Warning: Once you see this, you can’t unsee it and we’re not gonna lie, it’s a little bit rank! Do not watch while consuming food.
OK, let’s be honest, with so many other body parts to clean, how many of us actually think to soap up, reach for the face washer and give our belly button a good ol’ scrub? Only me? Excellent, this isn’t awkward at all.
If you’re not actively washing your belly button, you should be. And if you have a naval piercing then you REALLY should be. Believe in us, it’s not all fuzzy belly button fluff, here’s what happens if you don’t clean it!
Your belly button does WHAT?
As it turns out, your belly button isn’t as innocent as you might think it is. Left to its own devices, your belly button actually makes stones. Or an omphalolith, if you want a fancy medical term for it. How intriguing but also, ewwww.
So how did we discover this for ourselves? TikTok of course – home of countless choreographed dances, dog videos and the downright wacky and wonderful.
Pimple popping was so last year
My interest was positively piqued when a video was posted to Satisfying Extraditions TikTok account. Viewed a HUGE 21.2 million times, it’s captioned “Found a huge blackhead in my partner’s bellybutton”.
It’s a forty-four-second clip of digging foreign objects out of a deep belly button, before pulling out her gross prize. And the comment section did not disappoint either.
“Hiding an engagement ring in there and you pulling it out would be the best proposal I’ve ever seen.”
“I am now currently cleaning my belly button with my finger.”
“You almost unzipped them.”
“Hey, that’s my earring! And there’s my car keys!”
Think your stomach can handle it? Check out the video below.
@crinc_3 Found a huge blackhead in my partners bellybutton!😳 #oddlysatisfying #blackheadsremoval #ingrownhairremoval #satisfyingextractions #blackhead #gross ♬ I’m Coming Out – Diana Ross
So what the actual heck is hiding in your belly button?
So what’s actually hiding in your belly button you ask? Prepare yourselves. It’s a body crevice and left untouched, it builds up with all sorts of matter. Anything that has a chance encounter of being swept into the Bermuda Triangle of your body. Food crumbs and beach sand come to mind.
And all of the aforementioned in your body’s natural dip bowl fossilises over time, forming a hard stone. Yep, the dreaded omphalolith. Eww and also ouch.
Doctor calls out forbidden cheese
Think we’re pulling your leg? Nope. Doctor Karan Raj chimed in with a TikTok duet on how our bodies make “its own natural jewellery”. Please, for the love of a naval. NO ONE PUT A RING ON IT. Literally and figuratively.
“All flesh holes can build up with sweat, dead skin cells, oils, clothing fabric, bacteria and forbidden cheese.”
FORBIDDEN CHEESE, people. The doctor also goes on to say that these belly button rocks are often black or brown in colour. (So perhaps don’t hold your breath for something pretty.)
@dr.karanr #duet with @crinc_3 natural ornaments! #schoolwithdrkaran ♬ I’m Coming Out – Diana Ross
Clean it, don’t save it
In summary, please people, clean your belly button. Teach your children it needs to be cleaned. Don’t be saving up belly button treasures for a jewellery line and definitely pay extra attention if you have a belly button piercing.
And a word to the belly badazzled: belly button rings and studs are practically putting out a welcome mat of added extras to claim your naval as a home. And if you have an outy belly button? ALL THE POWER TO YOU!
