Tips for caring for and cleaning your belly button piercing to prevent infection

Piercing or piercing in the navel is often the choice of women. The reason is, navel piercing is considered to give a sensual impression when a woman wears clothes or a bikini. So, it's no wonder that this navel piercing trend is very popular among young people, especially women.

Even so, there are many things you should pay attention to when deciding on a belly button piercing. For example, when cleaning the navel. Check out the tips for cleaning your belly button if you get a piercing in this article.

What you need to know before belly button piercing

Before getting a belly button piercing, make sure you choose a professional, trained and qualified piercer so that it's safe and clean.

Please note that, among all the piercing activities, the navel part takes the longest time to heal. Navel piercing takes about 6 - 12 months of recovery time for it to heal completely. However, this of course depends on each person. Some may experience a fast healing process, some may take a long time.

After belly button piercing, it is not recommended that you bend over or squat for a while until you are completely ready to move as usual. In addition, you will generally see swelling, redness, or discoloration in the navel. You may also notice crystal-like crust around the piercing area.

Even so, these symptoms should get better over time, not worse. Not only that, but belly piercing is also at a higher risk of infection. Especially if you don't clean your belly button properly.

How to clean a pierced navel

Here are some ways to clean your belly button piercing that you can do yourself at home:

• Always wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap before touching the piercing. This is done to prevent contact with bacteria.
• Wash the navel area with a solution of one teaspoon of salt in warm water. You can use a cotton ball dipped in salt solution to wash the navel area.
• For optimal results, you can lie down and place the cotton ball over your navel and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
• After that, rinse the navel with warm water and pat dry with a dry towel.
• Get in the habit of drying your belly button as soon as you finish showering. In addition to protecting it from infection, towel drying will prevent any bacteria from getting into it.

Things to watch out for when caring for a pierced navel

Here are some things to consider when caring for a pierced navel:

• Do not use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean the belly button. The reason is that these two ingredients will dry the skin around the navel and irritate the piercing.
• Wear loose clothing so that the area you pierce doesn't easily rub against tight clothing.
• You should also pay attention to the position when you sleep, for example, avoiding sleeping on your stomach.
• If you are a fan of swimming sports, you should temporarily stop the habit. The reason is, swimming in a swimming pool where the water contains a lot of chlorine will make the piercing in the stomach feel prickling and trigger itching.
• Never remove a belly piercing for any reason and then put it back on yourself. The reason is, this action actually increases the possibility of infection of the skin. So if you want to do this, it's best to wait for the effects of the piercing to heal and go to a professional piercer to get the piercing removed.