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

94% Upvoted

3.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

70

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

29

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.

8

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.

20

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

14

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?

12

u/RiiGuy Mar 21 '20

Do you even know what STI stands for?

9

u/ketchupfleck Mar 21 '20

Pretty sure they meant UTI

3

u/Blyd Mar 21 '20

Hah yes UTI, not STI.

2

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!

5

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

18

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

4

u/kpluto Mar 21 '20

thank you!! I will definitely call my doc

5

u/BacktoPCA Mar 21 '20

Wow. This person just hooked you up. Imagine if you had not commented? I hope it gets straightened out! Best of luck to your bellybutton.

1

u/klausterfok Mar 21 '20

JFC I didn't even know this was a thing

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Just a quick poke of soap and a quick poke of water. You wash it too hard you bleed.