How Do You Know if Your Belly Button Piercing Is Infected

Belly push button piercings may appear totally cool and effortless from an outside perspective, but they actually require serious commitment if you want them to look good in the long run. They heal slower than many other types of body piercings, and they crave a pregnant corporeality of aftercare.

This guide volition take you through the piercing process and evidence you how to avoid potential problems equally you heal. If y'all follow this advice, yous'll be showing off a piercing that is both fashionable and healthy in no time!

Feature image: Spookygonk/Flickr, used under CC 2.0

Can You Go a Belly button Piercing?

Some people are disqualified from getting a omphalos piercing.

Typically, navel piercings become through the "lip" of skin in a higher place the navel. Although near people can technically get these types of piercings, information technology's all-time to have a good flap of skin above the belly push button for the piercer to put the jewelry through if you want it to heal properly. The piercing likewise needs room below and behind the flap so that the area doesn't get irritated in the healing procedure. If you don't have a solid flap of skin on the summit of the belly button, sometimes piercers tin can go for the lower lip of the omphalos instead (though this is a rare pick).

Hither's an instance of what a typical belly button piercing looks similar:

She did it/used under CC by 2.0

Unfortunately, if you take an outie umbilicus, you lot most probable won't be able to get it pierced. Some people believe that outie belly push button piercings are the simply "true" umbilicus piercings because they actually involve piercing the inner part of the navel.

However, i nfections in outie belly button piercings can travel to your internal organs and become extremely dangerous. Near reputable piercers will not have this risk. In case you're unsure of which type of omphalos you accept going on, here's what an outie looks like:

Belly Push-iii/used under CC 2.0

The piercer will ever examine your belly button advisedly before starting the process to encounter if your anatomical setup volition permit for the piercing to heal safely.

What Are the Risks Associated With Bellybutton Piercings?

Even if you lot believe that your belly button is the platonic candidate for a snazzy new piece of jewelry, you should know that some wellness risks come up hand-in-hand with getting this type of body piercing. These risks include:

• Allergic reactions to the jewelry
• Excessive bleeding
• Jewelry rejection or migration (migration is when the piercing moves internally to a slightly different spot, and rejection is when your body starts to push the jewelry out and yous see more than and more of the barbell)
• Bacterial infections
• Permanent scarring (this can happen if yous don't bother to remove the jewelry after your body has decided to reject it)

You tin minimize these risks by finding a reputable piercer and caring for your piercing accordingly during the healing process (discussed in the next couple of sections).

Does a Navel Piercing Injure a Lot?

Good news: near people say that omphalus piercings don't hurt that much. They're comparable to ear lobe piercings in terms of pain. If yous've gotten your ear or nose cartilage pierced before, that type of piercing commonly hurts more than than a omphalus piercing. You may experience some soreness and throbbing in the starting time few days, only it shouldn't interfere with your life significantly.

One downside to omphalos piercings is that they do take significantly longer than other piercings to heal. While ear piercings typically heal in 6 to 8 weeks, a umbilicus piercing is commonly not fully healed for vi months to a year (which is why many people suggest getting your piercing in the winter and then you can show off the fully healed final product come beach season).

If yous've ever gotten this type of piercing on your upper ear, chances are that information technology hurt a lot more than most belly button piercings. (left ear, used under CC 2.0)

How to Get Your Omphalos Pierced

Here's a rundown of the steps yous need to get through to ensure the best piercing experience. Taking the process seriously and finding a reputable piercer can make all the divergence in the speed of your healing and satisfaction with your piercing overall.

Stride ane: Know the Laws and Regulations

If you lot're over 18, make certain you lot bring an official form of photograph ID like a commuter'south license or passport. If y'all're nether 18, you must have a parent or guardian present to sign off on your piercing. This commodity has a listing of piercing regulations for all the different United states of america states if you'd like to verify your state's specific policies.

Piercing places sometimes take these rules further and say they won't do sure types of piercings on minors or won't pierce anyone under the age of sixteen even with the consent of a parent or guardian. In addition to checking the laws in your state, research the regulations at the specific place where y'all program on getting pierced to see if they have whatsoever special stipulations.

Stride 2: Observe a Good Piercing Identify

The quality of the piercing place makes a huge divergence in the likelihood that your piercing will heal properly. Expect for places well-nigh you that have adept Yelp reviews and advisable credentials (check to see if the piercer is a member of the Association of Professional person Piercers). Nearly piercing places too have websites where yous can check out the portfolios of their piercers and read reviews from other customers.

Avoid going to sketchy booths in the middle of the mall or really whatsoever place that doesn't look like a doctor'south part when you get into the piercing room. The piercing should be washed with sterile equipment in a squeaky clean environment to ensure the lowest risk of infection.

Don't always let anyone pierce yous with a piercing gun! They cause likewise much trauma to the surface area and tin can't be properly sterilized.

