Belly button piercing

clones1980

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone else has this problem. I got my bellybutton pierced about two years ago. It never really healed and after about 5 months got very infected so i let it close to heal. Then last May i got it done again. It still hasn't healed to date. Im using Caldescene regularly on it. Had anyone else had this problem and did it eventually heal, if so how long did it take?

Gauge

First, stop using Caldescene. It's way too harsh and powders are no good for puncture wounds, all they do is clog them up. It seems counter-intuitive but you don't need to use stuff like that on piercings at all.

Second, what exactly do you mean when you refer to your piercing getting infected? Was it producing nasty smelling pus, feeling extremely hot, and making you feel unwell/giving you a temperature? If you have a true infection, the only thing you can do is get antibiotics and you should never let an infected piercing close up. They need to drain somehow and a trapped infection is a recipe for disaster. Infections are caused by dirt and germs and can be avoided easily by keeping the piercing clean and going to a hygienic piercer.

If it wasn't a true infection, you were most likely experiencing irritation or rejection. Irritation could quite easily have been caused by the antiseptic powder you are using. You don't need it. Salt soaks will help a piercing heal just fine (quarter teaspoon of sea salt to a pint of boiled water, cooled to a comfortable temperature. Pour it into a cup or shotglass and clamp that to your belly for 10 minutes at a time). Navel piercings are susceptible to irritation because of their location, so you need to make sure clothes are not rubbing against them. Irritation can share symptoms with infections like redness and discharge, but it's much easier to deal with.

Rejection is the process of a piercing being physically pushed out of your body. Again, it shares symptoms like redness and discharge, but you will notice the skin growing thinner and "shrinking". This can be a problem with navel piercings due to their nature, but you probably wouldn't confuse them with infections/irritation.

I think stopping the use of Caldescene, replacing it with sea salt soaks and the rest of the time never touching your piercing will make a big difference to your navel, but if you feel worried you should definitely go back to your piercer so they can check it out for you.

clones1980

Gauge wrote: »

First, stop using Caldescene. It's way too harsh and powders are no good for puncture wounds, all they do is clog them up. It seems counter-intuitive but you don't need to use stuff like that on piercings at all.

Second, what exactly do you mean when you refer to your piercing getting infected? Was it producing nasty smelling pus, feeling extremely hot, and making you feel unwell/giving you a temperature? If you have a true infection, the only thing you can do is get antibiotics and you should never let an infected piercing close up. They need to drain somehow and a trapped infection is a recipe for disaster. Infections are caused by dirt and germs and can be avoided easily by keeping the piercing clean and going to a hygienic piercer.

If it wasn't a true infection, you were most likely experiencing irritation or rejection. Irritation could quite easily have been caused by the antiseptic powder you are using. You don't need it. Salt soaks will help a piercing heal just fine (quarter teaspoon of sea salt to a pint of boiled water, cooled to a comfortable temperature. Pour it into a cup or shotglass and clamp that to your belly for 10 minutes at a time). Navel piercings are susceptible to irritation because of their location, so you need to make sure clothes are not rubbing against them. Irritation can share symptoms with infections like redness and discharge, but it's much easier to deal with.

Rejection is the process of a piercing being physically pushed out of your body. Again, it shares symptoms like redness and discharge, but you will notice the skin growing thinner and "shrinking". This can be a problem with navel piercings due to their nature, but you probably wouldn't confuse them with infections/irritation.

I think stopping the use of Caldescene, replacing it with sea salt soaks and the rest of the time never touching your piercing will make a big difference to your navel, but if you feel worried you should definitely go back to your piercer so they can check it out for you.

Hi Gauge,

Thanks for your reply. The top hole of the piercing started bleeding and opened out bigger, kinda like the infection was eating into the skin and making it bigger if that makes sense. I had to let it close because it was so painful, pus, smell, bleeding and very hot to touch.

This time the skin around top hole seems to be closing around the bar, it gets so tight that when i try to move the bar it starts either bleeing or pus comes out of it. At the moment the skin around it also looks very thin, red and is hot to touch. Am really on the verge of just giving up on it and taking it out at this stage. Tried the salt tthing first first six weeks as thats what the piercer told me to do.

Gauge

If the skin is thin then it could be rejection- you should go to your piercer to confirm if this is the case, as rejection will leave you with a scar.

dee1dee2

had exactly same prob i found cleaning it with slightly salted hot water done the trick in one week cleaning twice a day

missannik

I had similar problems when I got my belly done... took well over a year or two to heal properly. It was frequently infected and would hypergranulate (proud flesh poking through) despite looking after it immaculately. I realised that my barbell was the issue (I was far too slow to realise it ), it was too short, placing too much pressure on the surrounding skin... plus I'd learnt that the ball would have stopped oxygen from getting to wound plus kept it too moist and only made the proud flesh worse. Once I'd changed to a ring, kept up my cleaning routine and made sure it was well dried after a shower it healed up in no time, and I've had no problems since.

So maybe your barbell length is an issue?