Nasal ulceration can be commonly caused by trauma or irritation from picking or blowing the nose to roughly, or foreign bodies inside the nose. Other causes of sores in the nose include chronic allergies, acne, or skin conditions like abscess or pimples.
8 most common causes
Most common questions
Several potential causes of nasal ulcers include infection, injury, autoimmune disorders, allergies, drug abuse, and cancer. However, it's important to seek medical advice for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
If you are experiencing a nasal ulcer, it is recommended that you consult a medical professional to assess the situation and determine the appropriate course of action, but it may not necessarily be considered an emergency unless there are other severe accompanying symptoms.
If you have a nasal ulcer that persists or worsens, it is important to seek medical attention to properly diagnose and treat the condition.
Treatment will depend on the underlying cause of the nasal ulcer. If symptoms are related to severe allergies and dry conditions, treating the allergies with an antihistamine and using nasal saline or ointment in the nasal passage could be helpful. If the cause is infectious or from an associated medical condition, it's best to consult with a healthcare provider for appropriate management of the symptoms.
9 causes of nasal ulcers
This list does not constitute medical advice and may not accurately represent what you have.
Skin abscess
A skin abscess is a large pocket of pus that has formed just beneath the skin. It is caused by bacteria getting under the skin, usually through a small cut or scratch, and beginning to multiply. The body fights the invasion with white blood cells, which kill some of the infected tissue but form pus within the cavity that remains.
Symptoms include a large, red, swollen, painful lump of pus anywhere on the body beneath the skin. There may be fever, chills, and body aches from the infection.
If not treated, there is the risk of an abscess enlarging, spreading, and causing serious illness.
Diagnosis is made through physical examination.
A small abscess may heal on its own, through the body's immune system. But some will need to be drained or lanced in a medical provider's office so that the pus can be cleaned out. Antibiotics are usually prescribed.
Keeping the skin clean, and using only clean clothes and towels, will help to make sure that the abscess does not recur.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: rash with bumps or blisters, red rash, red skin bump larger than 1/2 cm in diameter, pus-filled rash, rash
Symptoms that always occur with skin abscess: rash with bumps or blisters
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Relapsing polychondritis
Relapsing polychondritis is an episodic, inflammatory and destructive disorder involving primarily cartilage of the ear and nose. It can also potentially affect the eyes, tracheobronchial tree, heart valves, kidneys, joints, skin, and blood vessels.
You should visit your primary care physician for mild severity of relapsing polychondritis. Medications such as NSAIDs and steroids are generally prescribed.
Pimple
Pimples are also called comedones, spots, blemishes, or "zits." Medically, they are small skin eruptions filled with oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria.
Pimples often first start appearing at puberty, when hormones increase the production of oil in the skin and sometimes clog the pores.
Most susceptible are teenagers from about ages 13 to 17.
Symptoms include blocked pores that may appear flat and black on the surface, because the oil darkens when exposed to the air; blocked pores that appear white on the surface because they have closed over with dead skin cells; or swollen, yellow-white, pus-filled blisters surrounded by reddened skin.
Outbreaks of pimples on the skin can interfere with quality of life, making the person self-conscious about their appearance and causing pain and discomfort in the skin. A medical provider can help to manage the condition, sometimes through referral to a dermatologist.
Diagnosis is made through physical examination.
Treatment involves improving diet; keeping the skin, hair, washcloths, and towels very clean; and using over-the-counter acne remedies.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: pink or red facial bump, small facial lump, painful facial bump, marble sized facial lump
Symptoms that always occur with pimple: pink or red facial bump
Urgency: Self-treatment
Head and neck cancer
There are five main types of head and neck cancer, which are all named according to the part of the body where they develop: laryngeal (voice box), nasal cavity and sinus, nasopharyngeal (air passage way behind the nose), oral (mouth), and salivary gland cancers. Most of these cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), meaning they begin in the flat (squamous) cells that make up the thin surface layer of the structures in the head and neck.
You should visit your primary care physician who will coordinate your care with a cancer specialist (oncologist) for further testing. It is impossible to definitively diagnosis head and neck cancers without lab testing and biopsy. Treatment is likely to include surgery and chemotherapy.
Rarity: Rare
Top Symptoms: loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, hoarse voice, neck bump, ear canal pain
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or shortened GPA, was formerly known as Wegener's granulomatosis. It is caused by inflammation of the blood vessels by the body's immune system. The inflammation can happen anywhere, but often affects the sinuses, lungs, and kidneys.
You should visit your primary care physician soon to provide an early diagnosis. Treatment of inflammatory diseases commonly involve prescription medications such as a steroid to decrease inflammation, and a cell-damaging medicine to kill abnormal cells.
