What if your belly button piercing is bleeding

Two of the most common complications are bacterial infections and allergic reactions. Remember, piercings are open wounds that need to be kept clean. For example, piercing jewelry made of nickel is known to cause allergic reactions in susceptible people. Keeping the piercing hole open allows pus to drain. Allowing the hole to close may trap the infection inside of your body, causing an abscess to form.

Cleaning your piercing is important, both to prevent and treat an infection. Experts recommend cleaning a piercing no more than twice each day. Follow with a mild antibacterial soap and water cleansing.

You could also use either one of these cleansing methods alone. First, remember to wash your hands with antibacterial soap. Then use a cotton swab and your cleaning solution to gently wipe the area around your belly button and the ring. Pat the area dry with a clean towel. Do not use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, as these can dry out your skin and irritate the area around the piercing.

Place a warm compress on the infected piercing. This can help the pus drain and cause the swelling to go down. Using a wet compress, like a warm washcloth, with your cleaning solution. Place the compress on the piercing. Gently dry the area with a clean towel after using the wet cloth. Contact your doctor immediately if you experience any significant signs of infection, especially a fever or nausea. Even minor infections can get worse without treatment. Jewelry containing nickel is especially likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

The Association of Professional Piercers recommend using metals, such as surgical steel, titanium, or nickel-free gold, that are less likely to cause reactions. Allergic reactions usually begin as soon as a person inserts the jewelry into the piercing.

The reaction may be intense, involving a painful rash or swelling, or it may be minor but grow steadily worse. If the jewelry has caught on something, and the new piercing looks larger or feels painful, a person may have an injury. These injuries increase the chance of infection. They can also change the shape of the piercing or cause it to heal incorrectly.

See a doctor about the injury and consult a professional piercer to see if the piercing requires redoing. Sometimes, pain and irritation close to a piercing result from a skin condition, such as eczema or psoriasis. A rash, redness, peeling, or irritation could stem from a preexisting skin disorder. Injuries to the skin can trigger some disorders, such as psoriasis , and a piercing is one such form of injury. When there is no infection, but the skin shows signs of irritation, a doctor will ask about recent changes involving the piercing, such as using a new cleaning solution or jewelry made from a different metal.

The doctor can usually diagnose the cause of irritation after performing an examination and taking a complete medical history. However, the doctor may also need to take blood tests or a sample of the skin.

An entry from in BMJ Case Reports describes damage to the intestines that had been caused by a belly button piercing and resulted in death. However, the person had pierced themselves, and the authors described the piercing as very unusual. It is important to be cautious and contact a doctor if symptoms of infection do not resolve quickly.

A doctor may recommend removing the jewelry and allowing the piercing to close, or replacing low-quality jewelry with some made from a metal less likely to irritate the skin. It may be a good idea to go to a member of the Association of Professional Piercers, an organization that requires members to practice safe piercing and provides related education. A piercing is an injury to the skin that takes time to heal.

Caring for the piercing as if it were any other sort of wound can significantly lower the risk of infection. Receiving prompt treatment can increase the likelihood that the piercing heals properly and does not require removal. Even with the best aftercare, a bump may form around a nose piercing. In this article, we give you some tips about natural remedies that can help get…. Many people mistake signs of healing for an infection. You may experience persistent redness around the belly button, soreness, or pain that is simply a symptom of healing, even though these can also be signs of a problem.

Below, we will discuss the signs of an infected belly button piercing versus a healing one and learn how to treat an infection. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if your piercing is infected or just irritated.

Pay close attention because an infection gets worse, whereas a little time may soothe an irritation. Proper aftercare should prevent any problems, but some people are just more prone to complications than others.

If you have one of the clear signs of infection, you should start treating immediately to prevent further complications like abscess formation. If you think your piercing might be infected, do not remove the jewelry. Doing so can block in the infection, causing an abscess beneath the skin.

You want to have proper drainage so that the piercing can heal. Below are the instructions provided by Dr. Follow these instructions closely and carefully.

If you think that your belly button piercing is infected, don't ignore the symptoms and hope the infection goes away on its own. You want to treat it before it develops into an abscess or spreads to your abdomen. As you can see from the photo, a healing belly button piercing will have a little redness and some crustiness that is concentrated around the area of the piercing only.

If you have an infection, however, the redness will spread to the larger abdomen area and may even appear as red lines radiating from the piercing; it will feel hot and painful, and there will be foul-smelling puss oozing from the site. It is completely normal to feel pain during and after a navel piercing. You may also feel soreness for up to a year because this is how long it takes a belly piercing to fully heal.

However, if the pain gets worse over time and there are other accompanying symptoms such as green or yellow discharge, a foul smell, or a burning sensation , then you may have an infection. Seek professional help right away before the infection spreads! According to Dr. Neinstein, "In general, your piercing should heal by the 3- to 6-month mark, however, each person varies in the pace at which they heal.

In some cases, a person may experience discomfort for up to one year. The key is to distinguish between discomfort and actual infection. Do not mistake these signs for infection. You may also experience itchiness, swelling, and redness if you're suffering from an allergic reaction to the kind of metal in your jewelry.

If you're having an allergic reaction, see your piercer immediately to have the jewelry replaced. The best jewelry for a belly button piercing is going to be made of a hypoallergenic metal that is good for sensitive skin. The best way to prevent an infection is to take good care of your new piercing from day one. Do not touch the navel area unless you are cleaning it, clean it with saline solution once or twice a day, and always wash your hands before you start cleaning.

