Ok, so my belly button's been pierced for just about a year, and about 4 months ago I started getting these bumps that I think some of you are getting...but mine were just like bloody fleshy things that I pulled off.
I know, probably a bad idea, and my boyfriend did that for me. So every time I got one, he pulled it off and it was fine. I've never had an infection or anything. Now, just about a week ago, I just woke up and noticed another thing on the underside, but this is way more than a bump...it's like a huge piece of wobbly scar tissue that seems like it's coming out the underside of the piercing.
It hurts a little bit to the touch, but not much...I was just wondering if someone could PLEASE help me identify this, and if it's just scar tissue, will it just heal by itself like that? Thanks SOOO much!
ps-i've been putting neosporin inside my belly button just to lubricate it. is this bad?
Though we do not understand what exactly your boyfriend did to remove these bumps, it probably did not help your problem.
What you did not tell us was do you still clean the piercing and move the ring? If you do, then you are irritating the piercing. What products are were you using on your piercing and how often?
The other question is do you have a foul smell coming from your navel? If so, then we believe we know what your problem is.
Please give us as much information as possible so that we can better assist you.
I haven't been removing the bar, because I've heard that was bad, so no, it's still in.
I had been using saline solution (for contact lenses) because that's what the piercer told me to use. Now I use neosporin to lubricate it so the bar won't stick to the flap of skin underneath, and it actually has appeared to be working because the flap seems a bit smaller.
There is no odor, because my boyfriend checked for that also. I can't smell anything from where I am either. I called my piercer and I was really dissapointed, because he seemed so knowledgable when I got it done, and the piercing room was cleaner than a doctor's room...but when I talked to him on the phone he sounded like he didn't really care or was drunk or on drugs or something.
Now I don't touch it, in the shower I just let water run over it and feel the ball on the end to make sure there's no crusty stuff on it. Then I let it dry by itself and squeeze some neosporin right from the tube into it so it gets around the hole.
You have been overcleaning your piercing. Contact solution is made for contacts, it is not intended for anything else. The purpose is to disolving protein from the lenses. Does this sound like cleaning to you?
Neosporin is only necessary for a barrier at the beginning stages of a fresh piercing. Your piercing is now a year old and neosporin will not do anything but cause more problems. It is a barrier and in fact will not do anything for the piercing but delay in the healing process.
The method of putting the neosporin on the tissues is also not a good idea. By applying it directly to the skin, you actually contaminate the entire tube and in reality you are only doing more damage. Even though it seems to be working, it probably has more to do with not using the contact solution anymore.
Please just leave the piercing alone. The more you do to it, the longer you will have problems. When your boyfriend was picking off the bumps, all he was doing was doing more damage and now your body is unable to take anymore abuse and this is the way it can tell you.
Thanks so much for your help!
I've stopped using neosporin and i just let hot water run over it in the shower. The only reason I was using saline solution is because that's what my piercer told me to use.
What should I have been using instead? I was only going by what he told me.
Since we cannot see your piercing and surrounding area, we are going by what information you have given us.
The bumps that were surrounding the navel were possibly a reaction to the barbell. If you have nickel sensitivities then this would be the result. You should be wearing implant grade surgical stainless steel 316L metal. The use of saline solution and neosporin for this problem did nothing to help but keep the bumps from developing all over the navel area.
Then you wrote about a large bump and this was just more serious irritation because of all the products you were using in the navel area.
If you still have the many bumps around the navel area, we would recommend changing the barbell to a proper 316L shaft and not have anything dangling that was not silver or gold. So much of the jewellery is nickel plated and this is why we are very careful when we purchase products for our clients. If you are still concerned, we would suggest going to your doctor to have it checked out.
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