Re-piercing your nose is usually straightforward, but the process depends on whether your old hole is partially closed, fully closed, or scarred over. In most cases, you’ll need to visit a professional piercer rather than attempt it yourself. The good news: re-piercing the same spot is common, and piercers do it routinely.
Check Whether Your Hole Is Actually Closed
Before assuming you need a full re-pierce, figure out what you’re dealing with. A piercing hole that looks closed on the surface may only have a thin layer of skin covering it, with the channel still intact underneath. This is especially common if the hole just recently started closing.
Try this: take a warm shower to soften the tissue, then gently see if a piece of jewelry slides through. Don’t push hard. If it glides in with minimal resistance, your piercing was only partially closed and you’ve just re-opened it. If you feel resistance or pain, stop. Forcing jewelry through skin that has actually healed over creates a ragged wound that’s far more prone to infection than a clean piercing would be.
A fully closed hole looks like smooth, unbroken skin, sometimes with a small dimple or dot of scar tissue where the piercing used to be. At that point, no amount of pushing will safely reopen it at home.
How Long to Wait Before Re-Piercing
If your piercing closed because you removed the jewelry too soon, you need to let the tissue fully heal before trying again. Nostril piercings take 4 to 6 months to heal initially, and septum piercings take 2 to 3 months. A re-pierce through tissue that’s still actively healing increases your risk of scarring, infection, and the piercing rejecting.
Most piercers recommend waiting until the old site has completely healed and any inflammation or tenderness has resolved. For a nostril that recently closed, this typically means at least 2 to 3 months. If your original piercing had complications like infection, a keloid, or a bump that never fully went away, you may need to wait longer. Your piercer will assess the tissue and let you know.
What Happens at a Professional Re-Piercing
A professional piercer will examine your old piercing site and check for scar tissue, residual inflammation, or signs that the area isn’t ready. They can often pierce through the exact same spot, though sometimes they’ll recommend shifting the placement slightly to avoid dense scar tissue. Scar tissue is tougher and less flexible than normal skin, which can make healing slower and increase the chance of complications like the jewelry migrating out over time.
The procedure itself is identical to getting a first-time piercing. Expect a piercing fee around $50, plus the cost of jewelry. Some shops also charge a small fee (around $10) if you’re just having jewelry inserted into an existing hole that’s still open. Prices vary by location and studio, but re-piercing doesn’t typically cost more than an initial piercing.
The piercer will use a sterile, single-use needle. They’ll likely start you with a titanium or implant-grade steel stud rather than a ring, since studs move less during healing and cause less irritation, especially in tissue that’s already been pierced once.
Why You Shouldn’t Do It Yourself
Pushing a needle or piece of jewelry through your own nose carries real risks. The most obvious is infection. Staph bacteria are common on skin and inside the nose, and a non-sterile piercing gives them a direct route into your bloodstream. In one documented case, a young woman developed a staph infection of her heart valves after a nasal septum piercing, leading to blood clots that traveled to her brain, kidneys, and spleen. She was left with cognitive problems and weakness on one side of her body. That’s an extreme outcome, but it illustrates why sterile technique matters.
Beyond infection, DIY re-piercing often goes through scar tissue at a bad angle, leading to a crooked result or a piercing that sits differently than you wanted. Scar tissue also bleeds more unpredictably and heals less neatly. Complications from piercings range from minor (contact irritation, small bumps) to serious (spreading infection, keloid scars, tissue damage that makes future piercings in that area difficult).
Aftercare for a Re-Pierced Nose
Aftercare for a re-piercing is the same as for a fresh piercing. The Association of Professional Piercers recommends using a sterile saline wound wash, with 0.9% sodium chloride as the only ingredient. Spray it on the piercing site while it heals. That’s it. No soap on the piercing, no twisting the jewelry, no cotton swabs.
Wash your hands before touching the area, and otherwise leave it alone. Avoid submerging it in pools, lakes, or hot tubs during healing. Sleep on the opposite side if you can. Re-pierced tissue can be slightly more temperamental than a first-time site, so consistent aftercare matters even more.
Watch for Signs of Rejection
Piercing rejection happens when your body treats the jewelry as a foreign object and slowly pushes it toward the surface of your skin. Re-pierced sites, particularly those going through scar tissue, can be more prone to this. Signs to watch for include:
- The jewelry moves noticeably from where it was originally placed
- The skin gets thinner between the entry and exit holes (you should always have at least a quarter inch of tissue between them)
- The holes get larger or the jewelry starts to hang differently
- The surrounding skin becomes flaky, unusually hard, or so thin you can see the jewelry through it
Rejection can start weeks after the piercing or show up months later, sometimes triggered by bumping the jewelry or by an immune response to an unrelated illness. If you notice early signs, see your piercer. Removing the jewelry before it fully pushes through gives the skin a better chance of healing with minimal scarring, which keeps the door open for another attempt down the road.