So yeah this recently just happened and it's REALLY bothering me.
I got my navel pierced 6 weeks ago with a ring. I followed your aftercare and everything was completely fine. My piercing never hurt and it was barely red around the holes. There were a couple times where I turned to fix it and I got a little bit of pus, but it was not green or yellow. I've never had my piercing bleed either.
This past weekend a little bump grew on the right side of the bottom hole of my navel and the top hole looks a little swollen and it is red all around it. I cleaned it once during this weekend thinking that maybe it could help, but decided to not do it again as I could overclean it.
Any ideas why this could have happened? Should I change my ring to a barbel to help lessen the irritation? I am a tummy sleeper but I try to sleep on my side which I have been doing pretty good on. I used Dial antibacterial soap for the first two weeks of cleaning. I really don't want this bump there and I just want it to go away overnight but I know it won't, is there any way I can speed up the process of it shrinking?
If you are a tummy sleeper this could be the problem as to why you developed the bump.
Changing it to a barbell will be a good idea as that will reduce the leverage of the ring rubbing when you sleep.
If you are still cleaning the piercing in the shower, the please STOP. Our aftercare is only 2 weeks long. When you shower, just soap around the navel and let the water run over the piercing.
Afterwards, take a Q-tip and remove any crusties and then take another one and go inside the navel to remove any trapped water. Otherwise, leave it alone and let the body heal itself.
Well today I went back to my piercer and had him take a look at my piercing. He said that it could have been a possibility from me sleeping on it. He told me that I can clean it with Epson Salt or Hydrogen Peroxide for a couple days ONLY. He said that there was probably dirt under my skin so my body is trying to fight it, and the best thing to do is to clean it and try to pop the blood out. I wasn't aiming to do any of this before asking you.
I then had him insert a barbell so it would be less of an irritation on my piercing. He did it and it wasn't painful or anything, so then I up and left. I went back home and after going to the bathroom I went and checked how my piercing looked to make sure it was okay and I found dried blood around each hole. The bump is also completely gone. Is there any way that when he put the barbell in that it popped the bump and it bled? Is this going to affect my piercing in any way?
Yes, there is a very good chance that what he did broke the bump.
Please do not clean the piercing anymore. Just wash around the navel and let the warm water run over the piericng in the shower.
Afterwards, take a Q-tip and remove any crusties (blood) formed. Then take another Q-tip and dry out the inside of the navel.
Otherwise, leave it alone and let the body do its job of healing itself.
