A pimple inside your nose is usually a minor infection of a hair follicle near the nostril opening, and the best first step is to apply warm compresses and keep your hands away from it. Most of these bumps clear up on their own within a few days. But because of the nose’s unique blood supply, how you treat it matters more than you might expect.
Why Pimples Form Inside the Nose
The area just inside your nostrils, called the nasal vestibule, is lined with skin and tiny hairs. Those hairs have follicles that can get clogged or infected just like pores anywhere else on your body. Bacteria are the usual culprit, and the nose happens to be a prime location for them. National estimates suggest that roughly 32% of people carry Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in their nose at any given time. That’s the same organism responsible for staph infections, and it means the inside of your nostril is already home to bacteria that can cause trouble if they find an entry point.
That entry point is often something you create yourself. Picking your nose, plucking nose hairs, blowing your nose aggressively, or getting a nose piercing can all cause tiny breaks in the skin. Once bacteria slip through, a red, swollen, painful bump forms. Sometimes it’s a straightforward pimple. Other times it progresses to nasal vestibulitis, a broader infection of the skin around the nostril opening that can cause crusting, tenderness, and swelling at the base of the nose.
How to Treat It at Home
Warm compresses are the most effective home treatment. Soak a clean washcloth in hot water, wring it out, and hold it against the affected nostril for 10 to 15 minutes. Do this three times a day. The heat increases blood flow to the area, which helps your immune system fight the infection, and it encourages the bump to drain on its own. You can also hold the compress just inside the nostril opening if you can reach the bump comfortably.
Between compresses, leave the area alone. Don’t touch, squeeze, or try to pop it. Resist the urge to pick at any crust that forms. If the skin around your nostril feels dry or irritated, a thin layer of petroleum jelly applied with a clean fingertip or cotton swab can keep the area from cracking, which reduces the chance of reinfection.
Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help with soreness and swelling while you wait for the bump to resolve. Most uncomplicated nasal pimples shrink noticeably within three to five days using warm compresses alone.
Why You Should Never Pop It
Squeezing a pimple inside your nose carries a risk that squeezing one on your chin does not. Your nose sits in the center of what’s sometimes called the “danger triangle of the face,” a zone stretching from the bridge of your nose to the corners of your mouth. This area has a direct vascular connection to your cavernous sinus, a network of large veins located behind your eye sockets that drains blood from your brain.
When you pop a pimple in this zone, you can push bacteria deeper into tissue and into blood vessels that lead straight toward the brain. In very rare cases, this causes a condition called septic cavernous sinus thrombosis, an infected blood clot in those veins. The potential consequences include brain abscess, meningitis, paralysis of eye muscles, stroke, and other life-threatening complications. This used to be almost universally fatal, and while antibiotics have made it treatable when caught early, it remains extremely dangerous. The simplest way to avoid the risk entirely is to never squeeze a bump inside or around your nose.
When It Needs More Than Home Care
Most nasal pimples resolve without medical help, but some signs suggest the infection is spreading or deepening. Watch for increasing redness that extends beyond the bump itself, swelling of the tip or outside of the nose, fever, or pain that gets worse rather than better after two to three days of warm compresses. A bump that grows rapidly, feels very firm, or starts producing significant pus may have developed into a small abscess that needs drainage.
If a doctor determines you have nasal vestibulitis or a more serious infection, treatment typically involves prescription antibiotic ointment designed specifically for use inside the nose. One commonly prescribed option targets the Staphylococcus bacteria that colonize the nasal passages. Oral antibiotics may be added for more widespread infections. With treatment, most cases of nasal vestibulitis resolve in about three to four days, and people generally feel noticeably better within the first day or two of starting medication.
Preventing Future Nasal Pimples
The most effective prevention comes down to reducing the two things that cause these bumps: skin damage and bacterial exposure. Stop picking your nose, or at least reduce it. If you need to clear your nostrils, use saline spray or a gentle blow into a tissue rather than digging with a fingertip. Trim nose hairs with small scissors or an electric trimmer instead of plucking them, since plucking yanks the hair out of the follicle and creates an open wound perfectly sized for bacteria.
Wash your hands before touching your face. If you wear a nasal piercing, keep it clean and avoid changing jewelry with unwashed hands. People who get frequent nasal pimples sometimes benefit from applying a small amount of petroleum jelly inside the nostrils to keep the skin moisturized and less prone to cracking, especially in dry or cold weather when the nasal lining is more vulnerable.