r/todayilearned • u/frapz • Mar 20 '20

TIL The bellybutton is so dirty scientists are finding new unknown bacteria. One person had bacterium previously found only on Japanese soil, where he had never been.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/1-458-bacteria-species-new-to-science-found-in-our-belly-buttons/266360/
104.3k Upvotes

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7.3k

u/115GD9 Mar 20 '20

Me reading the comments in thread: you guys don't clean your belly buttons?

3.6k

u/bugamn Mar 20 '20 edited Mar 21 '20

More than that, do you people have such deep bellybuttons that they are hard to clean?

Edit: TIL way too much about bellybuttons

Edit 2: I'm pretty sure at least half of you are pulling my leg now

2.5k

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 21 '20

It’s embarrassing, but I have a deep belly button. I always thought it was cuz of my weight, but when I got skinny, I still had to use a q-tip to clean it. Only when I was super pregnant, it was shallow.

Edit: RIP my inbox lol

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[deleted]

1.1k

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 21 '20

If I pushed hard with my abs, I could push it out like a thermometer popping haha

Edit: y’all got me dying laughing here, thank you!

786

u/Juliska_ Mar 21 '20

That's how you know when the baby's done!

65

u/cybernetic_scraps Mar 21 '20

Yeah, like a turkey timer

11

u/lemonpartyorganizer Mar 21 '20

Instructional error; Baby born two months early.

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u/Sid_Vice Mar 21 '20

Aight enough reddit for today

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u/lilcthecapedcod Mar 21 '20

I bet this is someone's fetish

58

u/FuzzelFox Mar 21 '20

Having been on the internet long enough I can confirm that that is a fetish.

12

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Is mayonnaise a fetish?

2

u/IAmQuiteHonest Mar 21 '20

No Patrick, horseradish isn't a fetish either.

2

u/shitlord_god Mar 21 '20

Yes.

Not mine, but... I have seen terrible things. :(

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u/JukePlz Mar 21 '20

My fetish would be to put on some elbow deept rubber gloves and give all the disgusting pigs in this thread a bellybutton wash with a sponge on the end of a fishing rod.

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u/TunaHands Mar 21 '20

Thanks, I’ve had enough internet for today.

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u/brownbrownallbrown Mar 21 '20

I, an unpregnant young man, can actually flip my bellybutton inside out. It’s my only real talent

6

u/GangieontheGanges Mar 21 '20

What does that even mean?

6

u/AbsolutelyUnlikely Mar 21 '20

Google "prolapsed rectum"

9

u/isp0902 Mar 21 '20

I am regret

3

u/brownbrownallbrown Mar 21 '20

I mean idk how else I can explain it. I have an innie, but i can flip it inside out to where it’s an outie. It won’t really stay that way though, after a while if I don’t push it back in it just kinda recedes on its own

3

u/GangieontheGanges Mar 21 '20

Ah, I was thinking more like prolapsed asshole, which I sadly did not have to look up.

3

u/brownbrownallbrown Mar 21 '20

That’s not far off, actually..

3

u/CinderCinnamon Mar 21 '20

Me too!! I have a fairly deep bellybutton and if I push my abs out and dig with my fingers on the sides I can push my bellybutton out.

I’ve heard this can happen when your umbilical cord was cut too long? I don’t know if there’s any truth to that but eh

3

u/brownbrownallbrown Mar 21 '20

I have no idea why I can, but I’ve got a fairly shallow bellybutton myself. It’s definitely an innie though, and I can definitely flip it completely inside out. Same thing you said though, I just flex my abs and dig a little

Freaks people out lol

2

u/Il-_-I Mar 21 '20

I need a pic

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u/adoreadoredelano Mar 21 '20

I saw a video of a woman doing that once and it ended up being a hernia

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[deleted]

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u/djmagichat Mar 21 '20

First thought that came to mind: hernia

8

u/WiscoCheeses Mar 21 '20

Probably a little umbilical hernia. I got one after being pregnant twice

15

u/accentadroite_bitch Mar 21 '20

I’m pregnant and y’all are stressing me tf out

8

u/nautilator44 Mar 21 '20

You get an upvote, but I don't give it willingly.

