What determines the shape of the navel? What problems can navel surgery help solve? The navel determines success in sports
Q. What type of belly button does your baby have?
A. We have a dimple since the maternity hospital. (Revenge)
O. The navel was initially a hole, it healed for about a month, because... there was a thick umbilical cord. My daughter loves the word navel very much - she laughs boisterously, and has become one of the first parts of her body to show herself and her husband and me where it is. (irinavls)
A. We are 8 months old, our belly button is sticking out, we are doing massages. at a more tender age they covered it with a band-aid several times for a couple of weeks. Nothing helped. (COR)
A. At first we had a normal belly button, and then it came out. The doctor at the hospital said that it was an umbilical hernia. (Yasenka)
Q. Does the shape of the belly button change over time?
A. Our navel “retracted” around three months, before that it also stuck out, and the pediatrician said that it would stay that way, because... "high cutaneous leg". Thank God I was wrong! (Yulia and son)
A. For us, too, at first it was very outward, but then it swam fat by six months and now it doesn’t stick out much. And our dad’s is also outside. And when he blows into Dianka’s belly, he says: whoever’s belly button is out has bathed in a dirty puddle (as his brother once teased him). And my daughter laughs. (Guest)
A. When a layer of fat appears under the skin of the abdomen, the navel appears to be pulled into the abdomen. But this will happen after 2-3 years. And in a small child, the navel (which looks like a pink bud) protrudes above the surface of the abdomen. This should not be confused with a hernia. The hernia can be felt under the skin, like a soft balloon. With a hernia, the navel protrudes much further. (N.V.)
Q. What determines what type of baby’s belly button will be?
A. I read that the shape of the navel (convex or not) is all genetics. That is, not because they “tied up” in the maternity hospital. (Tusya)
A. Even in the maternity hospital, during the examination, the doctor told us that the navel would stick out. To my perplexed question “why,” they answered that “it was formed this way in utero.” My mother said that the midwife cut it badly. I don’t know who’s right, but my belly button still hasn’t become a dimple. Now, of course, it no longer sticks out as a stump, as it did at first, but it’s not completely retracted either. One of my friends still has a protruding navel even as an adult. It happens (LEk)
A. When my daughter was born, her belly button stuck out very much. They also said that it was not at all a matter of how the midwife cut the umbilical cord, but that it was already formed in utero. Now my daughter is almost 8 months old, there is no hole, but it doesn’t stick out either. (Yulka)
Q. And if the belly button is bulging, does this mean an umbilical hernia?
A. A bulging belly button should not be confused with a hernia. The hernia can be felt under the skin, like a soft balloon. With a hernia, the navel protrudes much further. After the belly button skin has healed, there is still a hollow space inside (the umbilical ring) where the blood vessels used to be. When a baby cries, part of his intestines fills this hollow space and pushes out the belly button. This is called an umbilical hernia. If the umbilical ring is small, then the navel protrudes quite a bit (0.5 cm). The small umbilical ring closes after a few weeks (or months). If the umbilical ring is large, then the navel will protrude by 1 cm and it will close only after a few months (or even years). (N.V.)
A. I myself have had a convex navel all my life, and periodically during medical examinations, some surgeons diagnose an umbilical hernia, others do not. But I gave birth with this “hernia”. (iruta)
O. We had the same problem - the navel protruded strongly, we went to the doctor a year ago, he said: a small umbilical hernia, do physical exercises on the abs (geiman)
O. We just have a problem with our navel! On the very first day after the maternity hospital, my mother said that he was poorly circumcised there. Our doctor says that most likely this is a congenital pathology. As soon as the navel healed, we began to seal it, making a fold, as the surgeon showed us. Then they got hold of an old 5-kopeck coin - they applied it. We performed massages and exercises to help the navel retract. Everything is useless! And here we are at 4 months. 19 days and now they say that the operation is inevitable.
From the very moment I arrived home, I treated it twice a day, morning and evening, with peroxide, and then with brilliant green! (Natulka)
A. First, our umbilical wound healed by the second week, and by the third it started bleeding again. The doctor advised replacing brilliant green with potassium permanganate. That is, first we drip peroxide (squeeze the cotton wool onto the wound), then dry it with a stick (absorb the remaining peroxide), and treat the wound with a stick dipped in potassium permanganate (a fairly saturated solution). Potassium permanganate should be perfectly dissolved, without crystals - they will cause a burn to the baby. (gitana)
A. It is now customary for us to process with 70% sprit. That’s how I treated it - with a cotton swab twice a day. (Meleja)
A. Solcoseryl ointment helped us girls. Before that, on the advice of a nurse, they dripped peroxide from the hospital, then alcohol and finally green stuff... it only got worse, pus began to appear, it began to hiss even more than after the maternity hospital, the navel was constantly getting wet. They changed the tactics (the pediatrician approved): I applied it directly to a cotton swab and applied more ointment inside the navel 5 times a day, it passed in 2 DAYS (he healed, all the crap came out, and the navel became a beautiful dry one). (Nimfa84)
A. You need to fill it with Xeroform! After bathing, treat the navel with peroxide, dry it with a cotton pad, cover it with Xeroform, drop brilliant green from a pipette and cover it with an antibacterial bandage. Do not touch for 4 days. Bath in a plaster. After 4 days the navel heals completely.
