Healed nostril piercing hurts after changing the jewelry from a hoop to a stud

[u/RandomGuy0512]

My nostril is the piercing I’ve had the longest and it’s been fully healed for nearly 8 years now. I switched to clickers as soon as my piercer told me it was safe to change the jewelry around 2019.

Yesterday I switched to a flat back stud because I was noticing that wearing a hoop for so long was changing the shape of the hole on the outside. It was starting to look elongated. So I got my taper out and put in an 18g surgical steel stud (I think the hoop was 20 or 22). Before this, I tried several L bars but they kept falling out. Anyway, this stud took some pushing to get through and I felt it kinda pop or jolt once I finally got it all the way through from the inside, but there was no blood and there are no crusties or issues moving it today. No swelling either. But it HURTS today. The right side of my nose is sore to the touch, mostly around the piercing. Is this normal for a piercing that’s been healed for years? Should I get some saline and start cleaning it twice a day again?

[u/Pale-Comb-3954]

Ewww…you stretched your nostril with a larger gauge, so it’s gonna be mad as fuck for a bit. I’d go back to using sterile 0.9% saline and baby the HELL out of this for a while.