Belly Button Piercing Facts

Body piercing is when a needle is put through a part of the body and then a foreign object is placed as an ornament. Eventually, the skin heals around the jewelry and a hole remains. The hole is the piercing. It is perfectly safe when done by professionals who are careful.

Do not pierce your own navel. The piercing should be done with a sterilized needle, gloves and other sterilized pieces of equipment.

Navel piercings may migrate within about five to ten years, and they will fall.

Belly piercings take time to heal - approx 4 months to 1 year

Belly piercing is a big decision. The following information will help you decide which best suits you. Make sure you go to a reputable piercer and see your doctor if you develop symptoms of an infection!

Which piercing salon to use?

You have to ask friends and relatives with piercings where they went and when they found the place.

Is the salon clean and safe, as this can help you stay healthy after getting your piercing, and prevent you from contracting diseases? Is it well lit so the piercer can see well while working? You should feel safe.

Do they wash their hands and use sterile gloves and instruments? All instruments are either brand new and disposable (meant to be discarded after one use) or sterilized in bags. If disposable needles are used, give him / her open sealed packages of the needles! The piercer should throw away the needles in a biohazard container after using it. If disposable needles are used, the salon have sterilization equipment on the site, you should ask to see. If they refuse to show you, go somewhere else.

A piercing gun should not be used (except on ears) because it can not be properly sterilized. If the salon uses a piercing "gun" to do body piercings ... LEAVE!

Look for a salon with a large selection of jewelry. The salon should not tell you what kind of jewelry to have.

What kind of jewelry should you buy?

Only jewelry made from non-corrosive metal, such as surgical stainless steel is safe when you get your piercing done. It is least likely to be a foreign body reaction or an infection in the skin to produce. Other choices for when you get your piercing done are metals like solid gold (at least 18K), titanium or niobium. All these cost more than surgical steel. For people who are extremely sensitive to metal, Teflon or nylon piercings may be used. Gold plated jewelry should NOT be used.

Rules

Since the law is different in each country, you should know the law in your country says:

o Minimum age for belly piercing

o Whether you need parental permission to have a piercing

o What qualifications and regulations the salon should have and to display

How is it done and does it hurt?

Immediately before piercing, the piercer should wash and dry their hands and latex gloves. The gloves should be worn at all times during the procedure. If the piercer leaves the procedure and touches something or return later and you have not seen everything he or she has done, ask them to new gloves.

An experienced piercer uses a hollow needle to create a hole by passing the needle through the body you want pierced. The body jewelry is then inserted through the hole. Sometimes a small amount of bleeding will be. You should not take aspirin or pain medication that contains aspirin the week before any piercing is done since these drugs can cause you a bit more than normal bleeding.

As for the "pain" it. It will vary from person to person different people experience pain in different ways. Everyone has a different tolerance level, so you really only to yourself.

The piercer should give you instructions about cleaning, maintenance, etc., if they do not, ask questions (it's your body, you deserve to know how to care for them).

What are the risks?

The most common piercing problem is infection. Infection is quite common and is easily cured with proper care and attention. Another risk with a piercing is that your body could reject. If so, can cause swelling and pain. If your piercing is giving you a lot of pain or continually gets infected, you can remove your piercing and pierced again once it has healed to get. Infections can be caused by hepatitis, HIV, tetanus, bacteria and yeast. If the piercer washes their hands and uses gloves and sterile equipment and you take good care of your piercing, the risk of infection is reduced (but still exists).

As with other piercings, the piercing will be swollen, red, and pus. It would be painful. If the piercing does not improve in the next few days remove the piercing. Some bodies are not as piercing. It will not heal properly and it has nothing to do with the piercing itself or the piercer. It has to do with the body of that particular person. The navel piercing can be rejected by the body.

There is no real danger by the piercing itself, but it is important to ensure it. The dangers are once it is in. The reason is that it is on the front of the body with clothing constantly rubbing against the piercing. People tend to piercing and transfer germs from their fingers to touch the ring. Once it rotates into the piercing a couple of belly buttons can become infected.

Infections caused by bacteria getting into the puncture of the piercing may also happen later, even after the piercing has healed.

Another cause of the problems is the wrong kind of piercing jewelry for the pierced area. If the jewelry is too small, it can actually cut the blood supply to the tissues, causing swelling and pain. If the jewelry is either too thin or too heavy or if you are allergic to the metal, your body can sometimes reject the jewelry (your body reacts against the jewelry because it is a "foreign object").

How to care for the piercing

Clean the piercing at least twice a day until healed. This is done by:

o Always wash your hands with soap and water (or antibacterial soap) to clean

o Removing and crusty skin from the piercing and the jewelry with warm water

o Gently washing the piercing with a saline (salt mixed with water) or antibacterial soap

o Gently rinsing the area to remove the solution or soap

o Gently drying the area with a paper towel (do not use cloth towels because they contain bacteria)

o No more than wash or scrub as this can irritate the piercing

Check your jewelry while cleaning to see if any parts have come loose

Do not use alcohol or peroxide or other strong solution as this will cause irritation and / or discoloration of the jewelry

Let no tough the piercing until it heals

If you are not cleaning the piercing then do not touch!

Avoid taking baths, take showers instead to avoid sitting in bacteria

Do not use hot tubs, pools, lakes, seas, because these are breeding grounds for bacteria

Clean the piercing after exercise or playing sport as bacteria love damp moist spots

Do not use antibacterial cream as these trap bacteria

Always wear clean loose clothing while the piercing is healed, so that air can circulate around the piercing. Clothing should be made of soft fabric and should not hold or rub the piercing. Avoid jeans, leotards, belts, body suits and tights until the piercing has healed

Change your bed sheets once a week to help prevent infections

DO NOT attempt to change the piercing during the healing process. If you pierced ask the piercer how long you wait before you can.

Always look out for signs of infection, foul odor, discharge, redness, pain, swelling, rash around the piercing. If you think you have an infection go see your doctor.

Be careful with your piercing - it will take time to heal and for you to get used to it.