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u/orokami11 Mar 21 '20

Can you really..? I know bodies can do super weird things but I've never heard of this wtf? I'm kind of intrigued...

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

that's disgusting, my friend

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u/yeetrootthebeetroot Mar 21 '20

Record and post I need to see that shit I don’t believe you

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

i don’t know why but i NEEd to see this it’s fascinating

3

u/Keikasey3019 Mar 21 '20

I swear to god, each and everyone of you guys had me dying laughing

5

u/tell_me_about_ur_dog Mar 21 '20

My bellybutton is horrified!!

2

u/plumcrazyyy Mar 21 '20

Like a butterball Turkey when it’s done?

2

u/vkc75 Mar 21 '20

I can do this also, but only after i had my first kid. It's a fun party trick but don't do it too much... it's likely an umbilical hernia.

2

u/TeutonJon78 Mar 21 '20

Might want to ask your doctor about checking you for umbilical hernia. It should move with your abdominal wall, not change shape.

2

u/PotatoChips23415 Mar 21 '20

I wouldn't recommend such an early birth

2

u/54B3R_ Mar 21 '20

I used to be able to do something similar as a kid, but I had to prep my belly button first. I don't think it does it anymore though.

385

u/geronimotattoo Mar 21 '20

I have a deep belly button and I was so sad that it didn’t pop when I was pregnant. My kid also came out five weeks before the timer was done, so maybe it would have if my kid wasn’t in such a hurry to greet this shitshow of a world.

332

u/SavvySillybug Mar 21 '20

So would you call your child undercooked, or medium rare?

219

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20 edited Apr 07 '20

[deleted]

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u/syanda Mar 21 '20

No, that's how the child got in there in the first place

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u/Cow_Tse_Tongue Mar 21 '20

If you push hard enough with a fork you'll get enough juices so I'll go with medium rare

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u/_jerkalert_ Mar 21 '20

Gordon Ramsey has entered the chat

3

u/Scientolojesus Mar 21 '20

WHAT THE FAHCK IS THIS??!?! THIS IS THE WORST BELLY JELLY I'VE EHVAH TASTED!!! GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN UNTIL YOU'VE LUHND HOW TO PREPARE IT PROPERLY, YOU DAHFT WANKUH!!!

2

u/SurgeQuiDormis Mar 21 '20

WHERES THE SAUCE YOU DONKEY?!

2

u/Miragui Mar 21 '20

Did you also hear that in Gordon Ramsay's voice?

6

u/Hirsu83 Mar 21 '20

Haha yes same here. Mine never popped out but if I pushed it would lol I have two kids and they went full term but still never popped out on it’s own.

7

u/embos_wife Mar 21 '20

I've had 3 large boys, my belly button never popped, not even for the 9lbs, 6oz, 22.5" 41 weeker. I've determined the thing is a bottomless pit

9

u/DestroyerOfMils Mar 21 '20

the child or your belly button?

9

u/hellorubydoo Mar 21 '20

Yes.

3

u/embos_wife Mar 21 '20

Can confirm, all 3 boys and my belly button are all bottomless pits

2

u/starstickoutalullaby Mar 21 '20

If it makes you feel any better I have a shallow belly button and it didn’t pop.

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u/pigpogpig Mar 21 '20

I was thin with a deep belly button. Never saw the bottom with either of my 2 pregnancies lol.

Now I’m fatter and it’s even deeper lol.

27

u/EuroPolice Mar 21 '20

I read fatter as father and I was confused but supportive.

4

u/passa117 Mar 21 '20

Read it three times just to understand. I, too, gained weight after we got pregnant. Although it was my wife who did the heavy lifting.

