hey there,

My girlfriend recently had her belly button pierced. This was for the second time actually, the first time it gave her tons of trouble and her body ended up rejecting it and it came out through the skin one night leaving a pretty noticable scar.  Well, she decided to give it another try this time and see if it could work out.  She got it peirced maybe two months ago and it still hasn't been better.  It is still pretty sore to the touch and alot of "gunk" and scabs form around it.  She's been taking care of it properly the whole time, using H2Ocean every night, but it still pusses every once in a while and won't heal right.  The jewelry usually just ends up drying crookedly because of the stuff that accumulates around it.

i can tell she is having a really hard time with this and is just getting more and more frustrated.  I would love for it to heal properly so she can stop having to worry about it.  My ears, 0g's, were having some trouble recently too and i got alot of advice to use sea salt soaks and that cleared everything up in no time.  I've advised her to do the same, is that correct??  I would love any advice you guys can give because i would really love to help her out.

-Ryan

Sea salt soaks would absolutely help her.  It seems like the piercing is lymphing alot, so a couple SSS a day will do wonders.  After the SSS loosens up the crusties, she should clean them off with a q-tip or cotton ball soaked in saline solution.  Piercings can sometimes take a long time to heal!  Remember, it's only been two months since she's had this foreign metal object introduced into her body.  Give it time to heal!

If any of the fluid coming out of the piercing is yellowish-green and if the piercing is red and hot to the touch, have her go to see a doctor to rule out a possible infection.  If it's infected, remember to NOT remove the jewelry until the infection has gone away.

 Thanks a lot.

I'll make sure she keeps up the SSS cause she's been sucking at doing it lately.  And i know that belly buttons are supposed to take almost six months to heal completely so she just needs to take care of it longer, i just wanted to get some advice before she decided to give up and take it out, which hopefully she wont now.

Thanks again.

-Ryan

 Mandy, she still has the stainless steel piercing that it was pierced with by a professional piercer so that shouldnt be a problem.

 Yea, she's leaving it in all the time, i dont think she's ever even taken it out once.

and Mandy, the Jewelry is basically just a curved barbell, it sounds like what you were describing.

I dont think its been said, but some people arent ment to have certain piercings... its a sad truth, and that may be the case here...

 i believe it is 6 months to a year for healing time for navals. sss would be best definatly. Mine took a bout a year to heal and there was a month point where it was very irriatated. Ive had it for 9 years now and it has been fine since. 

 Some people are not anatomically suited for navel piercings. Does her stomach naturally crease (no matter how thin she is) right at her navel when she sits or bends over? If so, it's going to be a lot harder for her to heal this piercing as a result of that constant movement and friction. She may just want to give it up if it doesn't heal this time.

 Also, what kind of jewelry is she wearing? I know you said it's stainless steel inserted by a professional piercer, but unfortunately neither "stainless steel" nor "professional piercer" really mean anything unless qualified. Is it internally threaded, implant grade steel? Is it even pierced correctly? A lot of people call themselves "professional" piercers and don't have a glimmer of a clue what the fuck they're doing. Pictures would really help.

splatterhouse:

 Some people are not anatomically suited for navel piercings. Does her stomach naturally crease (no matter how thin she is) right at her navel when she sits or bends over? If so, it's going to be a lot harder for her to heal this piercing as a result of that constant movement and friction. She may just want to give it up if it doesn't heal this time.

I'm fairly skinny but my stomach creases right where my navel is. I figured it wouldn't be a problem. I've had my navel pierced twice and both times I had to retire the piercing due to anatomical issues. It would constantly be irritated and would generally migrate into a crooked position. If it didn't heal before, and doesn't heal this time, her best bet would to be to give up on it.

 That last part you said sounds exactly like her situation. It will be healed for a while and then end up crooked and weird looking.  Sadly, i'll probably just tell her to try it for maybe three months more with the SSS and if it's still not better to just stop trying.

 My friend had this problem. The stomach was also creasing over her belly button. After trying twice to get a navel healing properly, she tought that maybe having it done on the lower side of the belly button might help. It did! Healed properly in no time because under the navel, her skin stays flat when she sits down and all.

She could try this, if she likes the look of a lower navel piercing.