I haven't worn jewelry in my belly button piercing since finding out about our LO, but for some reason I have been paranoid about that little sliver of skin in between the piercing ripping or tearing. As fate would have it, I woke up this morning and there was dried puss & a little blood on the bottom part of the piercing and it is pretty red. My question is have any of you ladies dealt with this before or known someone that has? I'm really not sure there is anything that I can really do about it - other than have one of those "stupid 16 year old me" moments.
I can't help you here but I will say that with all 3 pregnancies, I have not taken my ring out. I have simply changed the ring over to a flexible ring meant for pregnancy.
Yes, I've been dealing with this for a couple weeks and it looks like the hole is finally healed. My hole was bleeding and there was so much puss. At my last Dr. Appt she squeezed all the puss and blood out and it was THE most painful thing I have ever felt. Turns out I had a keloid inside the hole...so gross. Anyway, after getting the keloid out I took an antibiotic for it.
My belly button piercing is looking good so far (30 weeks), but I had a friends who's piercing got infected once she got pregnant and got a significant bump. She kept it clean and the infection cleared up on its own. Hers never tore or ripped, only problem was the infection. The only time I have heard of people ripping their belly button piercing (pregnant or not) is if they catch the jewelry on something, if you are not wearing the jewelry I don't think you have to worry about tearing. Also, reputable piercers are very knowledgeable about piecing care, it cannot hurt to talk to a piercer about it.
I've been putting triple antibiotic on it for a few days and slapping a Bandaid over it so it doesn't get irritated. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday so I can always talk to my doc about it then, but wanted to get something going so it didn't get worse. Thanks, ladies!
I bought a flexible bar and have had that in for about half of my pregnancy. It got really irritated when I changed it out. I just kept it moist with a&d ointment, but it did take longer to heal than normal when it gets like that. Once you get it healed up be sure to keep it moisturized.
Mine looks horrible and I took it out when I was 22 (so about 10yrs ago). I agree with PPs, wash it, put antibacterial ointment on it and let it breathe.
IVF (BCPs starting 10/30/12, ER 11/18/12, 5dt of 1 beautiful, healthy embryo 11/23/12)
BFP 12/02/12, u/s @ 6w,5d showed 2 HBs! Identical twins!!
Bed rest from 21w-35w due to short cervix, hospital bed rest from 23w-32w due to PTL
Our rainbows were born 07/19/13 (36w, 5d)
Blahhh...mine is terrible. My husband says it looks like a playboy bunny because of the two small dark stretch marks growing upward from it. Even one of my OB's said "your playboy bunny looks nice!" at my last visit!?! I could not believe he said that, but he's also close to 70 years old so he just says whatever he wants. I just hope the marks fade after delivery.
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Mine hasn't torn and I haven't had jewelry in it since I found out I was pregnant however I do have some stretch marks coming from the piercing site which makes it look like its tearing! Just make sure to keep it clean..maybe have your doctor take a look at it? They may have a way to prevent any damage that could possibly occur. Good luck!
I haven't had any pain or infection, but as of Saturday I have a small (less than a 1/4") angry little stretch mark jutting from the top piercing hole. First time I've ever regretted one of my many piercings!
Hopefully it doesn't grow much larger so that when it fades to silver it won't bother me so much. But I'm not holding my breath...
Bactine - it's the best thing for piercing infections. I only have my nose piercing anymore and I rarely wear it but I used to have an eyebrow ring that gave me issues. I took it out and used bactine to help clear up the infection and it healed nicely with very little scarring. Not sure about using it while pregnant - you'll have to check with a doctor to be on the safe side.
I can't help you here but I will say that with all 3 pregnancies, I have not taken my ring out. I have simply changed the ring over to a flexible ring meant for pregnancy.
Mrscountry527 - Did you find that the flexible jewelry really helped within the "popping out" pregnancy stages? I just put one of those flexible piercings in yesterday (I'm 15 weeks and not showing yet, so the ring feels HUGE), but I'm just curious as to whether or not you felt like it really helped vs just taking it out completely?
I took my piercing out shortly before I got pregnant with my first and put Bio Oil on to help it heal (I knew it was unlikely I'd be putting the rings back in) and I still got stretch marks around that area but not nearly as bad, I don't think. Definitely keep it clean and mention any concerns to your doctor.
I took mine out as soon as I found out I was pregnant, however I made the mistake of piercing it myself in high school (leaving scar tissue) before I had it professionally pierced later on. So while it looked fine pre-pregnancy, now it appears to be an empty hole and quite a bit of scarring around it as it stretched! I hate it, but do these tend to bounce back after?
Great post though, makes me think I should keep an eye on mine but I have not had issue yet. I would think everything prior replies mentioned would be your best bet (like Neosporin and such).
I took mine out around 17 weeks because I wear full panel pants and it got irritated. But since then I haven't had problems. However, I got two weird stretch marks through the hole, so weird!
that sounds like a bit of an infection, but id just keep it clean & dry. most piercings create skin "sludge" and people may not know that you have to keep them clean forever… my friend and i were trying on bras at VS & she was like "ew! my belly button ring just spewed something!!" i was totally disgusted but not as surprised as she was,,but she seemed really shocked, i don't think she knew that even after being fully healed for years you have to manipulate it & clean it.
that sounds like a bit of an infection, but id just keep it clean & dry. most piercings create skin "sludge" and people may not know that you have to keep them clean forever… my friend and i were trying on bras at VS & she was like "ew! my belly button ring just spewed something!!" i was totally disgusted but not as surprised as she was,,but she seemed really shocked, i don't think she knew that even after being fully healed for years you have to manipulate it & clean it.
I have never heard this! I took my belly button ring out right before I got pregnant with my first because I had heard it could stretch really bad. But I can still get the "sludge" out 6 years later and having never put the ring back in. Was wondering what was wrong with me, but good to know it's normal!
Re: Belly Button Piercing Issues!
Sorry you're dealing with this. It really sucks!
Dx: balanced translocation and LPD
TTC since Oct 2011
BPF 02/19/12, EDD 10/31/12, natural m/c 02/28/12 (4w6d)
IVF (BCPs starting 10/30/12, ER 11/18/12, 5dt of 1 beautiful, healthy embryo 11/23/12)
BFP 12/02/12, u/s @ 6w,5d showed 2 HBs! Identical twins!!
Bed rest from 21w-35w due to short cervix, hospital bed rest from 23w-32w due to PTL
Our rainbows were born 07/19/13 (36w, 5d)
Great post though, makes me think I should keep an eye on mine but I have not had issue yet. I would think everything prior replies mentioned would be your best bet (like Neosporin and such).