Navel Piercing FAQ

Technically, anyone can have the skin around their navel pierced, however, anatomically, not everyone is setup to heal a navel piercing.

In order for a navel to heal properly it must have a good lip of skin above the navel (or in some cases, below) with space both behind and below the lip for the jewelry to sit without pressure. The lip of skin should be a flap (like an earlobe), with an obvious front and back to it and a defined edge between the two. Without a well-defined “lip” above the navel there is an increased chance for problems healing—including rejection. Likewise, attempting to pierce navels that do have a flap but do not have enough space behind them to allow jewelry to sit comfortably will generally result in a difficult and problematic healing process.

This is why when clients come to the studio requesting a piercing, we will have a piercer take a look at their navel and discuss the viability of the piercing first. If you come to us requesting a navel piercing and we think your navel does not have a good chance of healing properly, we will often decline to pierce it. We do not want to take your money and condemn you to a year or so of discomfort and hassle when we know that, in the end, you probably won’t get what you want. If your navel is not a pierceable shape, that doesn’t mean you’re too fat, too thin, or deformed; it’s simply that your navel is not shaped in such a way that we think you can heal the piercing.

Some people have enough of a lip on the bottom that it can be pierced—but very few. More often than not the answer is “no.”

It’s not recommended to pierce “outie” tissue. A normal navel piercing goes only through surface skin at the edge of the navel, while an “outie” navel is more complex than simple surface skin; it is residual scarring from the umbilical cord. As such, an infected “outie” navel piercing can become dangerous quickly.

With that said, some people with outies have regular lips of surface skin above or below them—sort of a combination “innie” navel with a little outie inside. Depending on the individual shape of the navel, this surface skin may be pierceable. However, this is entirely dependent upon your anatomy. Your best bet is to check with your piercer to see what’s possible.

The skin being pierced around the navel is not very vascular—meaning there is very little blood flow to the area. The less blood flowing to an area, the slower the healing tends to be. Due to its location, the piercing is also subjected to constant bending, stretching, folding, and friction. Both of these things contribute to a long healing process—anywhere from six months to a year.

With such a prolonged healing time, navel piercings are also more likely to develop problems during healing. While a properly treated piercing may never give you problems, a wound that is healing for up to a year has a much greater chance of getting irritated—or even infected. To prevent this from occurring, keep yours (and others') hands, mouths, and bodily fluids off of it during the healing process.

At Infinite, we generally pierce navels at 12 gauge. Our experience has taught us this tends to be the best size jewelry for most lifestyles. While it is possible to pierce, and heal, a navel with 14 gauge jewelry, you must be even more careful and conscientious with your care; the thinner the jewelry is, the more likely the piercing is to be injured, scarred, or even start to migrate when caught or pulled on. The thicker the jewelry, the more internal surface area you have, and therefore the more skin you have supporting the weight of the jewelry.

Think of it this way: if you distribute weight and pressure over a larger area or over more skin cells, the area becomes more resilient and resistant and, ideally, less prone to small tearing and scarring. It’s like carrying a heavy bag on your shoulder: A bag with thin straps cuts into your shoulder a lot more than a bag with wide straps since the weight is dispersed more evenly. As such, thicker jewelry can give you a little more of a chance of success with healing.

It is best to avoid swimming for the full duration of the healing period. The risk to your piercing depends on where you’re swimming: saltwater and chlorine may be okay for your piercing, however, other bacteria in the water may be problematic; the water on a beach in the tropics is not the same at the water at the Jersey Shore; and you can never be sure how balanced the chemical levels are in anyone else’s pool—or what else may be in the water. Definitely avoid hot tubs, quarries, or lakes, as here the water quality is even more questionable. At a minimum, plan to avoid swimming for at least three months, and if you do swim during the healing process, the most important thing to do is to make sure that you clean your piercing afterward.

Sit-ups and exercise usually don’t present a problem for you or your piercing, but you may want to adjust your workout to avoid putting excess pressure on your jewelry or piercing—at least in the beginning. Listen to your body; if it hurts, don’t do it. (And sweat shouldn’t hurt your piercing, just be sure to shower afterward.)

Tanning itself will not affect your piercing, but tanning lotions and the chemicals in them can be problematic. If you do go tanning, make sure you don’t get lotion on the piercing.

Whether or not you take your jewelry out when pregnant is up to you, and what your particular body does. The shape of your navel will certainly change as your belly stretches to accommodate your growing little one. At later stages, the navel can stretch flat or turn inside-out, making wearing jewelry uncomfortable. Jewelry can also become increasingly difficult to keep in as your skin stretches, especially during the second and third trimester. Some women find this pressure so unbearable that they remove the jewelry and let the piercing close; others leave their jewelry in the whole time and have no pain or problems.

In many cases, especially if the navel piercing has fully healed before the pregnancy, jewelry can simply be removed and put back in after delivery. The piercing may shrink a bit in size, but the hole can often be stretched open later—making repiercing unnecessary.

If you remove your jewelry and your piercing completely closes, you can usually get it repierced after the birth. You should obviously wait until you are back to relatively normal functions before you ask any more of your body's energies. (On the same note, you should wait until after your child is done breastfeeding before getting a new piercing. Trying to heal anything while still lactating tends to be incredibly difficult as your body has energies directed elsewhere.) Also keep in mind that you will be holding your newborn close to you (often on your hip), and you don’t want to make healing even more difficult when your little one starts kicking his or her feet.