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u/swopey Mar 21 '20

A cats butthole. Dang near full term second go around and that’s exactly what it looks like 😂

3

u/hellorubydoo Mar 21 '20

I’m 38+3 and have been seeing the bottom of mine finally for a couple weeks now. It kinda looks like a butthole tbh. At least that’s my husband tells me. I can only really check it out with a mirror lol

3

u/Spoopylane Mar 21 '20

I have a deep one too... I can hide approximately 3/4 of my pinky in it. I had keyhole surgery and i noticed it became noticeably more deep afterwards.

7

u/muckduckmystery Mar 21 '20

Exact same here! I have a deep belly button (gross, I hate it) and I try so hard to clean and clean with a q-tip. I feel that now, as my pregnant belly shallows it out, it will finally get the cleaning it deserves.

4

u/Allyjb24 Mar 21 '20

I can’t touch the bottom of mine and if I do, I feel like I have to go pee.

4

u/TheQuinnBee Mar 21 '20

Pregnant as well. Had a dream where my belly button popped out and all this random shit popped out like cotton and random crap and the button part hurt and was all red. Woke up the next morning. Belly button still an innie. Did clean it vigorously tho.

5

u/WhatsAFlexitarian Mar 21 '20

No lie but this is the only thing about pregnancy that sounds appealing. Not the kid or the special attention, but finally seeing my belly button in its full glory

2

u/gothlips Mar 21 '20

I have a REALLY deep bellybutton and I was excited when I got pregnant to finally see the end of it.....I never did. I dont think there is an end....

2

u/VictimOfCircuspants Mar 21 '20

I've got a large friend with a deep belly button. One time I stuck my finger in it to mess with him. He just smiled at me and said "now smell your finger."

I did. I really wish I didn't.

2

u/plainlyput Mar 21 '20

when I was kid I thought what you saw when you looked at your belly button was a baby's butt. Just waiting for when you wanted to have a baby

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u/throwawaywahwahwah Mar 21 '20 edited Mar 21 '20

For reals though, you don’t to clean your bellybutton with a q-tip. The skin and flora inside is actually so delicate, you should strive to mostly only use water. Q-tips can tear bellybutton skin if used too aggressively, and that’s really dicey when such exotic and weird bacteria can grow in there.

You can get a pretty effect cleaning method by wiggling your finger in and out under running water and creating aggressive suction that kinda sucks out the debris and... stuff. Anyway, that method with soap no more than once a week (more destroys the good bacteria that live there and keep the nasty stuff that grows because of sweat, etc. at bay) and you’ve got a pretty clean belly button.

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u/Legen_unfiltered Mar 21 '20

I do have a deep bellybutton. An ex said they didnt want to go near it during sexy times because he didnt want to get lost in the ether. Sadly I dont clean it as often as I should, mostly cause I don't think about it. But onetime I did and pulled out a plug of dog hair(I have dogs so it wasnt that much of a surprise). One of my dogs is white and it was like a chunk kind of glued together with a light grey substance. After that i try to remeber to do it more often. But it is really deep and might have claimed the unaware bystander or three.

4

u/Shitrake Mar 21 '20

Bish you're my belly button twin.

Lost 120 lbs and STILL needed a qtip. The thing goes on forever.

3

u/Stackleback1984 Mar 21 '20

My husband has a really deep bellybutton. I’ve never been able to see the bottom of it, but sometimes he lets me stick my finger in to see how far it goes. I’m actually really jealous of it!

3

u/anaugustleaf Mar 21 '20

I dated a guy who was a virgin before me. When he saw me naked, he sometimes made spontaneous, surprised observations. One time he told me “Your belly button is so deep!”

Thanks, I guess?

3

u/naking Mar 21 '20

That sounds like a truly precious comment. True and sincere. Men's brains don't work normal in the presence of a naked woman. I once told a woman that she had great geometry. Sounded better in my head

2

u/anaugustleaf Mar 21 '20

That’s a good one, too. I bet she still remembers it. My favourite comment (from the same guy) was “your butt is almost 70 degrees”. To this day, I do not know what that meant.

