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What does your belly button say about your health? Here's everything you need to know about your naval

You probably don't think about your belly button much. Those weird little hollows aren't exactly parts of our bodies we concern ourselves with much, but when you think about it, how much do you really know about your belly button? Do you have an innie or an outie? Does it collect belly button fluff or lint? Maybe you've got a peculiar lump or bump, or perhaps you're looking to insert essential oils into your navel to alleviate health concerns (no, really). Our belly buttons are actually a pretty big health factor – so, let's dive in. Well, not into your belly button. You know what we mean.

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Featured

 How clean is your belly button? Dirty ones are at risk of navel stones – and could even need surgery

Compacted dirt, dead skin and other debris can form ‘umboliths’ in rare cases, causing irritation and infection.

Articles of Interest

A Flourishing Microbial Community Dwells Within Your Belly Button

A team of researchers dug into 60 different people’s belly buttons and found bacterial diversity and microbial mystery.

All the Bad B-tches Have Belly Button Piercings

The infamous Y2K trend is making a comeback with millennials, Gen Z, and their favorite celebrities.

Belly Button 101: Umbilical Care in Newborns

The umbilical stump does not require much care. In the past, parents were encouraged to wipe the base of the stump with alcohol to facilitate drying. However, now we know this may delay separation of the stump from the belly button. Instead, expose the stump to air as often as possible to encourage drying. Keep the diaper folded over in the front so that it does not cover the stump and leave clothes loose and open to air. Brief baths are okay but dry the stump well following the soak. Eventually, the stump will shrivel and detach from the belly button. There is no need to pull or cut the stump… just let time and nature do their job. If the stump has not separated by three weeks of age, contact your child’s doctor.

Belly Button Biodiversity

Citizen scientists navigate ‘the intimate forests of the umbilicus.’ The research team discovered that belly buttons are very diverse habitats! In total, they discovered 2,368 different species. More than half of those may be new to science. “The belly buttons reminded me of rain forests,” wrote Dr. Rob Dunn, a biologist at NC State and the project’s leader, in a blog post. “They differed more than we expected.”

Belly button plastic surgery is a trend now, but what is it?

From boob jobs to designer vaginas, it seems no body part is off-limits when it comes to cosmetic surgery. The latest trend to emerge is changing the size or shape of your belly button, also known as Umbilicoplasty. It's especially popular with new mums or victims of the 00s belly button piercing trend.

Fashion’s ‘Last Taboo’: Showing Off Your Belly Button

Styles now put the focus on navel gazing. ‘Outrageous and elegant at the same time,’ says designer Michael Kors.

Guess What's Living in Your Belly Button

You may not spend a lot of time thinking about your belly button--nor do I--which is why it never occurred to me what may be lurking inside.

Here’s Why Some People Have More Bellybutton Lint Than Others

Goldman reports that when “Dr. Karl” Kruszelnicki, who hosts a popular science radio show in Australia, got a letter asking how bellybutton lint forms, he became obsessed with finding an answer. After conducting a widespread survey, he concluded that navel fluff is driven by stomach hair, which collects lint from clothing and puts it on a one-way path to the bellybutton. Kruszelnicki’s work is just the beginning, writes Goldman — other researchers have looked at everything from what bellybutton lint is really composed of (cellulose, dust, skin, and other debris) to the navel’s unique microbiome (one bellybutton can host over 2,300 unique microscopic critters).

How to Clean Your Belly Button, Because You’re Probably Doing It Wrong

We know this isn't the most appealing of topics, but it's possible you don't know how to clean your belly button. And no, we don't mean with belly button piercings (which are back, FYI). We mean: how to clean your belly button properly, because—spoiler alert—many of us are doing it incorrectly.

I Tried Navel Oiling For a Month—Here's How It Went

Everybody on TikTok is talking about castor oil. While the way people are learning about the oil (which is extracted from seeds of the castor plant) is thoroughly modern, the ingredient itself and its use in wellness and beauty trends are decidedly ancient, dating back to early Ayurveda. Castor oil can be used to hydrate hair and skin, but the trending practice is called “navel oiling,” and fans claim it helps with abdominal swelling, cramps, better digestion, or even deeper sleep. So what's the truth?

