Body piercing is a popular way to express yourself. Navel or belly button piercings are among the most common piercings for women. There are many types of body jewelry available for navel piercings. One type of body jewelry for navel piercings is called a captive bead ring (CBR), which is a circular bar that is enclosed with a small bead. Being able to change your own body jewelry is an important part of taking care of your piercing.

Wash your hands thoroughly and pat them dry. Paper towels are ideal for drying your hands as they do not have as much of a risk of carrying bacteria as reusable towels do.

Clean your piercing as normal. Use saline solution, or a mild antibacterial soap to clean your piercing. The Association of Professional Piercers recommends soaking the piercing in a warm saline solution or soaking a clean piece of cotton in the saline solution and using that to clean the piercing.

Pat your piercing dry with a clean paper towel.

Using both hands, hold each side of the CBR on the circle near the bead. It is easiest to do this if the bead is in the center and not near one of the entry points of the piercing.

Gently pull each side of the ring in the opposite direction. For instance, go left with the top portion and go right with the bottom. Because the bead in a CBR is held in place by the tension created at the two ends of the circle, pulling them apart will release the tension and remove the bead. Now there is a gap where the bead was held in place.

Place the bead on a clean paper towel to avoid losing it. Slowly rotate the jewelry so that the open area is brought to the entry point of the piercing. Once the open area is turned so only the ends of the circle are touching the piercing, slide the jewelry off your navel. If you are concerned that the gap is not large enough, use your fingers to open the gap more or use piercing pliers to widen the gap, making it easier to slide the jewelry away from your body.