Remember to use new cotton balls or swabs to gently wipe the area around your piercing, and then pat dry with a clean towel.

You can also prevent infection by choosing a reputable professional piercer who uses a sanitized piercing needle rather than a piercing gun. If this is your first time getting a navel piercing, good jewelry to start with is a gauge titanium curved barbell ring. After you've fully healed, you can opt for more elaborate jewelry as shown in this gallery of different types of navel piercings. Wait at least 6 months before changing your navel ring.

If you do it sooner, you will risk infection because the piercing is likely not fully healed. Some people report changing jewelry after 6 to 8 weeks with no infection, but this doesn't mean it can't happen.

To be extra safe, wait at least 6 months. To prevent an infection, make sure you go to a professional piercer at a reputable piercing shop. Questions to ask:. Navel piercings are one of the most popular piercings for females after the basic earlobe piercing and are most common among youth between 12 and 18, but that doesn't mean that middle-aged women can't sport a navel ring.

Because this kind of piercing is quite common, there is a lot of information on the web about it, but not all of the information is accurate. Before you get your piercing, do some research to make sure that you get the right information and the proper knowledge before you show up at the shop.

If you are informed, you'll find your healing time will be a breeze and you'll reduce any potential risks. Belly button piercings are commonly placed on the upper rim of the navel, but they can also be placed on the bottom, left, and right rim. Whatever the location, there are basic risks that should be considered.

The navel area is subject to sweating, bending, and irritation. Sitting, running, turning around, and other activities can irritate the piercing, as can tight clothes and activities that involve a lot of motion or contact. If you want to get a navel piercing, make sure that you choose a professional body piercer.

You also want to make sure that you know the proper aftercare processes so that you don't irritate it. Because an infection can be pretty serious and something that shouldn't be messed with, you want to be very careful.

This is one of the main reasons that I recommend young teens not get a piercing without their parents' knowledge. If an infection develops, you will have to tell your parents, which will get you into bigger trouble because you went behind their back to do something you were told not to do. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis.

Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency. The person who did my belly button piercing to come back in like 4 weeks..

Please answer this. Im Hey, I got my belly button pierced 2 days ago. The top of the piercing is fine but the bottom still has blood around it, the blood is dry. Can I just leave it or could that cause an infection? This has never happened at all since I first had it done I have never had any issues. What should I do? It is scar tissue. It never fully heals.

I just had to drain it last night. Maybe this weeping in my belly button caused my sons autism? It never heals. Your still beautiful without it. Hi i just got my belly button periced about 1 week and a day ago and i have dry skin around bith hole and i wanna know if ill be able to go swimming if its not fully heald. Hey im angel, i got my piercing for 3 months its red, it hurts it doesnt look infected can someone help me.

I got mine done again for the third time and it hurts a lot , i may be over cleaning it a little bit but the top ball of the ring seems to be going into the skin. Is there any way to help this or get it back out? I got my belly piercing done when I was I'm 17 now but it's still healing? It's been over 2 years nearly and it's still sore and has discharge but they don't seem to be signs of infection.

Is it normal for it to be still healing after all that time? So I got my navel piercing 2days ago and it seems to be doing okey I've been doing very thing I should to keep it clean but there is something that's concerns me the skin of the bottom hole turned white like paper white and it lookedelike puss so I then I tried to get it out with a cottonswab.

My skin is red between the two balls and kinda crusty! Is it ok or should I contact the piercer??? I had an infection in my piercing mild but very red and swollen on top hole, white puss, and painful!

I had my piercing almost months at this point and I decided to visit my primary doctor, he gave me an easy 5 day antibiotic for skin infections. I remember looking on millions of these sights to the point where I decided it was time to see a doc and that was my only relief!

Hi, my belly button has no lip on it, but it's still pierced. It constantly hurts, too. I got my belly button pierced 3 days ago and there's been no redness or discharge. Is all of this normal? I got my belly pierced 4 days ago and there is kinda of a red bump on my piercing. I am a CNA and went to work right after getting my belly button pierced. The skin in between the balls is red and sore to the touch. I clean it twice a day with sea salt water.

Should I be worried? Can I take it out? It is very painful. And its sore now. And I have a type of a red blood blister of some sort under my bottom piercing what should I do? Hi me belly piercing has I little blood thing in the middle of the skin what dose that mean is is rejecting or what and the skin is getting thinner.

I've had my belly button piercing for about 5 months and it's starting to look like it's just now getting infected. Is that possible? It's a little red around the piercing and kind of sore. Hey, I'm 17, got my belly button pierced two weeks ago and I was just wondering, my belly button is healing on the ring, I clean it two times a day, and it's a little red on the top and it has scabs, is this infected or just healing?

Hi, why is the whole on the top of my piercing bigger than it original size? Its been 6 days since i got my piercing done and i'm really worried because the top whole is bigger n the ball on the top sits right in it.

Each time I take out my navel jewelry to clean it, it come out perfectly fine but when I put it back in, a long piece of flesh comes out and the jewelry is more difficult to go back in. When I remove the flesh it starts to bleed.

Hi my belly button has a smaller lump on the top of the blower navel piercing I have bathed it in salt water for a while and so far it has gone for a bit then swollen back up what should I do?