My girlfriends belly ring was torn...?

Question

Some how she tore the skin that was...I guess oit was the loop of the skin? Anyways, it's torn, and now two little flaps of skin are hanging, not like big pieces or anything, just thin little strips of skin...I haven't seen it yet, but this is what she has told me so far...what should she do? Should she cut the excess skin off? Or just let it fall off naturally? (Will it even do that?) She's had it for a year and a half now, and it's hasn't been much of a problem for her, I don't think she even picked at it when it started to thin out...how long should she wait till she can get it pierced again? And can this get infected? Because she said it didn't bleed or anything...so yeah I have no idea. Thanks.

Answer 1

Your girlfriend should not remove any skin flaps left. She needs to clean the whole site well and apply an antibiotic ointment like Bacitracin, then cover it with a bandaid and leave it be. Each day she should clean the site, apply the ointment and reapply a bandaid. The skin flaps may heal back in place, or they may not, in which case they will come off all on their own without any need for her to do anything. If the site should get red, tender or inflammed looking, she will need to see a doctor for further treatment. Although it is unlikely it will get infected, it can if she doesn't take care of it. Until it all heals completely it should be covered with a bandaid to prevent being irritated by her clothing.
She couldn't get it re-pierced until it has completely healed and the scar tissue has formed and settled. That will take a good 4-6 months. Whether she can get it re-pierced depends on how she scars, and how comfortable the shop is doing it. Most places do not like to pierce a scar or through scar tissue. It is harder to pierce, and likely to rescar badly when it heals. The navel is a hard area to pierce well, since you have to strike a balance between piercing deeply enough to not have a thin strip of skin ( like your girlfriend had), and not so deeply that it endangers your health or is impossible to place the earring in. Depending on how thick the scar is when it finishes, it may not be possible to do correctly again, at least not at that site. It's hard to say what caused the site skin to thin so much. It may have been pierced too shallow to begin with, or she may have rejected the piercing. Either way the time frame for the problem is about right.
Just treat it like you would any other cut, and it should heal just fine. After the top skin heals, she can put vitamin E oil on the skin to help with how the scar skin forms and to improve the overall esthetics. And if she gets concerned with it, she should see the doctor.

Answer 2

She will probably be fine. No need to go to the doctor unless it is bleeding a lot or looks infected. My navel ring got caught on something at work and tore partially out. It hurt pretty bad but, I took out the ring and it healed on it's own. I have a small scar on my belly button where the hole was.

Answer 3

Just tell your Dad to get a pre-nup lol. You aren't gonna be able to talk him out of it and if you try, he'll just think you are trying to keep him from marrying someone other than your mom... so that will go two ways... he'll see you less, or the three of you will spend lots of "time together," until you're "over it." Men do this all the time. Personally I know a 23 yr old dating a 59 yr old... they aren't married yet bc he wants pre-nup and she won't go for it.

Answer 4

Ahh! Ouch!! Poor girl.

If it was torn out, she might need stitches, otherwise her belly button may not heal right. If it doesn't heal right, she may develop scar tissue, rendering it impossible (And EXTREMELY painful) to get it re-stitched.


Take that girl to the doctor!

Answer 5

The same thing happened to a friend of mine, except maybe not quite as bad. She just left it and it healed itself, however it sounds like she should see a dr about it.

Answer 6

eeeww....
well, yeah