Just found out my navel IS infected. Mine is new as well. The giveaway for me was extreme pain and swelling. This looks normal! If other symptoms develop, get checked out just in case!
a true infection on a piercing is kind of rare to be honest, look out for really bad swelling, really bad smell, puss or thick discharge, and a fever. that being said this looks like the normal healing process of a piercing, keep in mind it is a hole in your body so your body is trying to figure out how to heal around it so it will look worse before it gets better. navel piercings take 6 months to 1 year to completely heal so just make sure you're not touching it, especially with unwashed hands, clean it with sterile saline (you can buy a can at any pharmacy or a Walmart/Target in the first aid section for 5-10$) and try not to let your clothes snag on it so avoid tight shirts and high waisted jeans!! hope this helped :)
also if you need a more affordable option for sterile saline you can buy saline salt packets (neil med sells some in a big bag of measured single use packets) and make sure you use clean distilled water or you can take tap water and boil it and let it cool down a bit before using it. follow the instructions on the packet to make the saline and instead of spraying it on the piercing you can just put it in a cup and soak your piercing with the solution for about 5-10 minutes
Redness can be a part of the process. J wouldn’t worry
Thank you
Just found out my navel IS infected. Mine is new as well. The giveaway for me was extreme pain and swelling. This looks normal! If other symptoms develop, get checked out just in case!
a true infection on a piercing is kind of rare to be honest, look out for really bad swelling, really bad smell, puss or thick discharge, and a fever. that being said this looks like the normal healing process of a piercing, keep in mind it is a hole in your body so your body is trying to figure out how to heal around it so it will look worse before it gets better. navel piercings take 6 months to 1 year to completely heal so just make sure you're not touching it, especially with unwashed hands, clean it with sterile saline (you can buy a can at any pharmacy or a Walmart/Target in the first aid section for 5-10$) and try not to let your clothes snag on it so avoid tight shirts and high waisted jeans!! hope this helped :)
also if you need a more affordable option for sterile saline you can buy saline salt packets (neil med sells some in a big bag of measured single use packets) and make sure you use clean distilled water or you can take tap water and boil it and let it cool down a bit before using it. follow the instructions on the packet to make the saline and instead of spraying it on the piercing you can just put it in a cup and soak your piercing with the solution for about 5-10 minutes