Backstory: I had my nose pierced while out of state on June 21st and had no complications for 5 weeks. On the 5th week, the jewel fell out of the ring so I went to my normal piercer for a replacement. He told me the piercer used jewelry that was too small and the actual hole had started to shrink a little. He said he'd have to stretch it slightly to fit the normal 18g sized ring in and that it should be no problem.
About a week after that I noticed a small bump forming. I was soaking my piercing in a sea salt solution once-twice daily and cleaning the site with antimicrobial soap and water twice daily. It quit growing for awhile but then 4 or so days ago it grew to about twice the size. It has again quit growing. I've tried applying Vitamin E oil (what my piercer recommended) over the past 3 or so days as well as the aspirin/water paste. The bump does not appear to be getting any smaller, but does seem to be getting a little softer? Also, today I scratched the bump a little too hard and it started to bleed.
1) Do you think this sounds like a keloid or a hypertrophic scar?
2) What types of OTC treatments would you recommend?
3) Is there anything I can do to prevent this bump from growing any larger? (It is currently just big enough to hide my nose ring from view if you look at me from the front.)
Thank you in advance. :)
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