One Mean solar day We Will All Die, used under CC 2.0

Stride 3: Prepare to Get Pierced

Showtime off, take a shower beforehand. It's merely polite not to be smelly when a stranger has to touch your belly button. Also, make sure you're fully hydrated and have eaten at least a fiddling something within the hour so you don't feel woozy during the process.

Above all, exercise Non get drunk earlier you get your belly button pierced. Any piercing place worth its common salt volition turn away an intoxicated person, both because you don't have the capacity to make skilful decisions afterwards drinking and considering drinking tin cause excessive bleeding at the piercing site. Try to live a healthy, responsible lifestyle at least for the 24 hour menses before your piercing.

Step 4: Choose Your Jewelry

The materials that are least likely to irritate the piercing site include surgical stainless steel, surgical titanium, Tygon plastic, and solid 14K gold. You should try to avoid jewelry made of nickel or sterling silver because these metals are the most likely to cause allergic reactions in people with sensitive skin. If you've gotten other piercings in the past, exist mindful of how your body has reacted.

Likewise, choose a piece of jewelry that you won't get tired of seeing. Remember, you won't be able to take it out for some other six months to a year. Become with a barbell rather than a ring because at that place'southward less risk of the barbell getting caught on stuff in the healing procedure.

Belly buttons are typically pierced with 12 judge jewelry, which is around 2 mm in diameter. This is much larger than the jewelry used in a typical ear piercing, which is 1 mm or less in diameter. It's better to accept a thicker slice of jewelry considering information technology will make the piercing sturdier and more resistant to tearing and migration.

Triforce de Awesome!, used nether CC 2.0

Step 5: Pay Your Piercer

Belly button piercings can range in cost, but they're $xl-$60 at most piercing places. This includes both the procedure and the toll of the jewelry. If you lot're happy with the way things become, it's considered good form to give your piercer a ten-20% tip on meridian of the regular toll.

That's it! You'll have a brand new navel piercing. Now comes the long and hard part - caring for your new piercing.

Caring for Your Belly Button Piercing

First off, DON'T ever bear upon or clean the piercing without washing your hands first! If y'all ignore this rule, you're request for an infection. Just leave information technology alone and let it heal except for when you need to move it around a little bit to make clean it. Similarly, y'all should wear loose article of clothing that won't irritate the piercing area in the healing process. T ry to sleep on your dorsum and avoid tanning beds at to the lowest degree for the showtime couple months of healing. The full-bodied UV rays can set up back your torso'due south natural healing process.

It's also not a adept thought to go in public pools or hot tubs considering the piercing could get infected from whatsoever gross types of bacteria may be lurking in the water. If you really feel the need to go in a pool or hot tub while your piercing is still young, you should clean it immediately afterward.

Y'all can still practise sit-ups and other exercises when your piercing is healing as long as you don't experience too much discomfort from the motion.

Similar you lot, this cat is gonna become his embankment body no matter what it takes. (sit down-ups, used nether CC 2.0)

The best way to care for the piercing is to wash it with saline solution 2 times a twenty-four hours for at to the lowest degree the first month of healing. You can brand your own saline solution by mixing a teaspoon of sea salt with five ounces of water, or you lot can buy the plain saline solution that is sold at pharmacies.

Put the saline solution in a niggling loving cup. Then, press the rim of the cup confronting your stomach around the piercing, and lean back to completely submerge the piercing for ii minutes. Afterwards, have a q-tip, dip it in the solution, and gently rub it around the areas where the piercing goes through your skin.

Be sure to use sea salt to brand your solution, not table table salt! (Table salt-(sea)_B130623, used under CC 2.0)

You lot may see your piercing oozing clear fluid that forms a chaff around the hole. This is normal early on in the healing procedure. At that place may also exist some swelling, redness, and discoloration, merely these issues should dissipate fairly soon after you go the piercing. Don't make clean your piercing more than the recommended two to iii times a mean solar day. Excessive cleaning can cause skin irritation and dry out the area.

If it's been at least a month since the piercing and everything looks proficient, you can stop doing these daily cleanings. You may clean the piercing sporadically after this point if y'all continue to run into evidence that it isn't fully healed. You should all the same minimize the activities listed at the beginning of this section until you reach at least the 6 month mark.

Potential Issues (and What to Practise Almost Them)

In this section, I'll talk well-nigh how to spot signs of trouble with your piercing. It'southward important to take action on these issues immediately so y'all can avoid serious wellness consequences and permanent scarring down the road.

Information technology's important to know what's normal and what's not. We'll cover the well-nigh of import issues below.

Allergic Reaction

Sometimes, if you get the incorrect type of jewelry, you tin can end up with a nasty allergic reaction around your piercing. Signs of an allergic reaction include:

• An itchy rash effectually the piercing area
• Intermittent tenderness around the piercing

If you think y'all may have an allergic reaction, become back to the piercer, and ask to switch your jewelry out for a different type of material. I listing some suggestions for people with sensitive skin in the "choosing your jewelry" advice in the previous section.