Chronic allergies
New-onset seasonal allergies, also called adult-onset seasonal allergies, are sensitivities to pollen, mold, and other irritants that cause nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, and sore throat.
Seasonal allergies commonly begin in childhood but can start at any age, especially among those with a family history. Moving to a different geographic location may trigger the allergy in someone with a genetic predisposition. Anyone with asthma is more likely to experience adult-onset seasonal allergies.
Sometimes the symptoms are actually from "pregnancy rhinitis" – nasal congestion and sneezing due to the effects of pregnancy hormones on the nasal tissue.
A new-onset allergy is often thought to be a cold, but a cold will clear up without treatment. Allergies persist, never getting better or worse, and can interfere with quality of life.
Diagnosis is made by an allergist, who will use skin tests and blood tests.
There is no cure for seasonal allergies but the symptoms can be managed for greater comfort and relief. Antihistamines, corticosteroid nasal sprays, and immunotherapy or "allergy shots" can be very effective.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: fatigue, irritability, trouble sleeping, runny nose, congestion
Symptoms that never occur with chronic allergies: fever, yellow-green runny nose, chills, muscle aches
Urgency: Self-treatment
Blistering disease (pemphigus)
Pemphigus is an autoimmune disorder, meaning that the immune system attacks healthy cells in the skin and mouth, causing blisters and sores. This is a rare disease, and doctors are not completely sure of the cause.
You should visit your primary care physician. Pemphigus is a disease of the immune system, and is treated with prescription medication like corticosteroids.
Rarity: Ultra rare
Top Symptoms: nasal ulcer, skin peeling, hoarse voice, painful rash, red or pink, rough patch of skin
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Allergic contact dermatitis of the nose
Allergic contact dermatitis means the skin has touched something that provoked an allergic reaction, causing inflammation and irritation.
"Contact" means the allergic reaction came from touching something, not from consuming something. The first exposure to the substance sensitizes the immune system, and then the second exposure actually causes the symptoms.
The most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis are:
- Nickel, a metal often used in belt buckles, the buttons on pants, and jewelry, including piercing jewelry.
- Poison ivy.
- Various types of perfumes, including those founds in soaps, fabric softeners, and detergents.
- Of course, there are many more.
Symptoms include red, itching, scaling, flaking skin that may be painful due to the irritation and inflammation.
Diagnosis is made through first avoiding contact with any suspected substance, to see if the dermatitis clears. Patch testing can be done if the results are not certain.
Treatment involves fully avoiding the allergy-provoking substance and using topical steroid cream as prescribed. Cool compresses and calamine lotion can help to ease the discomfort.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: nose itch, nose redness, scabbed area of the nose
Symptoms that always occur with allergic contact dermatitis of the nose: nose redness
Urgency: Self-treatment
Acne rosacea
Rosacea is a long-term disease that affects the skin and sometimes the eyes. It causes redness and breakouts. Acne rosacea is the type of Rosacea that causes pimples. Rosacea is most common in women and people with fair skin. It most often affects middle-aged and older adults.
You should visit your primary care physician, who could help with a treatment plan (no diagnostic testing necessary). Treatment can't cure you, but helps the symptoms and includes brimonide gel, laser therapy, and even an antibiotic.
Rarity: Common
Top Symptoms: facial redness, rough skin on the face, pink or red facial bump, nose redness, raised rash
Symptoms that always occur with acne rosacea: facial redness
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Wegener's granulomatosis
Wegener's granulomatosis, more recently re-named granulomatosis with polyangiitis, is a disorder in which a dysregulated immune system causes widespread inflammation of small blood vessels throughout the body. This results in slower or impaired blood flow to your nose, sinuses, throat, lungs, and kidneys.
Symptoms can be widespread and affect various parts of the body such as the eyes and ears or respiratory system, yet usually begin more generally with fever, fatigue, a loss of appetite, and weight loss. With treatment, a full recovery is possible; however, this condition can be fatal.
Treatments include immunosuppressive medications in order to control the disease in the short- and long-term.
Rarity: Ultra rare
Top Symptoms: fatigue, loss of appetite, joint pain, shortness of breath, fever
Urgency: Primary care doctor
Questions your doctor may ask about nasal ulcer
- Have there been changes in your voice?
- Have you lost your appetite recently?
- Have you had any changes in your weight?
- Is the skin on your face asymmetrical?
Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions.
Nasal ulcer symptom checker statistics
People who have experienced nasal ulcer have also experienced:
- 4% Nose Pain
- 4% Bump In Or On The Nose
- 4% Congestion
People who have experienced nasal ulcer were most often matched with:
- 44% Blistering Disease (Pemphigus)
- 44% Head And Neck Cancer
- 11% Pimple
Source: Aggregated and anonymized results from Buoy Assistant.
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