Innies, outies and omphalophobia: 7 navel-gazing questions about belly buttons answered

If the cord is not cut, as has been the practice in some times and places and as is becoming trendy again in others, it will close off after an hour or so, then naturally detach a few days after birth. Some health care practitioners are concerned that this “lotus birth” could be an infection risk, since the umbilical cord remains attached to the placenta, which is dead tissue once out of the mother’s body.

I’ve always wondered: what’s behind the belly button?

Our belly button is a reminder for life that once we were attached to and dependent on our mother, floating like a little astronaut in our liquid universe. The cord, and in particular the remaining belly button, has always been fascinating to humans and we still embark on some interesting traditions to celebrate and aid the physical separation of the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord is probably the baby’s first toy, as they are sometimes caught on ultrasound playing around with it.

Navel Gazing and the Golden Ratio

What an apple, a pentagram and a belly button have in common.

Navel gazing: checking your belly button can tell you a lot about your health

Navels, belly buttons, innies or outies … whatever term you use, your umbilicus may have plenty to tell you about the state of your health. For some, they are the thing of nightmares – omphalophobia (the fear of belly buttons) is a real condition. For others, they are a fashion accessory to be shown off in a crop top, or decorated with a body piercing. Whatever your feelings about belly buttons, one thing’s for sure - it once joined you to your mother. The umbilical cord is severed at birth to leave just a small clamped stump that progressively withers and falls away a week or two later. What you’re left with, in most cases, is a small wrinkled depression.

Navel gazing: portraits of the bacteria in our belly buttons – in pictures

Joana Ricou teamed up with a pair of biologists to look past the fluff, and track the complex microbiome of the belly button

People Are Getting Plastic Surgery on Their Belly Buttons Now

The procedure involves the reshaping of the umbilicus (that's the belly button), Norman Rowe explains. Usually, umbilicoplasty is included in tummy tucks because that surgery involves so much skin removal that a new belly button has to be created. However, some people often seek out belly button surgery on its own because they have an unwanted outie or dislike their belly button's current shape.

The Remarkable Biodiversity Of Belly Buttons

Scientists at the Belly Button Biodiversity Project wanted to engage the public. They started to culture the bacteria in people's navels as a way to remind them about the life living on their bodies. In the process, they discovered diverse organisms, some of them completely new to science.

Venus Has A Crowded Belly Button

We are born without any bacteria on our skin, but as soon as we are exposed to the world we start to accumulate microbes. The places we go, the things we eat, the people we interact with — they all affect our "microbial signature." Our belly buttons — or really, the bacteria they contain — are reflections of our lives.

We now know why a belly button becomes an 'innie'

Scientists have discovered a new abdominal structure called the umbilical sheath, which anchors the remnant of the umbilical cord to deep abdominal tissues and helps determine the shape of your navel.

What Causes Belly Button Pain?

Some causes could be minor, like indigestion or muscle strain, but if your pain is more intense or persistent, it may be a sign of a more severe condition, like appendicitis, that requires immediate medical attention.

Why The Bellybutton Challenge Is All Kinds Of Moronic

The bellybutton challenge seems to be a test to see if you've got a 'good body', if you can't do it, the next step is to lose weight until you can. Sounds moronic, doesn't it?

Why Your Belly Button is the Most Important Part of a Tummy Tuck

Before having a tummy tuck, one of the biggest worries our patients have is “what is my belly button going to look like?” No one wants an ugly belly button, or for it to be a dead giveaway that they had work done. Because so much extra skin is removed during tummy tuck surgery, the original belly button often goes away with it.

Yep. Someone's Quantified the Perfect Belly Button Shape and Size

As if us ladies needed another body part to scrutinize and judge, a team of surgeons in Singapore joined together to study photogenic belly buttons (so they picked a sampling of 37 Playboy models) and emerged all the wiser about what exact factors determine a perfect one. Today reported the findings, published in the journal from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and summarized the ideal form as being small, vertical, and with a little flap or hood (imagine the perfect spot for high school era piercing).

Resources

Belly Button Biodiversity

The belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored. In January 2011, we launched Belly Button Biodiversity to investigate the microbes inhabiting our navels and the factors that might influence the microscopic life calling this protected, moist patch of skin home. In addition to inspiring scientific curiosity, Belly Button Biodiversity inspired conversations about the beneficial roles microbes play in our daily lives.