Your belly button marks the spot where your umbilical (say: um-BIL-ih-kul) cord was once attached. This cord is a soft, bendable tube that carried nutrients — vitamins and minerals — from your mother to you, back when you were in her belly (womb). A belly button is also called a navel.
While some people find the absence of a belly button a cosmetic concern, you can take comfort in knowing people like Kurkova that take photos for a living do just fine without a belly button.
Your belly button, also called the navel or umbilicus, has no function after birth and is simply a scar or remnant of the umbilical cord that connected you to your mother. The umbilical cord provides oxygen and nutrition to a baby during pregnancy, and it is cut and removed after birth, leaving a scar.
Humans have belly buttons because before we are born, we are connected to our mothers via an umbilical cord. This is a tube that delivers nourishment to the unborn baby, known as an embryo, and removes waste.
Internally the veins and arteries in the cord close up and form ligaments, which are tough connective tissues. These ligaments divide up the liver into sections and remain attached to the inside of the belly button.
Surrounding the umbilical collar is the periumbilical skin. Directly behind the navel is a thick fibrous cord formed from the umbilical cord, called the urachus, which originates from the bladder.
The opening normally closes just after birth. If the muscles don't join together completely in the midline of the abdominal wall, an umbilical hernia may appear at birth or later in life. In adults, too much abdominal pressure contributes to umbilical hernias.
Most belly buttons are indented so act as a trap for sweat, dead skin, and dirt. Few people wash the belly button with soap so germs can develop. The most common cause for a belly button smell is poor hygiene. All areas of the body need to be washed regularly to stay clean and healthy.
Belly buttons are barely a few millimetres deep at a young age. At a young age, belly buttons have an elongated shape. The diameter of the navel varies from fifteen to twenty millimetres. The body weight, pregnancies and abdominal wall hernia can influence the appearance.
Richardson cautions against touching your belly button with your germy fingers, as it can lead to serious infections.
Located directly behind the stomach, the pancreas lies deep in the center of the abdomen. Its position corresponds to an area 3-6 inches above the “belly button”, straight back on the back wall of the abdominal cavity.
A deep hollow belly button typically occurs when the hood of skin casts a shadow on the inside of the button, giving the visual impression of it being quite deep. This shape is also common in people who have some excess belly fat around the abdomen.
Removal of your belly button will not impact your ability to get pregnant or deliver but in most cases it can be preserved during a panniculectomy or FDL.
The belly button is where the umbilical cord attaches to the fetus, connecting the developing baby to the placenta. Within the cord, there are blood vessels (the arteries) that carry waste away from the baby and another vessel that supplies the baby with oxygen and other nutrients.
When you're born, the umbilical cord is cut and you have a small piece left called the umbilical stump. One to 2 weeks after birth, this stump falls off and what remains is your belly button. As a result, your belly button is essentially a scar. Whether it's an innie or outie depends on how your skin grows as it heals.
Your belly button is an erogenous zone
Even though the belly button is just a scar, the area has many nerve endings, making it ticklish, sensitive, and — if you're like Madonna — a love button that shoots sex tingles up your spine.
Even if you don't develop a yeast infection, the accumulation of sweat, dirt, dead skin cells, and lint can cause your bellybutton to smell. Omphaloliths. As dead skin cells and sebum — the oil secreted by your skin — accumulate in your bellybutton, they can form an omphalolith over time.
Note: You can't actually breathe into your back or belly. You can only breathe into your lungs. This exercise involves using the expansion of your lungs within the body to help stimulate sensation and movement in the lower back.
Dip your finger or a soft washcloth in a solution of saltwater (about a teaspoon of table salt in a cup of warm water) and gently massage the inside of your navel. This should loosen stubborn germs that can cause odor. Then rinse with plain water and pat it dry.
Dirt, bacteria, fungus, and germs can get trapped inside your belly button and start to multiply, which can cause an infection. If you develop a belly button infection, you might notice white, yellow, brown, or bloody discharge seeping out of it. That discharge might also have an unpleasant smell.
There are many reasons a person can experience bellybutton pain. Some causes can be minor, including indigestion, constipation, and pregnancy. Others may be more serious, such as gallstones, appendicitis, or pancreatitis. Bellybutton pain can range in severity from mild to sharp.
Omphalophobia is an overwhelming fear of seeing or touching a belly button, whether it's your own or other people's. This is a type of specific phobia that can be successfully treated. If you're having trouble dealing with a fear of belly buttons on your own, a therapist can help guide you through it.
Fresh belly piercings tend to close quickly. If you've had one for years, it can close in a few weeks, but for some people it can take longer. Make sure you clean the area regularly until it's fully healed. If you want to keep your piercing for the long term, put jewelry in it all the time.
Most people who have an "outie" fall into one of two categories: either they were born with a tiny umbilical hernia, which is most likely, or had a small infection at the base of the umbilical cord that went unnoticed. This will cause unusual tissue called granulation tissue to form.