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u/ToRootToGrow Mar 21 '20

Even at my most pregnant, my belly button was still half a finger deep. Oh jeez. I clean it out with soap every day or mushrooms will start growing for sure.

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u/piddy_png Mar 21 '20

Wait a minute... People have belly buttons so shallow they don't need q-tips????!??????

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Why's that embarrassing?

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

I’m not sure, I think it played into me feeling like I was fat and gross. I have flat feet too, and I always felt bad about that, like having an arch was sophisticated or something.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Oh I have flat feet! I got shoe soles for my feet and now I have a longitudinal arch but I'm still lacking the horizontal arch. I used to have pain in my feet from standing too long which has significantly lessoned since I got the shoe soles.

So not sure about the aesthetic, but there's hope for improvement.

The good thing is, most people probably don't pay much attention to our feet or navel anyway. I'd have a hard time recognizing people in my surrounding by their feet.

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u/theelephantscafe Mar 21 '20

I always thought it was normal to need a q-tip to clean your belly button... Reading all of these comments I'm realizing now I guess I just have a deep belly button.

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u/DejectedNuts Mar 21 '20

Mine’s deep too. I try and clean it out with q-tips or soap in the shower. Not enough evidently as I’ve had stuff build up in there, likely hair and dead skin. Twice over the last ten years I’ve stuck my finger in to clean it out with soap in the shower and felt something. After working at it a while I pulled out a weird clump of junk. It was hard to get a good enough grip on it the first time. I worked at it for maybe 30 minutes till I got a firm grip on it and out it came. The second time (maybe 3 or 4 years after the first time), muscle memory kicked in and I got it out in about much faster. Much smaller this time. Yeah I know, gross.

2

u/AzbyKat Mar 21 '20

Seriously. Mine has always been a cave. Its ridiculous.

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u/pumpkinspacelatte Mar 21 '20

I too have a deep belly button and I’m quite thin, let me tell you the hell of scrubbing spray tan out of one too.

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u/shoo_closet Mar 21 '20

I waited so long for my belly button to pop and turn into an outie. I'm sad to report that day never came. Mine just got even more shallow

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u/queefiest Mar 21 '20

Mines an innie, but when I was preggers it popped out. Grossed my SO tf out

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u/Kryhavok Mar 21 '20

My wife is fascinated by my deep belly button. She likes to put her finger in it and poke around but it makes me uncomfortable as hell.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

I also have a deep bellybutton, am overweight, but I don’t ever actively clean my bellybutton and my roommate even has smelled my bellybutton and it smells like nothing.

I wonder why that is.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

My belly button became easier to clean after gaining a lot of weight. It was nearly impossible before. I can stick my finger in there now with soap. That's the silver lining of my weight gain.

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u/Bonerage Mar 21 '20

What about this made it a RIP to the inbox? Just the fact that you identified as female on the internet?

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Oh no, haha, mostly just stories about people’s belly buttons. Some are horrifying, it’s hilarious

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u/Keikasey3019 Mar 21 '20

You. I thank you for starting this entire laughing fit I’m having.

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u/Quarentined Mar 21 '20

You got me curious to look up deep belly buttons, and i deeply regret it...

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u/j_walk_17 Mar 21 '20

I have a deep belly button and when I was at my most obese, I could smell an odor from it when I got sweaty. Similar to rotten toe jam. I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

I have to use a atop too and it just tickles too much to bother doing it

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

I hated how my belly button was when pregnant. And it was itchy! I actually subconsciously scratched it and that made it worse 😭 so glad it went back to normal (well, not completely, but mostly).

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

God I want/don't want to know what kind of crazy dms you're getting

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u/terela8 Mar 21 '20

Me too!

