2-Minute Tip: A Stinky Belly-Button
Ever noticed a slight pong coming from down below? Not that far down, I’m talking your belly-button. The origin of the umbilical cord, now an area of scar tissue. If you’ve got an ‘Inny’, then this may well happen across your lifetime. If you’ve got an ‘Outy’, then you’re probably safe. In the first of my “2-Minute Tip” series, I’ll give you something to try to manage the stinky umbilicus.
An ‘off’ odour may be the result of moisture build-up in the belly-button. This could be from sweat, bathing, swimming, etc. Add to this lint and dirt and you’ve got yourself a nice little medium ripe for things to grow. Particularly if you are carrying a little bit of excess belly in that area so that the opening becomes squashed over. There is nowhere for the moisture to escape (evaporate).
Try this for a smell you can’t stand:
- Keep the area dry. After showering/bathing/swimming, use a tissue or cotton bud to dry out the moisture as best you can. You can even try using a hairdryer directly into the belly-button.
- Apply some povidone-iodine solution (eg. Betadine) to a cotton bud and swirl it around in your belly-button hole. Do this 2-3 times a day. Hopefully it will clean and dry the area out after a few days. Voila! Once the smell is gone, just continue to use step 1 on a daily basis.
- If you have a sensitivity or allergy to iodine containing products, you could try a saline (salt water) solution.
- If there is still an odour after 7 days, you feel pain or notice pus or blood at anytime, please consult your GP. It may be that you have a fungal or bacterial infection that requires further treatment.
Step 1 also works for smells coming from in-between skin folds, toes and balanitis (will cover this in a later post).
Hope this helps and let me know how you go!