The Risks of a Belly Button Piercing
Belly button rings did not become popular in the United States before the invention of the bikini in the early 1950s, according to the Cute Bellybutton Rings website. With the women's liberation movement of the 1960s, women of all ages felt more comfortable exposing what society had considered immodest a generation earlier. However, the greater liberation has led to the rise of belly button rings, which come with increased physical and emotional health risks.
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Infections
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If the person piercing your navel does not use proper hygiene and sterilization techniques, a serious infection could result. The infection could spread to inner abdominal organs and eventually into the bloodstream, where it could travel to the vital organs, resulting in death. Sterilization of all equipment involved in the process is paramount.
More tragically, HIV can enter your bloodstream through a needle that your piercer previously used to perform the procedure on a carrier of the disease. This emphasizes the importance of paying for a professional to pierce your belly button. The trained piercing professional knows to use a kit designed for one-time usage.
You can cause infection yourself once the piercing is complete by not exercising proper care. Wash the new jewelry twice a day, but no more, according to the Cute Bellybutton Rings website, because if you wash more than two times a day, it could kill the beneficial bacteria that actually help fight infection.
Damage to Internal Body Parts
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Damage to underlying body parts can also be a serious risk. For example, if you or an untrained person attempts this procedure, you could hit a body part immediately underlying the navel, such as a blood vessel. Cutting a blood vessel could result in profuse bleeding in the abdominal area. In addition, you could hit a nerve, causing damage to that nerve, which, in turn, could lead to numbness in that area. Also, according to the Cute Bellybutton Rings website, you could develop keloids, or thick scar tissue, that could interfere with more healthy tissue material in the area of the piercing.
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Longer Healing Times
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A navel piercing takes longer to heal because the area of the ring is constantly under stress due to constant activities such as sitting, standing or bending. Also, sweat and clothing can further slow the healing process because of the irritation it causes the area.
Emotional Heartache
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As the Teenage Days website says, piercings can lead to emotional pain as well. While you may elect to undergo the procedure to attract the attention of a love interest, you could incur great emotional pain should the person decide to leave the relationship. The psychological torment can be immense, because every time you look at the jewel in the center of your abdomen, you realize you have a permanent reminder of the person who has quit the relationship.
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References
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