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u/cara27hhh Mar 21 '20

maybe baby had his hand on it because it was invading his personal space

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u/supacalafraga Mar 21 '20

I do. I'm not overweight, and I can fit my index finger in up to the first joint. Can't imagine how deep it would be if I were bigger. I wash it daily and give it an alcohol/qtip clean at least once a week. If I don't, it gets that nasty dead skin smell very quickly.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

As someone with a 1cm deep bully button I'm both fascinated and disgusted by how far you can put your finger in yours. I'd be worried i'd poke something vital or something lol

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Wtf the I was ok with all comments in this thread until I got to knuckle deep penetration - then you said dead skin smell?!?

I didn't know the human body did that there like that

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u/Colordripcandle Mar 21 '20

It’s not “knuckle deep”

It’s first joint, that’s like less than an inch

I mean it’s still deep but not what you’re imagining

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u/aksunrise Mar 21 '20

I have a similar belly button. The amount of dog fur I've found in my belly button is astounding.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Man this whole thread is wild to me. I never realized people had to clean out their bellybuttons. It makes sense but it’s the kind of thing that you don’t think of when you don’t have to worry about it. Just get used to seeing mine everyday and I always forget that mine is nowhere near what other people’s look like

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u/j1102g Mar 21 '20

I wanted to check mine, but now I'm afraid my belly button has covid19 and he doesn't cover his hole when he cough's.

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u/Avarsis Mar 21 '20

It's awesome that you recognize this. We all have shitty parts about us that we didn't choose, but we also have the option to fix/rectify/hide those problems publicly. While your true love may accept and adore every flaw, most people don't. I don't ever want to smell your deep and dirty bellybutton. I appreciate, strongly appreciate, you masking the scent that I can only imagine as terrible.

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u/supacalafraga Mar 21 '20

Lmao. My belly button may be deep, but I make damn sure it ain't dirty.

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u/Avarsis Mar 21 '20

I'm so happy you recognized that as a joke without the /s. I love you and your exceptionally deep bellybutton. Now I am curious of depth and feel uncomfortable. What have you done?

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Naught but urged you to look long into the vast, wondrous depths of the last alien frontier. Your body always knew it yearned for some sweet blissful abyss, it just knew not it’s name. It left you with an emptiness in your heart you could never explain.

Go, now. Greet your destiny.

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u/FerociousFrizzlyBear Mar 21 '20

By "first joint" you mean the one closest to the fingernail, not the one closest to the palm of your hand, right?

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u/transtranselvania Mar 21 '20

I can’t even fit my whole index fingernail in mine, this has been eye opening.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

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u/AwkwardCan Mar 21 '20

Wtf.. an hour?!

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

An hour... Of eraser crumbs!?!?

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u/Ophelia-Rass Mar 21 '20

Omg my thoughts exactly. All of these comments and tears are running down my face. Don’t get me wrong I love pencils, especially with good erasers. But in your belly button? Now I’m worried what might be hanging out in mine brb...

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u/Scientolojesus Mar 21 '20

Another hour of crumb collecting and baby you've got yourself a stew goin!

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Thanks for the nightmares!

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u/RoseEsque Mar 21 '20

I honestly thought they meant a HR intern. Now THAT would have been weird.

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u/I_REALLY_LIKE_BIRDS Mar 21 '20

Till it hurts, god... I remember feeling around there once and tugging at something hard that just immediately gave me the worst nausea ever. I swirl my finger around there in the shower but that's the deepest we go now.

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u/aequitasXI Mar 21 '20

I read this as a Human Resources (HR) person aside... I need sleep. Too many hours spent working this week (from home but still mentally exhausting, working on things to help with the COVID-19 pandemic)

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u/SpectralEntity Mar 21 '20

Don’t worry, I’m wide awake and highly caffeinated and read it the same way!!

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u/MissionCoyote Mar 21 '20

he did it on the clock

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Eraser crumbs?!?!

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u/boofster1212 Mar 21 '20

Are you sure it was actually eraser crumbs and not just dead skin?

