I had my belly button pierced about 6yrs ago and have never had any problems with it but all of a sudden it has started to feel irritated and looks a bit red. I took it out for a few days gave everything a good clean but have just tried to put it back in and it has instantly got irritated and red again..?

I would guess the jewelry is the problem. Did you recently change the jewelry and then found the redness and irritation? Also, is the jewelry of good quality? Poor quality metals in jewelry can cause these problems.


Also, keep in mind that it may be rejecting, your body has a funny way of doing things when you think it won't. A piercing can reject at any time, even if you'd had it a long time.

Thanks, ill try a different piece of jewelry then. I just have to keep taking it out and then its much better but I'm not ready to leave it out forever yet and I won't have the guts to get it redone if it heals! I was just worried it was something serious..

It is normal for a piercing to get irritated with jewelry change, no matter how old it is. When I change my piercings (some of which I've had for years) they still get red and a little "angry" that I messed with them.

When you put the jewelry back in, was it the same jewelry that you previously took out of it? If so, I can't see that the jewelry itself is the problem, otherwise you would have had problems before.

You said you left it out for a few days, right? When you put it back in, you might have had to break a few layers of skin inside of the piercing to get it back through. This could easily be the cause for the irritation. If it does not improve in a few days, I'd go to the doctor and have him check for infection to be on the safe side. :)

I've put a diiferent one in now and it's better already, I think it may have just been the jewelry as I don't know how good the quality of it was.. It doesn't seem to be irritated now :D