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All piercings, including septum piercings, will close back up without their jewelry inserted. The question is: how long will it take? How long a piercing takes to close back up depends on how old the piercing is and on your body’s immune system. If you have a 5+ year old septum and the genetics that allow it, your septum might take a few weeks to fully close. But rest assured, all piercings will eventually close up if you choose to retire them.
Will Your Septum Piercing Close Overnight?
If your septum piercing isn’t very old, it definitely has the possibility to close up overnight. Because your body doesn’t need to spend energy doing “awake things”, you tend to heal faster at night. Many people new to piercings make the mistake of taking their jewelry out to sleep because it’s bothering them, but in the morning find themselves unable to get their jewelry back in. Or even worse, the jewelry falls out while they’re sleeping. If you find yourself unable to get your jewelry back in, read our guide on what to do if your jewelry won’t go back in.
Will Your Septum Piercing Close If You Take It Out For a Day?
If your piercing is less than a couple years old, it’s likely it will close back up if you take it out for a day. But rest assured, if you need to hide your septum piercing for a day, such as for a wedding, or even if you need to hide it for several hours a day for work, septum piercings are very easy to hide. You can even keep your regular jewelry in if you wear a horseshoe barbell instead of a ring. Then when you need to hide your piercing you can flip up your jewelry so it’s hidden inside your nostrils. If you’re in the unusual event that someone will be regularly looking up your nostrils, you can swap out your jewelry for a clear retainer, which is completely invisible for septum piercings.
Can Your Septum Piercing Close If You Take It Out For a Minute?
No matter how old your septum piercing is, it won’t be able to completely close up in a literal minute. Often when new piercees attempt to change their jewelry, they find it tough to get the new jewelry back in and they may believe that their piercing completely closed up in that amount of time. Getting jewelry in is just something that’s tricky to do and takes a learning curve. If you are completely unable to replace your jewelry, you can visit your piercer and they will insert your new jewelry for you – usually for a $5 fee.
How To Keep a Septum Piercing From Closing
The only way to keep your septum piercings from closing is to keep jewelry in it. Your body will always attempt to close your holes and keeping something in them is the only way to prevent them from closing up completely. If you can’t keep your regular jewelry in for whatever reason, you can wear a retainer. There are many kinds of retainers from flesh colored silicone to clear glass. The safest material for long wear is glass.
Conclusion
All piercings eventually close up. How fast your septum piercing closes up depends on how old your piercing is. An old and established piercing may take a few weeks to close up completely. However, your genetics might force your piercing to close back up within a day or two. You should never leave your jewelry out unless you are okay with it closing. If you need to hide your piercing, you can use a retainer to keep your piercing safe while hiding it.
