bellybutton piercing

[saxo_boi]

in august of last yaer my girlfriend had her bellybutton pierced. she was told it would take a fairly long time to heal, but it still isnt right. the hole is weird, it will be fine at first then it will begin to get a lump on it, she will then keep fiddlign with it (as she is like that) and after a while she will get puss out of it, then it will scab over and the whole process will start again. we thought it may be because she was allergic to the metal but we got her new bars in different "materials" but they are doing exactly the same thing. also if you catch it then it causes her pain. has anybody got any ideas?

[hectic]

Firstly she needs to stop fiddling with it!!!!  Try taking the bar out and cleaning it with savlon spray and cotton buds then sterilise the bar and put it back in then 3 or fours times a day cleaning it with the savlon spray again and this should get rid of any bacteria/infection.

[keen2learn]

I'd recommend seeing a GP too; it might be your girlfriends needs a short course of antibiotics, as from what you say, the site is definitely infected.

[sponge]

i used the savlon spray three times a day until it had healed to stop infections.  when you spray it on try and move the bar up and down so it gets covered. 

should go to GP if its infected tho :o)

[Cockney_si]

You maybe alergic to the metal, some people are alergic to nickel based metals, I know I am!

[Hamish]

important point ******-si. many jewelary metals contian small amounts of nickel and some people are hyper sensitive to it. Try paltinum or 24 crt gold (often too soft for jewelry.

[saxo_boi]

thank you!! il let her know what you said!

[butter1]

I had my belly button pierced and it took at least 6 months to a year to heal properly.  Also, zinc tablets are very good and salt water.  Best to stop fiddling with it though.

[pilchard]

I had mine done about 12 years ago and it took ages to heal and waistbands would iritate it as well. I eventually used surgical spirit (it works on ears), it stung a bit but it certainly worked and toughened up the skin as well. I never had problems since.

[morg_monster]

I always use surgical spirit if my belly button piercing goes a bit manky.  I use cotton wool to soak the area and the bar, and then twiddle it around so the spirit gets down around the bar inside the hole. use it morning and night it will clear up very quickly - quicker than savlon stuff I've always found.

[cazz218]

had mine done about 6 years and never had any trouble. it did take a long time to heal properly tho. the best thing to use is plain boiled water and salt and clean piercing 3-4 times a day.  its a bit of a pain but you should persevere. if she thinks it is infected then antibiotics from the doc might help. above all  tell her not to fiddle with it - worse thing to do!!!