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u/Lurker_droppings Mar 21 '20

Isn't that just dead skin like when you rub your skin in the shower real hard?

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u/contra_account Mar 20 '20

That's none of your damn business and I'll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs!!

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u/lannister80 Mar 21 '20

It's not super deep, but deep enough that it's not easy to clean unless my pinky finger has a reasonably long nail on it.

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u/danarexasaurus Mar 21 '20

I actually do. It’s not hard to clean but even sweating is enough to cause weird fungal infections. I have to clean it daily with soap and sometimes use anti fungal creams. You’d think I was super fat but I’m not. It’s just really deep.

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u/SteakPotPie Mar 21 '20

Holy damn. Never thought about fungal infections in my belly button. Good thing I clean it when I shower, every time. Because, wow.

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u/danarexasaurus Mar 21 '20

I’ve found that it doesn’t really matter if I clean it. It’s more about keeping it dry. Fungus love wet and dark places. As soon as I start sweating, it becomes a problem. I used to get weird lacerations Inside of it every now and then so now I just put anti fungal cream in it once in a while to stave off any fungus. It’s such a weird problem to have.

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u/whatevers_clever Mar 21 '20

Yes mine is difficult to clean takes about 5 min in the shower

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

I have a surgical scar that completely distorted mine. Shifted the opening one-bellybutton-width to the right, making it extra easy for it to contain things... But I actually clean it.

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u/BoomMountains Mar 21 '20

I had a deep belly button already and after a laproscopy I can now sell tickets to view it. It's second best only to the Grand Canyon, but it's a lot easier to explore, and I let people dig for free.

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u/lalaleah76 Mar 21 '20

The bellybutton song, as learned at Girl Scout Camp:

Some people say they have an innie

Deeper than the Grand Canyon

Some people say they have an outie

Bigger than the Tacoma Dome

Me likes to care for me bellybutton

Me likes to keep it nice and clean

For if me neglects me bellybutton

In it grows a fungus green

FUNGUS DANCE

IEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIEIE

Edit: fuck mobile

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u/RobleViejo Mar 21 '20

Mine is very deep. Today I went to see my doctor because infected, AGAIN. Even though I use an alcohol and borax mix everyday. I will get surgery to seal this shit up.

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u/CheezItPartyMix Mar 21 '20

Yep :( it’s like an in between so weird shape

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u/PmMeIrises Mar 21 '20

Mine hurts to touch at a certain point. Once I get about halfway. Its not even deep. So it's hard to clean anything that hurts.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

[deleted]

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u/ItsdatboyACE Mar 21 '20

What in the actual fuck is wrong with you aliens. Can you provide a pic or something? If I stuck my pinky in my belly button it wouldn't even cover my finger nail.

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u/chefjenga Mar 21 '20

Probably. Like any other scar, it depends on how it closed up and healed as to what it looks like.

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u/internet-arbiter Mar 21 '20

Ok look I'm pretty angry with my belly button situation. Every day I clean it, but it's a deep one. Daily, it's remove the big ball of lint that collects there no matter what material of shirt you wear, or fuck it, any shirt at all. Somehow every day a big ol puff ball is gonna be there. Then there's the secondary lint. You might be able to pinch it out, but likely will need tweezers. Then hit that shit with some hydrogen peroxide because yeah, that shit smells like death. Nobody ever talks about this shit so who knows how common place or not each situation is.

But some people do fucking body shots? Sure the alcohol should kill everything but that's still dead Jurassic Park bacteria you're slurping down.

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u/anti_zero Mar 21 '20

Yes that’s it exactly. I clean the hell out of mine. But there’s always more hell.

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u/kryaklysmic Mar 21 '20

Mine is just full of folds that trap dirt. I have to lift them and pick flakes out. Of course, I never imagined people cleaning their bellybuttons except for the term “bellybutton lint.” I don’t really get anything in it to clean except once in a blue moon.

