Nasal Vestibulitis: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment - Verywell Health

Nasal vestibulitis is an infection of the nostrils. This condition gets its name because it occurs in the nasal vestibule, the hair-covered area inside the nostrils. It usually appears after blowing the nose frequently, plucking nose hairs, or nose-picking. It can cause your nose to become swollen, red, and painful. You might also notice a pimple, bumps, boils, or crusting inside your nostrils. Although the condition is uncomfortable, it's not usually serious. However, in some rare cases, it can lead to complications.

Continue reading to learn more about nasal vestibulitis, including how to tell if you have nasal vestibulitis, how to get rid of it, and why you might keep getting it. 

Mindful Media / Getty Images

Nasal Vestibulitis Symptoms

Nasal vestibulitis can cause the nose to become inflamed or painful. This pain and irritation concentrates on the nasal vestibule, near the tip of your nose, and inside the nostrils. The pain can be severe, and redness may also be visible on the outside of your nose. 

Common symptoms of nasal vestibulitis are:

  • Redness and swelling
  • Pain, which can be severe
  • Tenderness, particularly on the tip of the nose
  • Pimples, bumps, or boils within the nose
  • Crusting discharge in the nose

In rare cases, if your infection spreads, you may also experience fever, double vision, severe headaches, or increased white blood cell count.  

Causes

Nasal vestibulitis most often results from a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. This is the most common cause of bacterial infection. The bacteria usually infect the nose after minor traumas to the nasal vestibule. Day-to-day activities can increase your risk for these minor cuts and openings in the skin, including:

  • Blowing your nose often
  • Picking your nose
  • Plucking your nose hairs
  • Wearing a nose ring

Diagnosis

A healthcare provider can diagnose nasal vestibulitis by examining your nose and asking about your symptoms. Because the treatments for nasal vestibulitis may require a prescription, it's best to see a healthcare provider if you think you have nasal vestibulitis. 

Treatment

Treatments for nasal vestibulitis focus on fighting the bacterial infection. The most common treatments are:

  • Bacitracin or Neosporin antibiotic ointment
  • Topical mupirocin, a prescription antibiotic skin cream that treats skin infections.
  • Oral antibiotics, which can fight more widespread infection
  • Warm compresses to treat pain

Complications

In most cases, nasal vestibulitis is easy to treat and goes away independently. However, if the infection is severe, facial cellulitis, which is a severe bacterial skin infection that requires oral antibiotic treatment, may develop. Some people develop abscesses that need draining by a healthcare provider. 

Summary

Nasal vestibulitis is a common infection that can make the nose red, inflamed, and sore. The infection most often happens when a common bacteria gets into minor cuts within the nasal vestibule. These openings in the skin can result from frequent nose blowing, picking the nose, or trimming nose hairs. Nasal vestibulitis is rarely severe, especially when treated with antibiotic cream or oral antibiotics.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. National Cancer Institute. Nasal vestibule.

  2. Lipschitz N, Yakirevitch A, Sagiv D, et al. Nasal vestibulitis: etiology, risk factors, and clinical characteristics: a retrospective study of 118 cases. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease. 2017.

  3. Papdakis MA, McPhee SJ, Bernstein J. Nasal vestibulitis and Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization. Quick Medical Diagnosis & Treatment. 2022.

  4. Sakr A, Brégeon F, Mège JL, Rolain JM, Blin O. Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization: An update on mechanisms, epidemiology, risk factors, and subsequent infections. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:2419. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.02419

  5. Mohamed-Yassin MS, Mohamad-Isa MZ, Baharudin N. A red and swollen nose. National Center for Biotechnology Information. March 18, 2020.

By Kelly Burch
Kelly Burch is has written about health topics for more than a decade. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and more.

Nasal Vestibulitis: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment - Verywell Health

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clinical Predictors for Fatal Pulmonary Embolism in 15 520 Patients With Venous Thromboembolism

Image
inflammation of the lungs caused by bacteria :: Article Creator How Lupus Affects The Lungs And Pulmonary System Inflammation caused by lupus may affect the lungs in many ways, and can involve the membrane lining of the lungs, the lungs themselves, the blood vessels within the lungs, and the diaphragm. Pleuritis The most common way that lupus can affect your lungs is through inflammation of the pleura, the lining that covers the outside of the lungs. The symptom of pleuritis that you may experience is severe, often sharp, stabbing pain in a specific area or areas of your chest. The pain, which is called pleurisy, is made worse when you take a deep breath, cough, sneeze, or laugh. You may also experience shortness of breath. Sometimes an abnormal amount of fluid will build up in the space between your lungs and your chest wall; when it leaks out it is called a pleural effusion. Pain from pleurisy, with or without effusions, is found in 40 to 60 percent o...
Read more

FBS Review 2024: Read Before You Trade | FXEmpire - FX Empire

I checked FBS's trading and non-trading costs and determined that they meet the industry average. The broker offers floating spreads from 0.9 pips and commission-free trading. Deposits and withdrawals are charge-free, but there is a small inactivity fee. The pricing mechanism is suitable for high-frequency trading. FBS's Trading Fees FBS's Spreads I tested FBS's spreads during the most actively traded times – the London open at 8:00 a.m. GMT and just after the U.S. open at 2:45 p.m. GMT. The test was conducted on 27 December 2023. The results are shown in the table below: Broken down by asset class and compared to the broader industry, FBS charges low spreads on FX pairs and share CFDs, low-to-average spreads on commodities, and high spreads on indices. FBS' Swaps A swap fee is a trader's cost for holding an open position overnight because of changing interest rates. Swap long refers to the charge deductible or credit receivable for holding a b...
Read more