Belly button piercings are considered the second least painful piercings after ear piercings. That's because the thick tissue left behind from when your umbilical cord was removed is flesh and not very nerve dense.
It's normal for the area to feel sore for a few days after the piercing. If you're experiencing symptoms that are unusual or that occur after the first few days, reach out to your piercer or doctor.
Piercings Are More About Anatomy Than Body Type
Contrary to popular myth, however, whether or not a belly button piercing will work for you has nothing to do with weight. "What it comes down to is the anatomy in the area you are piercing, much more than someone's overall body type," she says.
Does a Belly Button Piercing Hurt a Lot? Good news: most people say that belly button piercings don't hurt that much. They're comparable to ear lobe piercings in terms of pain. If you've gotten your ear or nose cartilage pierced before, that type of piercing usually hurts more than a belly button piercing.
If you're really concerned about pain, you can ask your piercer to apply a topical anesthetic beforehand. You'll need to wait 20 to 30 minutes after application to experience the full benefits of a topical anesthetic, but once you're numb, you'll experience more pressure than pain during the navel piercing process.
Avoid baths, hot tubs, swimming pools, saunas, lakes, etc. for the first three weeks after being pierced as they contain bacteria which can increase the risk of infection.
Workout and wardrobe choices
However, as long as you keep your piercing absolutely clean, it is safe to work out after having it done and while it is healing. If you want to be on the safe side, consider taking your exercise outdoors for the first week or so.
With this in mind, there isn't a certain belly button type that can or can't have a piercing. As long as you have skin above your belly button (and we're pretty sure you do), an experienced piercer should be able to pierce the belly button.
Belly button piercings have been popular for a long time—and for good reason. Considering the piercing is fairly painless due to a fleshy placement and easy to take care of since you don't have to look in a mirror to see it, they're a great choice that has endured the test of time.
Make sure the skin around it looks normal, and clean off any dried crust/blood with a cotton swab. If any problems occur, don't hesitate to contact your piercer! Here are a few things that may occur that are totally normal: It's typical for a brand-new piercing to bleed a little bit for the first few days/week.
Sleep on your back and sides for the first few weeks after your piercing. This helps to ensure that you don't apply uncomfortable pressure on your piercing by sleeping on your stomach, while it's still new and sensitive.
Any piercing has the potential to be rejected. Rejection depends on the person's immune system and how well the piercing heals. But, the body tends to reject some types of piercings more often than others. Surface piercings are the most common types of piercing to be rejected by the body.
Generally, belly button piercings will take 6-12 months or sometimes longer to have fully healed. The first time you take your jewellery out, we recommend getting a piercer to help you as they can assess whether it has healed enough for a changeover without irritating the piercing.
If the skin is looking thinner or tighter around the piercing, or above the jewellery, it's a possible sign of rejection. As well, the colour of your skin changing around the hole is another potential sign. Transparent/near-transparent skin is a very likely sign of rejection.
Try not to put pressure on the jewelry. This means that you should stay away from tight clothing, and try not to slouch when you sit to avoid squishing the jewelry between the tummy rolls that the majority of us tend to have.
It is a good idea to wear loose fitting clothing for the first few days as tight-fitting clothing can pull or rub against your new piercing. This might seem like a long healing time, but with the proper after care and attention it should go smoothly!
It is best to try to avoid sleeping on that area for at least the first few months. If you find that you must sleep on your belly, make sure you clean your sheets often and that you avoid clothing or blankets that may catch your jewelry and snag it.
Stay out of pools, hot tubs, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water while your piercing is healing. Don't fiddle with your piercings. Don't touch a new piercing or twist the jewelry unless you're cleaning it. Keep clothing away from the piercing, too.
It should be fine. Most high waisted jeans only go up to right below your belly button. If your jeans do cover it, having a peircing probably won't cause problems, as long as the jeans aren't super tight in that area and they don't press the piercing into your skin in an uncomfortable way.
Safest Piercings
Along with the nostrils and belly button, the earlobes are the safest and most common body part to be pierced. The flesh of the earlobe heals well when the area is cleaned regularly and the piercing is done at the proper angle.
A helix piercing is in the cartilage of the upper ear. While it's not a particularly painful procedure, it has one of the longest healing times, taking 6–12 months to completely heal.
In general, tattoos tend to hurt more than piercings because the needles used for tattoos are larger and go deeper into the skin than the needles used for piercings. However, everyone experiences pain differently, so there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to how much pain you'll feel from a tattoo or piercing.
Surface piercings have the highest rejection rate. Surface piercings such as microdermals as well as eyebrow piercings and navel piercings reject the most because they are closest to the surface of the skin.