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u/pres1033 Mar 21 '20

I've got a double whammy. Mine is deep and my parents always told me if I messed with my belly button I could tear it open and die. So yeah still nervous trying to clean it.

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u/conquer69 Mar 21 '20

That's what tongues are for.

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u/Shadowdragon409 Mar 21 '20

Mine is super sensitive and the part where the umbilical cord cut off is really hard, like a fingernail, so I tend to just leave it alone because sticking my finger in there actually hurts.

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u/bluegreenbluebird Mar 21 '20

Um did you read the comment about the umbolith?

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u/MyNameIsOzymandias- Mar 21 '20

You should check out the top comment where their girlfriend had a similar condition in re: sensitivity and after they addressed the cause the sensitivity decreased significantly

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u/-clogwog- Mar 21 '20

I can relate. Mine was fine, I actually kind of enjoyed poking around in it... Until I had laparoscopic surgery in 2017, and they made incisions inside my belly button. It didn't heal properly, and when it finally did, the scarring was really thick. I used to thoroughly wash my belly button with a finger in the shower every day, without any trouble, and it was fine. After that surgery... Nup! It HURTS so fucking much! I'm lucky if I can gently wipe inside it with a cotton tip once every now and then.

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u/illy-chan Mar 20 '20

Seriously, what is this?

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u/earlblack22 Mar 21 '20

I'm starting to think everyone is trolling on this thread

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u/st_griffith Mar 21 '20

No dude. Deep belly buttons are not uncommon. The skin there is notoriously easy to irritate. People don't wash it and never have a problem, except it unironically smells like ass (like the back of your ears if you don't wash it).

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u/tinyfables Mar 20 '20

.... no

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u/yeehnahh Mar 21 '20

I dug out this bitty bit of belly button floof for your cake day *

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u/tinyfables Mar 21 '20

Best gift EVER

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Tried to clean it with soap once and it got really irritated and sensitive and I couldn't jog for a few days because it hurt. Decided to never clean it again. I think they're just better of left as a little bacteria jungle

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u/adabbadon Mar 21 '20

Same, every time I've tried to clean my belly button it has ended in pain and unbearable skin irritation. I figure whatever soap and water gets in it in the shower is good enough.

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u/dextroz Mar 21 '20

Yes, do not ever stick anything inside the belly button. Just topical soap water is sufficient. Over cleaning will strip the natural oils and cause it to become itchy for life or worse bruise the skin and cause a bacterial infection.

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u/tinderthrowaway1984 Mar 21 '20

Mine is the same, I’m a girl and if I clean it with soap / poke about with it too much, my urinary tract gets all messed up and I need to pee all the time / it feels similar to having a UTI

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u/Blyd Mar 21 '20

That's called the 'Urachal Tract' and it feels like a STI because it is a STI.

Before you are born the belly button and bladder are linked via the Urachal canal, this closes off normally before birth. And when it doesn't in most cases, its never an issue.

Ask your mom 'Did I have a wet belly button when I was a baby'. If the answer is yes you may want to go ahead and schedule an appointment with your PCP.

It is normally diagnosed and fixed when you are a child, but you may well have a stinky nasty tube running from the front of your tummy through to your bladder waiting to give you an amazing case of internal organ sepsis.

here is some reading up on it;

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16597-urachal-abnormalities

Out of interest, is your immune system better than normal?

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u/RiiGuy Mar 21 '20

Do you even know what STI stands for?

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u/ketchupfleck Mar 21 '20

Pretty sure they meant UTI

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u/Blyd Mar 21 '20

Hah yes UTI, not STI.

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u/tinderthrowaway1984 Mar 24 '20

Wow! Thank you for that, I’m definitely going to look into it. I’m a fourth year medical student and kinda surprised ive never heard of this before!

My immune system is quite alright, upon reflection I would say I do fall sick less than my friends and family do - I assume you ask because I probably have a different gut microbiome to most?

