Definition
If pus is in or leaks from the navel, it is an inflammation caused by bacteria. This can have different causes depending on age and can be accompanied by different symptoms. In any case, the cause should be investigated and appropriate treatment should be given. If you are experiencing pustule at the navel for the first time, a doctor should be consulted who can recommend a therapy. As a rule, the inflammation can be healed quickly by appropriate measures so that no new pus develops.
Causes
Bacterial inflammation can be caused by various factors and circumstances. In newborns, for example, the umbilical cord sometimes becomes inflamed and pus develops. Children with a weaker immune system are particularly at risk, such as prematurely born babies.
In teenagers and young adults a belly button piercing is a possible cause of bacterial inflammation of the navel. Due to the injury to the skin caused by piercing, natural skin germs, which colonize the navel in large numbers, can penetrate the tissue and cause a purulent inflammation. Another cause of pus in the navel can be a previous laparoscopy (“laparoscopy”).
When the gallbladder or appendix is surgically removed, one of the small incisions is usually made in the abdominal wall at the navel. If bacteria penetrate there, an inflammation with the formation of pus is usually the result. After a laparoscopic (“minimally invasive”) surgical procedure, such as an appendectomy, the complication can in rare cases lead to the development of pus in the navel.
In these operations, a small incision is made in the navel. A thin tube (trocar) is then inserted through this incision into the abdominal cavity, where the actual operation can be performed. After the operation, the sutured small incision in the navel must heal.
If bacteria now penetrate the wound, an inflammation with pus formation can occur. In most cases, however, this can be prevented by the usual hygiene measures. If pus does come out of the navel after an appendectomy or other laparoscopic procedure, the doctor in charge should be informed immediately.
Through measures such as careful wound cleansing and, if necessary, an additional antibiotic, the inflamed wound can usually heal without consequences. If a navel piercing is stung, there is always the danger that bacteria penetrate the skin and cause an inflammation. As a result, pus can form in the belly button and flow out of it.
By a thorough disinfection before stinging the piercing as well as in the healing phase, the risk of a bacterial inflammation can be reduced, but never completely eliminated. Even after a longer time, in which a belly button piercing was tolerated without problems, it can still get inflamed, because it is a foreign body and in the belly button naturally a lot of bacteria live. If a person with a navel piercing has pus in or out of the navel, the piercing has to be removed professionally as soon as possible, so that the inflammation can heal.
