"Piercings heal on the outside first and then on the inside," Koox Diving states. 1. Non-dangle jewelry hugs closer to the belly button and is usually seen as a drop, hinge, or curved barbell. It can take as long as 2 years for a belly button piercing to heal completely. Taking aftercare measures and precautions suggested by your piercing professional are the best ways to care for a recently done belly button piercing. Later on, you can follow the tips so as prevent an infection and enjoy your splash in the pool. Avoid pools chlorine kills white blood cells on site. This is the second stage in the healing process. So just avoid chlorine, right? Wow! This includes avoiding swimming before you are completely healed. According to NHS, "you should avoid swimming for at least 24 hours after having a piercing, and ideally until it has healed properly." Be sensible with the temperature of the water. Placement: Pierced through the skin right above the naval, with a true belly button piercing centered directly above the navel. Because they are very anatomy dependent, some piercers may deny you service or suggest a different type of belly button piercing (like a floating navel piercing) or location over the traditional style and placement. While body piercings are no longer restricted to hippies and fashionistas, you can find many teens and and even elderly ladies getting the most happening body piercings to show off their sense of style. (As always, this is only a minimum time, and you should have a piercer take a look to confirm that it has fully healed before stopping aftercare practices.) (Unless, of course, you plan to go on a winter vacation.). Required fields are marked with *. Remember, a new piercing is a deep, open wound, and should be treated with all of the care of a normal deep wound. If you must swim, we recommend covering your piercing with a waterproof Band-Aid. We recommend to avoid swimming for the first two weeks after a piercing. The discharge will at times produce a foul smell. A belly button piercing will most likely take anywhere from six months to a year to fully heal depending on how you care for it and your day-to-day lifestyle; however, the most common time frame is between six and eight months Regardless, its important to check with your piercer when you believe its healed before stopping aftercareif it's still healing, the site could become infected. This means six to eight weeks for a simple ear piercing, and up to 6 months for nipple/navel piercings and at least two weeks for a tattoo. Family Medicine 32 years experience. If you decide you want to get a better or different piece of jewelry, youre most likely going to have to pay more. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 159,697 times. Can you use it on infected piercings? Karen L. Hudson is a tattoo artist and contributing writer for Byrdie. She has worked in digital media for over five years and is an expert on a range of topics, including tattoos, piercings, and culture. This means they havent been used on anyone else. Its also important to avoid soaking your new belly button piercing in anything but a sterile saline solution until its healed; bodies of water both big and small like baths, the ocean, or a pool may harbor bacteria and cause infection. It may have a lot to [Read More] about Do Nose Piercings Leave Scars? Make sure that you avoid spas and hot tubs until the piercing heals completely to avoid infection. Here are the piercings its safe for, how to use it, side effects to, New research highlights the lack of oversight and regulation regarding the production of tattoo ink in the US and suggests some ingredients may carry, After getting a new tattoo, the outer layer of skin will typically appear healed within 2 to 3 weeks. If you have body hair around your navel, they may remove this with a new disposable razor. As tempting as it would be, crusts should not be picked with our hands. But the more the aftercare deviates from the recommendations of the artist the lesser the chances of having an easy and successful healing process, she says. During this time you can expect tenderness and swelling. However, this is not always the case. Stay out of pools, hot tubs, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water while your piercing is healing. In that case, pat your piercing dry to avoid retaining moisture (bacteria love moisture and need it to grow!) He will share his passion for outdoor life and brands or products we use outside our homes. Manage Settings These are labelled as solutions to wash and clean wounds. With any fresh piercing we generally recommend you avoid swimming for the first month, though the risk to your piercing depends on where you're swimming. Ensure that the area remains dry as excess moisture will worsen the area. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Page last reviewed: 8 October 2021 Last Updated: January 29, 2023 Weird Things Asked About Swimming? {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/84\/Take-a-Bath-with-a-New-Piercing-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Take-a-Bath-with-a-New-Piercing-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/84\/Take-a-Bath-with-a-New-Piercing-Step-1.jpg\/aid7373968-v4-728px-Take-a-Bath-with-a-New-Piercing-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"