What?s The Best Way To Heal An Infected Bellybutton Piercing?

Posting Date: 08/02/2001

Gina: I got a bellybutton ring about three months ago. It?s not healing properly. Do you know why this could be? I had it pierced professionally.

Dr. Dean: Bellybutton rings take the longest to heal and have the highest rate of problems, which is probably what you?re going through now. In general, we say it takes three to six months to completely heal. It?s a very fleshy part of the body.

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When you get your ears pierced, the hole heals up quickly. Other parts of the body don?t heal as easily. It really depends on the blood supply to the area and exactly what you?re piercing. Piercing cartilage, for instance, is notoriously difficult. Piercings that are up higher on the ear that go through cartilage take longer to heal. And the bellybutton is the worst of them.

Is if infected? Is it red and raw? What is it doing?

Gina: It?s raw. I have a high tolerance for pain and right now I?m sitting here and it?s hurting. A normal person would say it?s not right. I just put Bactine on it and take care of it, but its infected. Things are always coming out of it. The gentleman who did it told me it would heal in six weeks.

Dr. Dean: Yes, well if it?s infected, the treatment of an infected piercing is tricky. Sometimes doctors advise you to take out the piercing and just let it heal up. There is nothing you can do about it. The area maybe so sensitive that it cannot tolerate a foreign body.

I would put an antibiotic on it. I?d get Neosporin or something like that, but I want to warn you that this type of antibiotic can produce an allergic reaction too.

You might need to consult a dermatologist and then rotate the ring so some of the antibiotic is carried into the flesh. That?s about the only way to cure an infection. You should also soak it with a washcloth. If you let it dry up or get scabby, it?s going to seal in the infection, so you?ve got to soak it with a wet washcloth. You?ve got to be persistent about it, and that?s every few hours, to keep this thing open. I don?t think the Bactine is going to do it. It?s just going to be difficult to get it into the area.