Belly Button Piercing

Body modification, such as belly button piercing, involves altering some part of the body for religious, cultural, spiritual, ornamental, or sexual reasons.  Belly button piercing, which is one of the most popular forms of body piercing, is more popular among women than men.  It is sometimes viewed as a way to express one’s wild side without the social stigma that other forms of body piercing cause.  Besides it can be easily hidden with clothes, although wearing midriff revealing clothing to showcase the piercing is a common practice.  Although belly button piercing is popular, there are risks involved with the procedure. Therefore, having a professional and experienced practitioner do the piercing is advisable.

Body piercing involves puncturing the skin of a body part or segment of the body for the purpose of wearing jewelry. This practice has existed throughout the world since ancient times.  Body piercing is a form of body modification, which involves altering some portion of the body, either permanently or semi-permanently, for religious, cultural, spiritual, ornamental, or sexual reasons.

Although ear piercing has existed constantly since ancient times, it lost its popularity within many cultures in the United States from the 1920s until the 1960s.  However, in the 1960s American women took up the practice once again. Other groups including men in the hippie and gay communities and the punk subculture have adopted the practice as well.  Today a single or multiple piercings of one or both ears is a common occurrence among women in the Western Culture, and it is fairly common among men.  The popularity of ear piercing has made it more acceptable to pierce other parts of the body such as the belly button, nose, tongue, and eyebrows. 

Belly button piercing is much more popular among women than men.  The name is a misnomer since the actual belly button is not really pierced.  Most belly button piercings are made through the upper rim of the belly button.  A true belly button piercing would have to be performed on a belly button that protruded (an “outie”) to some degree.

What should you expect if you are planning to have your belly button pierced?  There is no need to fully undress – only the belly button should be exposed.  A sterilized clamp and needle are used to make the piercing and install the piece of jewelry.  First, the belly button is cleaned with an antiseptic.  Second, the location of the piercing is marked.  Third, a sterilized clamp is connected to the skin above the belly button.  Fourth, the sterilized needle is pushed through the skin and then the chosen jewelry is put into the hole.

The healing time for a bully button piercing varies.  It depends on the amount of skin available for piercing.  Like an ear piercing, it may heal very quickly.  However, some heal more like a surface healing, which increases the chance of rejection (the hole closes) and lengthens the healing time.

If you decide to get a belly button piercing, proper care will ease the discomfort and promote healing.  Listed below are tips for belly button piercing care.

1. Soak the piercing with a solution consisting of eight ounces of warm or hot distilled water and ¼ teaspoon of salt.  Take the container that is holding the solution and invert it over your belly button and soak for a few minutes.
2. Clean the piercing at least once or twice per day with a mild, liquid antimicrobial, medicated soap.  Be sure to wash your hands to avoid infecting the piercing.
3. Do not touch the piercing except during cleaning.
4. With clean hands, inspect the piercing to make sure the balls are screwed in appropriately.

Belly button piercing is one form of body modification.  People have been modifying their bodies since ancient times.  If you are considering getting a belly button piercing, make sure to have your piercing performed by a license and skilled practitioner who uses top of the line equipment.

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