Bacterial Infection

Infections are very mutual with belly push button piercings because they're in such a vulnerable area. Signs of infection include:

• Yellowish-green discharge with a foul odor
• Prolonged redness around the piercing, especially if it gets worse over time
• Skin around the piercing is hot to the bear on
• You feel a burning sensation in the area
• Prolonged swelling around the piercing
• Intestinal hurting (in really serious cases, the infection can become internal)
• Red lines radiating from the piercing
• Consequent acute pain (although slight bruising and occasional sharp pain from motility are normal)

Here's what an infection can look like:

See how the area around the piercing is ruddy and bloated? This will probably likewise be hot and painful to the bear on.

It can even look worse than this, with leaking pus effectually the piercing.

(Sorry, I know it's a lilliputian gross, simply it's important to know what something bad looks like.)

If you recall y'all take an infection, starting time of all, contrary to what you lot might call up, you lot should leave the jewelry in your belly button. Taking it out could cause further complications, including the germination of abscesses in the surface area. Use the same cleaning process detailed in the previous section, but soak the piercing for ten minutes in the saline solution. You lot may be able to rub a small scrap of antibacterial cream effectually the piercing to soothe the infection, simply apply it sparingly.

If the infection doesn't become abroad within a week or ii, go to a doctor to check if you demand to take more drastic measures to forestall it from developing further (i.eastward. taking oral antibiotics). You lot may need to return to the piercer to get the jewelry taken out if the infection has become as well astringent.

Lean on the side of cautious - it's always ameliorate to get something checked out and have naught wrong, than to effort to tough it out and make a problem worse.

Migration and Rejection

Another upshot that is common with omphalus piercings is migration and rejection of the jewelry. Signs of migration and rejection include:

• You can see way more of the barbell than you could when it was initially pierced (considering it's getting pushed out of your body)
• Noticeable movement of the holes of the piercing marked by a trail of redness
• Redness and scarring in the expanse
• Pigsty appears larger than it was initially
• The peel between the holes is translucent and thin

If you notice this happening to your piercing, you will have to go to your piercer to go the jewelry removed, let everything heal, and eventually try piercing it once again. There'due south no way to fix the issue without taking out the piercing and starting over.

Migration and rejection don't hateful the piercing is infected, and so they aren't overall health risks, but they come with more aesthetic problems when they're not addressed. Piercings that the body rejects but that are not removed promptly often cause serious scarring.

Rejection happens with a lot of body piercings. You tin can faintly see the rejection scar from my eyebrow piercing in this flick (I waited also long to have information technology out because I liked it so much). (Sam Lindsay/All rights reserved.)

How Do Yous Know When You're Done Healing?

As mentioned in a higher place, it takes around six months to a yr for a bellybutton piercing to heal to the point where you can take it out and change it. If you reach the six to nine calendar month mark and aren't experiencing whatsoever of the problems detailed in the previous section, you can cheque the piercing to run across if it'due south fully healed.

Launder your hands, and effort sliding it back and forth a bit to brand sure it moves freely without hurting. If everything feels and looks good, I'd recommend going back to your piercer and so they tin verify that you're completely healed. They will be able to have out the piercing and replace the jewelry for you.

If you change your piercing on your ain, exist sure to sanitize both the new jewelry and the piercing site earlier insertion. Infections are a risk even in piercings that are essentially completely healed, so don't lose all respect for hygiene subsequently months of vigilance.

Summary: Cardinal Tips for Getting a Belly Button Piercing

Here's a quick rundown of most important things to remember when getting a umbilicus piercing. Before you become pierced, you should:

• Bank check to make sure your belly push is a good candidate for piercing
• Understand the risks involved and be willing to have on the responsibility of keeping the piercing clean
• Be aware of the laws for your state (may entail asking your mom or dad to get with you)
• Find a reputable piercer

When you're at the piercing studio, you will need to:

• Choose jewelry that is least probable to irritate your skin
• Verify that everything appears sterile and professional in the piercing room
• Be prepared to suffer a bit of hurting (virtually the aforementioned equally getting your ear lobe pierced)
• Pay (and tip) the piercer

After you become your belly button pierced, you should:

• Never impact it without washing your hands first
• Clean information technology ii to three times a day with saline solution for at to the lowest degree the beginning month
• Avoid tight clothing effectually your midsection, tanning beds, hot tubs, public pools, and sleeping on your tummy until the piercing is at least by and large healed
• Monitor the piercing site to make sure at that place are no issues with allergic reactions, infections, or rejection of the jewelry
• Don't modify your jewelry until 6 to twelve months into the healing process when you can slide the jewelry back and forth without hurting or resistance

If y'all have more than questions virtually any specific issues yous're experiencing with your piercing, you should talk to your piercer to get an expert'due south opinion. Otherwise, just continue to relish your crawly new belly bling!

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Nearly the Author

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to assistance students prefer a less stressful view of standardized testing and other bookish challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the Sabbatum, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/belly-button-piercing

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