First off, yes, if my eye is like this tomorrow, I’m going to my doctor. (It’s Sunday, and I don’t go to the ER unless I’m dying.) Got my nose pierced yesterday (left nostril); today my left eye is watery, tearing sporadically, and reddish in the lower lid.
Reminds me of the time I had bacterial conjunctivitis a few years ago, which the doctor said could have been a result of a sinus infection (I have chronic sinus trouble.) Any dopers have a similar experience? Any medical people out there who might opine that it’s conjunctivitis as a result of the piercing? Or something else?
IANAD, but I think the only way it could be a result of your nose piercing is if you itched/touched your nose and then your eye. There is a connection between the nasal cavity and your eye, I think, but that would require you to inhale something. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the two are unrelated. But, again, IANADoctor.
I had my nose pierced ten years ago in India and they screwed up and I never had any eye problems. (I figured they’d know what they were doing, they’ve been doing it for thousands of years!) Did you go to a professional? Was everything completely sterile? The only thing I can think of is some kind of bacteria which traveled.
Keep us posted, please!
Yes, I know everything up there is connected – the tear ducts empty into the nasal area (that’s why your nose runs when you cry). I figured some bacteria may have travelled from the piercing to the eye. If it is conjunctivitis (based on experience), I’ll wake up tomorrow with my left eye glued shut (from the gunk); and the right eye will probably start up too. Right now, it feels a little better, and it hasn’t teared for a few hours, but still feels scratchy. I trust the piercer – she’s with a tattoo studio with a good reputation, and my s.o. and I have been going to for 10 years or so - they use gloves and steriliize, so I’m not worried about that. BTW, what have you been told to do for after-care? I thought I’d have to use at least an antibiotic ointment on it, but the piercer said no - only to wash with a mild liquid soap.
The piercing place I’ve been to recommends salt water soaks twice a day: dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of (preferably sea-)salt in a cup of warm-to-hot water and soak for about 10 minutes. This was for ears and nipples; I imagine it would be the same for noses.
Fly with me once again to the not so distant past, 1990. And there I am, with a notion in my head, a somewhat naughty notion. I can get my nose pierced and have it healed by spring break, at which time I can remove the stud for the trip home and vacation and my parents need never know. A thrill is shooting through my black little heart.
And so it was that I found myself rummaging through my roommate’s jewelry to find a piercing stud. (Of course, now they use gauged needles, but piercing was still young in Utah in the early 90’s.) My good friend Gary had promised to do my nose for me free of charge at the beauty school he attends. The time has never been riper: I have no job to get fired from and my parents are 250 miles away.
I found a stud and trotted off to Gary’s. When I got there, Gary settled me into a chair in the back. All the other students gathered 'round to watch, because they had never seen a nose piercing before. Then he drew the fateful purple dot on my left nostril.
“There?” he asked.
“Looks good.” I said. And he loaded the specially chosen star-shaped stud into the gun (without its back, otherwise we’d never get it out again) and lined it up with my purple dot. The whole class took a deep breath with me, and … BANG!
A single tear rolled out my left eye. I felt like I had been punched in the nose. The whole left side of my face was on fire. But it was over, and man, was I cool.
Gary started to remove the gun, but my face tried to come along. The stud was stuck. "Somebody get an orange stick,” the instructor said. They pried at it with an orange stick for a minute or two, then switched over to a carefully washed fork from someone’s lunch.
“Owie owie owie owie owie owie owie owie owie owie,” I chanted while they wrenched the gun around my sore nose, which was bleeding just a little…
Finally the instructor, dear Mr. Evans who had been my pal through so many cuts and colors, pulled up a chair next to mine. He put his hand on my arm, looked at me seriously, and said, “Well, Karen. You seem to have a choice. You can wear our gun for a few weeks while you heal, or we can tear it out. And we need our gun.”
What could I do? I gripped the arms of the chair and nodded. “Go for it.”
A few moments later it was all over. I sat on the floor, recovering, holding a towel to my face. Someone brought me some ice and I got up to leave. Gary consoled me, saying, “We could try again on the other side. Or you could come back when it’s healed.” But I was feeling dizzy, and not at all like ever getting close to a piercing gun again.
As I was walking out the door into the bright autumn sunlight, clutching my ice to my face, a girl I had noticed watching the piercing fiasco with increasing horror came up to me. She looked me straight in the face and said sweetly, “It serves you right, you freak.”
So I kicked her, hard, in both shins with my army boots. Bitch.
look@hergo: I’m quite sure it wasn’t funny then, but it is now – and I could use that laugh - thank you! My eye is feeling better hour-by-hour; hasn’t teared all afternoon, just feels a little gritty. (I also have dry eyes and use lubricant drops in them, so that may be a factor.) My piercer used a needle – and it hurt; I’ve had a few tattoos that REALLY hurt and I didn’t make a sound, but when she pierced my nose - YOW – everyone in the room heard me yell “ow, ow, ow!” Still glad I got it done.
So, look@hergo: did you ever get your nose pierced correctly?
As for after-care: For minor cuts, I use peroxide – my wounds heal faster with it – and I’ve thought about using it on my nose, but at this point, I guess I’ll let it be.
Nope, after that first attempt, I never thought about having my nose done again. About 8 years ago I got a ring put in my upper left ear (professional piercer, sanitary methods, etc.). It was painful because of the cartilage there, but it was a brave kind of pain, if you know what I mean. It’s just as well that my nose didn’t “take”, because I have scar tissue issues – it took about four years for the lump on my ear piercing to diminish. I can only imagine how hideous it would have looked on my nose. Glad to hear your eye is feeling better!
The eye is much better - not red anymore and not watery and tearing. I think it’ll be okay. Thanks everyone for the advice and support.