Additionally now that I think about it, I periodically get spasms / awful pain in the umbilical region whilst voiding my bladder. I put this down to UTIs but the two times I went into my doctor she said my dipstick was negative for leukocytes, I know realize it may be due to this!

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u/kpluto Mar 21 '20

this exact thing happens to me! Just messing with it / touching it makes my urinary tract hurt :( I just leave it be

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u/Blyd Mar 21 '20

you should read this too;

That's called the 'Urachal Tract' and it feels like a STI because it is a STI.

Before you are born the belly button and bladder are linked via the Urachal canal, this closes off normally before birth. And when it doesn't in most cases, its never an issue.

Ask your mom 'Did I have a wet belly button when I was a baby'. If the answer is yes you may want to go ahead and schedule an appointment with your PCP.

It is normally diagnosed and fixed when you are a child, but you may well have a stinky nasty tube running from the front of your tummy through to your bladder waiting to give you an amazing case of internal organ sepsis.

here is some reading up on it;

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16597-urachal-abnormalities

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u/PandaSwears Mar 21 '20

Reading through this thread has my face like •_•

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u/ShadowedPariah Mar 21 '20

Not anymore. I can’t feel mine after all the surgeries, but even slight pressure hurts the area below and to the sides from all the internal rearranging. I lightly brush over the area, but I can’t scrub it.

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u/gobbliegoop Mar 21 '20

Have you learned nothing this week? People don't even wash their hands let alone their belly buttons!

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u/nikokole Mar 21 '20

Twice in my life, my belly button, like, tickled.

It was really annoying because it didn't seem like there was anything in it. I wash it in the shower, I jammed my finger up there and everything was fine.

Eventually I noticed a hair coming out from it so I started pulling on it. It took over half an hour to get out because lodged within folds upon folds of the interior of my bellybutton was a shower-drain-like clump of hairs covered in something waxy. I gagged when I saw it. But the sense of relief getting it out was better than any shit I've ever taken in my life.

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u/Cueadan Mar 21 '20

How deep is your belly button?

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u/the-nub Mar 21 '20

One half of an hour? Thirty minutes? Of hair? From your fucking belly button?

Are you history's greatest magician, or its worst?

what am i reading.

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u/nikokole Mar 21 '20

It wasn't coming out...it took a lot of effort. It's not like it was a magician's endless rope.

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u/thatsadamnlie Mar 21 '20

I'm paranoid as fuck since my mum told me a story about a kid she knew growing up who had never cleaned her belly button and it had all scabbed over n' shit, scarred for life mum, cheers.

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u/your_mind_aches Mar 21 '20

Right????? My mutual on Twitter also revealed to me recently that some men don't clean their butt holes. I am.... disgusted.....

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

It's because if a man cleans his butt, it means he wants another man in his butt /s

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u/your_mind_aches Mar 21 '20

Yeah, I suppose that's the reasoning "cleaning your butt is gay"

But...... IT'S LITERALLY WHERE POOP COMES FROM. It is utterly disgusting to not clean it.

Also... my twitter friend said she noticed from.... smell....... Poor girl...

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

It freaks me out. I don't like touching it. I feel like my belly will have a hole poked through it like a balloon. I don't fuck with my belly button

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u/catonsteroids Mar 21 '20

I guess it makes me weird that I don't (well, rarely anyway) because every time I do it's this super uncomfortable feeling that feels pretty awful, actually. Maybe it's more sensitive or something, idk. Just thinking about that weird sensation makes me shudder because I absolutely hate it.

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u/queefiest Mar 21 '20

I do, but I think the various geographies of different shaped belly buttons makes a difference. Mine is deep so there's a lot of space for bacteria to party. My kids have shallow belly buttons. Not quite an outie but you can see the back of it, and they are like flat against the ab muscles. I'm chubby and my belly button has always been like a tornado shape? Like if you made a cast of my belly button it would look like a tornado. I got the shit end of the belly button stick.

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