How to Make Sure Your Belly Button Ring Stays Healthy

While navel rings are trendy, they can also be difficult to keep healthy without the right precautions in place. A belly button ring takes anywhere from four months to one year before it is healed after the piercing, according to the Center for Young Women's Health. They also say that navel rings are more likely to get infected due to irritation caused by wearing tight clothing. As such, if you want to keep your belly button ring in its place, keep it healthy.

Things You'll Need

• Antibacterial soap
• Saline solution
• Paper towel

Instructions

1. Select a safe metal to pierce your belly button with, such as stainless steel or titanium. Some other metals may be prone to giving people infections. For instance, gold can cause people to have allergic reactions, which will then cause the navel piercing to become infected.

2. Clean the belly button ring daily. Start by washing your hands well with antibacterial soap. You can also wear latex gloves when you clean your navel ring. Use saline solution to clean the metal of the ring. Rinse it off with warm water. Make sure you clean the whole area, removing dirt and crust.

3. Dry your belly button by patting the area with a soft paper towel. Avoid rubbing the area dry with the paper towel, as it can aggravate your navel and cause fuzz from the paper towel to get stuck in the opening.

4. Do not wear tight clothes that rub up against the belly button ring. Your pant or skirt waistline should not be directly over the ring. Wear your clothes lower or higher and looser while the navel ring is healing for the first few months. Anything that is tight will be aggravating to the area.

5. Pat your navel dry after you shower. Be careful to not instinctively wipe your body dry with a large towel, as your navel ring can get caught on your towel and become snagged as it pulls. Be mindful of the area and always pat it dry.

6. Avoid touching the navel ring, except while cleaning it. Your hands carry a lot of dirt and germs, and you can bring unwanted bacteria to the area by touching it excessively, which would cause an infection.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are a stomach-sleeper, you may want to reconsider your sleeping position. Sleeping on your stomach with a navel ring can be painful, as well as cause the area to become irritated and inflamed.

References

• Center for Young Women's Health: Body Piercing