Hey All!
My daughter has had her navel pierced twice now. The piercings went without a hitch, very little pain and seemed to heal well. At about a month after the first piercing her navel became inflamed, and appeared to develop an abscess. First time it happened she simply took out the jewelry, waited for the abscess to surface, then allowed it to heal. She waited several months to have it re-pierced. Once again the same thing, all was well, no swelling, irritation, seemed to be healing well. Now that we have hit the 6 week mark there is now all of the above and it appears to be developing another abscess.
Ok, now that I have explained all of that... Is this her body rejecting the jewelry? The piece she has in the piercing is surgical steel, should I consider either plastic, silver or gold?

This is something you should really discuss with her doctor. There's no way to diagnose what's going on online. It could be an infection, it could be allergies (although those should show up sooner than 6 weeks after the piercing), it could be that her belly button is not ideal for that sort of piercing (not everyone can get a belly button piercing, in fact the majority of people can't because of the shape of their bellybutton). It could be many things. We can only guess.

See a doctor.

Thanks Alty. I appreciate your quick reply! I will be making an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible but... it usually takes 3 months or more just to get in to see the guy... (sigh) If it gets bad enough I will take her to the ER. But she is just soooo determined to have this piercing!

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Originally Posted by Chardel

Thanks Alty. I appreciate your quick reply! I will be making an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible but... it usually takes 3 months or more just to get in to see the guy... (sigh) If it gets bad enough I will take her to the ER. but she is just soooo determined to have this piercing!

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I can understand that. I'm not a doctor, but I have 3 friends that have tried to get a bellybutton piercing, and all of them have failed, and it's around the same time frame as what you described. One friend had it done 5 times, and at around the 2 month mark she'd get what seemed to be an infection, then the piercing would literally push itself out, or she'd be forced to take it out because of the pain.

She went in a sixth time, this time to a highly recommended professional piercer, and she was told that she'd never ever get her wish. Her bellybutton, the shape of it, is not conducive to piercing. So she stopped wasting her time and money.

But, I can't say for sure that's what's going on here. I can tell you that my friend was told, by this professional piercer, that the majority of people that come in for a bellybutton piercing, will not be able to get one because of the shape, or type of bellybutton they have.

Good luck. :)

Abscesses caused by piercings are becoming very common. Tongue piercing being the worst because it is causing abscesses in the brain. Also she may be allergic to whatever metal the ring is made of, although the most common for first piercings is the hypoallergenic.