a little room for swelling, which is why downsizing exists: once the swelling has gone, a shorter post sits better, snags less and is more comfortable to sleep on. That is a 15-minute appointment from £10 including the titanium post, or £15 with a sparkle flat-back stud. If you want something particular, contact us before booking so it can be ordered in and the price confirmed.

The rules

Registration, age and what to ask

Cosmetic piercing in England is regulated under section 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, which requires both the person carrying on the business and the premisesthey work from to be registered with the local authority — here, Bracknell Forest Council. It is a fair question to put to any piercer, anywhere, and it sits alongside the NHS’s own first rule of aftercare: choose a qualified, experienced and licensed piercer.

On age, there is more confusion than law. The Tattooing of Minors Act 1969 makes it an offence to tattoo anyone under eighteen, but it defines a tattoo as the insertion of colouring into the skin and says nothing at all about piercing — so the under-18 rule people repeat for tattoos does not automatically transfer. In practice councils can attach conditions to a piercer’s registration and every studio sets its own policy. Ours is that anyone under 18 needs parental consent, and for some piercings a parent or guardian must be present. If you are unsure whether a piercing is suitable, ask before you book — the honest answer is sometimes “not yet”.

Every treatment here is carried out by Safina personally, in a private studio, start to finish. There is more about her training and experience on the about page, and what clients actually say is on the reviews page.

Pricing

Nose piercing prices

Jewellery is included in every piercing price below — there is no separate charge for the titanium.

Nose piercing20 min
One nostril, using a medical-grade titanium nose ring
£30
Double nose piercings20 min
Two nostril piercings in one appointment, medical-grade titanium jewellery
£50
2 piercings (ear, or nose and ear)30 min
Anywhere on the ear apart from industrial, or a nose and an ear together
£60
Jewellery change or downsizing15 min
£10 for a shorter labret post, £15 with a sparkle flat-back stud; both include the titanium jewellery
from £10

Prices are correct at the time of publishing and are confirmed at your consultation. Some treatments start from the price shown and vary with the amount of product used or the area treated.

Book a Consultation

Thinking about more than one? The full ear and body piercing menu runs from a single lobe at £25 through cartilage placements to a bespoke three-piercing package at £90, where Safina helps you style the ear to your own anatomy rather than to a template.

Your questions

Nose piercing FAQs

£30 for a single nostril, which is a 20-minute appointment and includes a medical-grade titanium nose ring. Two nostrils done in the same appointment are £50. If you want a nose and an ear piercing together that is the £60 two-piercing booking, which takes 30 minutes. Prices are confirmed at your appointment and nothing is added on afterwards.

Related treatments & guides

Ear & Body Piercing

The full piercing menu — lobes, cartilage, daith, belly, dermals and curated ear styling, all in titanium.

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Non-Surgical Rhinoplasty

Changing the shape of the nose with filler rather than jewellery — £250, with the risks set out honestly.

Learn more

Guide: Bridal Beauty Timeline

When to book every treatment before a wedding — useful if a piercing needs to be healed by a certain date.

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FAQs

Consultations, patch tests, payment, aftercare and what to expect at your first appointment.