Inside: How to put in a hoop nose ring the easy way for beginners.
New to the nose ring community? Welcome! You probably got your stud and have been waiting weeks, if not a couple months at least to be able to change it to the hoop you’ve always wanted!
I’m pretty sure that’s the most common question piercers get when doing a nostril nose piercing: “How long until I can change it to a hoop?” And they always answer: “At least six weeks.” Probably gets pretty redundant! But it’s a good answer to know.
But now that you’ve waited six weeks, done all of the routine cleaning and taken all the precautions, it’s time to switch to that hoop!
Maybe it wasn’t your goal all along to switch to a hoop, but either way, you’re here now and need some help learning how to put in a hoop nose ring. So here’s a step-by-step guide to how to change your hoop nose ring the easy way (and simply explained!) so you don’t botch it like some of us did with our first nose ring hoops.
Here’s just a few things you’ll need to have on hand for this process:
- Saline Cleaning Solution
- Q-Tips
- Cotton Pads
- A small bowl of saline solution
Removing Your Current Stud
As always, wash your hands first. Just because the spot is healed now doesn’t mean it can’t still get infected if not taken care of well! So wash your hands and go ahead and clean the area too– it couldn’t hurt to just start with a fresh, clean slate.
Removing your stud might be a little difficult depending on what shape your stud is that it was pierced with. There are three most common shapes of studs for the nose piercing:
- L Shape – Self explanatory, but has a straight post until half way down it curves at a 90 degree angle. The end is slightly more pointed to make putting it back in easier.
- Screw – Has one wide circle between the stud and the end of the post so that it’s a slight, wide screwing motion to remove it.
- Straight – The easiest of the three: a simply straight post with some width at the end so that it doesn’t fall out too easily.
None of them are particularly hard to remove, but to maneuver them to the point that is easy to remove might take a second to get used to the shape. If you’re not sure how to figure out how to remove your stud, here’s a guide for each one.
Removing A Screw Stud
Gently lift the stud from the surface of the skin until you feel resistance. Then tilt it in the direction of least resistance and continue to gently and slowly swivel the stud until you reach the end of the post and it comes out of the piercing.
Removing An L-Shape Stud
Gently lift the stud from the surface until you feel the curve hit the inside of the nose. Then carefully tilt the stud in the same direction as the L curve and then remove the rest of the post.
Removing A Straight Stud
This one shouldn’t need much explaining, but if you happen to have a straight post stud for your nose piercing, don’t stress over it. Just go ahead and gently pull the stud from the piercing zone and like magic, it’s good to go!
Once it has been removed, clean the area once more, inside and outside of the nostril.
Prepare Your Hoop
Alright, now that you’re all cleaned up and ready to go, prep your hoop. Either submerge the hoop in a saline solution or douse a cotton pad and clean the jewelry with it. Go ahead and cover all of the surface area of the hoop, especially if it’s one that could rotate around where any part of the hoop could be in the piercing.
Opening your hoop might get tricky, they’re all a little different. Some hoops don’t even need to be opened and leave a gap for applying and removing. These usually have a “stopper” type of piece at the end so that it doesn’t slip out. Once that one is in, you’ll rotate the hoop so that that gap is hidden within your nose.
If you have one that pulls apart or clasps, go ahead and open it now.
Learning How To Put in a Hoop Nose Ring
This part is easy, it’s just like putting in an earring! Locating the piercing site on your nose might be a little harder since you have to kind of look in the mirror sideways to find it on the side of your nose, but once you’ve got it it’s easy going from there! If you’re brave enough to start gently poking around, it might be quicker to find it that way as well.
Find the hole in your nostril and insert the end of the hoop through it, gently. Even after the six week healing period, you’ll probably still feel a little bit of a sting when you poke the piercing site with a new piece of metal, so be gentle and just keep going.
Once it’s through, pull slightly to rotate it so the ends are outside of your nose so that you can close it properly. Whether you’re clasping it, squeezing the ends back together, or rotating it so that the thick “stopper” end is at the opening, rotate it back so that all ends of the hoop are tucked up inside of your nose.
Give it one more good cleaning, soaking a Q-Tip in the saline and cleaning the area, inside and out.
Now that you’re wearing a hoop, you’ll want to be mindful of how you change your clothes, wash and dry your face, sleep, and so on. Take every precaution to make sure it’s not getting snagged and pulled on anything– it can contribute to any excess scarring when you’re ready to remove it all one day.
You’re all done! Congratulations on learning how to put in a hoop nose ring and I hope it’s the style you’ve been dreaming of since you decided to get your nose pierced!
Switching Back To Your Stud
On the off chance you need to switch back to your stud anytime soon, the process is the same but in reverse (obviously). But opening your hoop if you have one of the clasp types might be a little bit harder while wearing it. As long as you handle it gently, you’ll get it.
Per usual, don’t forget to wash your hands and clean the area before you start messing with it! You never want to run the risk of infecting it and getting the dreaded “bump.”
Hopefully you’ve figured out how to switch out your hoop by the end of this guide! If you received a different stud when you got your nose pierced or if you purchased a different and more random kind of hoop, it should still be a fairly simple process to remove and replace your hoop!
If this is your first facial piercing, get ready for many more, because once your nose gets the hoop you’ve been dying to put in it, you’ll want to get so many more piercings to accompany it! The nostril nose piercing is the gateway piercing, and there’s likely no turning back now!
Enjoy it, and go post a selfie with that nose hoop!