<human>: I have a nose piercing infection - the skin around my nose is red and inflamed. I had my nose pierced around a month ago, and a small bump formed a few days ago. Ive been using a salt water solution of half a mug full of boiling water mixed with half a tea spoon full of rock salts. My stud is made from titanium metal. Do I have to remove my stud as my skin is reacting to a foreign body? Can I leave my stud in? Apparently Flucloxacillin is good for this kind of thing - have I definitely got an infection? It bled yesterday but Ive seen no sign of puss. Any advice on how to control this infection without worsening it? Thank you
<bot>: Thank you for your query. There are two possibilities:1. Your body is allergic to titanium; hence it is causing an inflammatory reaction.2. The nose-stud was not sterile i.e. it had some bacteria already on it; hence the infection. In the first case, you need to replace the titanium stud with a relatively inert metal such as gold. In the second case, you need to apply an antiseptic cream such as Aureomycin at least twice daily till the wound heals. I suggest that you do both.