To do this the person would need to have what is known as an “outie” navel where the belly button is actually sticking out. Not many people have this and so the piercing is often made through the upper rim of the navel instead.

Many celebrities such as Britney Spears and Janet Jackson have made the navel body piercing as popular as it is today.

It is particularly favoured amongst teenage girls who are looking to stand out. However, unfortunately many people rush into getting their navel pierced and they do not fully understand what the piercing involves. This is when infections can develop.

What You Should Know

The navel piercing might be the most common type of piercing available today, but there is still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding it. One of the main things that you may not be aware of is the healing time that the piercing needs before you experiment with different belly rings.

Navel body piercings are well known for their likelihood of developing an infection. However, this is easily avoidable if you respect the healing time and if you help the piercing to heal. Using a mild antibacterial soap on the piercing each morning in the shower will help to cleanse the wound.

The piercing itself is done usually with a sterilised clamp. The clamp is situated either below or above the navel and then the sterilised needle is pushed through the skin to create the piercing. This is then followed by the navel jewellery that the client has chosen. Typically for their first navel jewellery, clients tend to opt for belly bars or a simple belly ring. Ideally you should avoid nickel based navel jewellery when you have just had your navel pierced as this does tend to cause an allergic reaction for many people.

Overall navel body piercings are popular and they do tend to boost confidence. However, they do need to be cared for properly if you are to benefit fully from the piercing. There are so many different belly rings to suit all tastes that you can choose from once the piercing has healed. So if you do look after the piercing properly you will soon be able to benefit from a wide range of belly rings!

The first and the most common bugs you can get are some bacterial infections like Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. If you get one of these and the fresh piercing is really infected – painful, swollen and oozing yellow pus, your doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

Actually it’s been reported that around 10 – 20% of all body piercings result in a small body piercing infections, so if your fresh body piercing is just slightly reddish and a bit tender to touch – most likely it’s going to pass within a few days.

The second type of body piercing infection is viral infections like hepatitis B and hepatitis C. This piercing infection can be transmitted to your body if the piercing instruments haven’t been properly sterilized. Using a disposable piercing needle is a must, and the piece of body jewelry that is inserted into your fresh piercing needs to be sterilized.

This is why it’s very important to make sure that the piercing studio is of the highest standards and the possibility of getting hepatitis is reduced to a minimum. If you have any doubts when entering the studio and talking to the guy or girl who’s going to pierce you – better leave the place and look for another one.

It would be really silly to get a viral infection when such diseases can be easily avoided by making sure all the health standards are met! So don’t hesitate to ask your piercer if he’s going to use a disposable piercing needle prior to getting pierced.

Another type of a possible body piercing infection includes parasites and other microorganisms. This may happen if you go swimming during the healing period in outdoor waters like seas, lakes and rivers.
So you are advised to avoid going into waters where microorganisms are living. Indoor swimming pools don’t pose such a threat due to chlorine added to water, but I guess you should avoid getting into the pool at least the first week or so after the piercing.