Q. Once the belly button heals, how long does it take to treat?
O. Usually 10 days, but we had a thick umbilical cord, so 2.5 weeks. (Mars)
A. The eldest one healed in 2 weeks, and Ulyakha’s even went to a surgeon. The navel was wet. She prescribed smearing not with brilliant green, but with levomycetin alcohol, and the navel immediately began to heal, finally healed by 1.5 months (Ksenia81)
A. I stopped processing as soon as the peroxide that I dripped into it for processing stopped fizzing. (Ertran)
A. The navel should be treated only if it has not healed! Those. when it's dry, leave it alone. (SUBJECT)
Q. There is a dried crust on the navel - how to remove it?
A. I washed my three-month-old daughter like this: I gently smeared her with baby cream using a cotton swab, and after 15 minutes I used another stick to remove what was removed. I did this twice and everything was clean. I must say that for babies as small as mine, there are traces of the brilliant green that was used to treat the navel for the first month, and it is difficult to remove it gently and non-traumatically with other means. (JenaJeny)
A. After the bath, apply thoroughly with purified oil and after a while clean with an ear stick.
A. I didn’t peel off the crusts, I only removed those that clung to the disk after the peroxide.
B. Bloody discharge has appeared from the navel. Why? Is it dangerous? What to do?
A. Our belly button bled a little when the baby pushed or screamed. (Irunchik@)
A. Possibly rubbing against clothing. (Random guest)
A. If within a month the umbilical wound bleeds even a little (even if it is ichor, the wound must be absolutely dry), then a surgeon’s consultation is needed. (Natalia2004)
A. The youngest’s belly button bled for up to a month. The tail was cut off, although it had almost fallen off by that time. However, something seems to have been damaged. The following combination helped - Fukortsin solution - properly treat the wound with a cotton swab dipped in it. And after that, sprinkle with Xeroform powder - it is sold only in the prescription departments of pharmacies (for example, there is such a pharmacy on Morskoy). (gitana)
Q. What if the navel is inflamed and festered?
A. First of all, do not put it off, but show it to a doctor. Better to see a neonatologist. Pus in the navel in such a small child is always an extremely ominous sign. If everything is normal, then the surgeon should also take a look - the fluid in the navel may be a manifestation of a urachus anomaly. That is, in fact, this liquid will usually be urine. (Yakov Yakovlev)
A. Never self-medicate an umbilical wound. Especially in the first 1-2 months. Especially if there is purulent discharge. This can be extremely dangerous!!! Show it to neonatologists and pediatricians. Pus from the navel is a risk of sepsis. Sepsis is the risk of losing your baby. Young children very quickly give rise to problems from which there is no way out. (Yakov Yakovlev)
2-3 minutes after birth, the baby’s umbilical cord is treated and bandaged. First, two sterile plastic or metal clamps are placed on it - at a distance of 10 cm and 2 cm from the umbilical ring (the place where the gelatinous covering of the umbilical cord connects to the skin). Between the clamps, the umbilical cord is filled with iodine and cut with sterile scissors. An umbilical stump remains in this place, which dries out and falls off on its own, naturally, after a few days.
Treatment of the stump and umbilical wound in the maternity hospital can only be carried out by a pediatrician. Due to the early discharge from the maternity hospital, on the 2-4th day after birth, doctors sometimes do not wait for the natural fall of the umbilical cord (this takes a week, and if the umbilical cord was very thick - even more), but remove the remainder surgically, cutting off or special unscrewing this way - this happens when the child reaches two full days. This procedure speeds up wound healing. But sometimes the baby is discharged even before the umbilical cord falls off, with a brace on the stump. The Ministry of Health considers this procedure justified.
How to bathe?
Usually, in the first days after discharge, mothers are afraid to bathe the child “because of the navel.” And in vain: water procedures are not contraindicated from the first day of the baby’s stay at home. You can even carry them out in a large shared bathtub, previously washed with soda or baby soap. But in the first days, it is, of course, more convenient to bathe the baby in a separate small bath.
Until the wound heals, the water should be disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (but there is no need to boil). The color of the water should be pale pink, and the potassium permanganate granules themselves should be diluted in a separate container and, after straining, poured into the bath. Be careful: incompletely dissolved crystals may cause a chemical burn if they come into contact with the baby’s delicate skin.
How to process at home?
It is important that the scar area is clean and dry and does not come into contact with clothing or the edge of the diaper. It’s good if the diapers have a special cutout on the tummy that protects the delicate navel from irritation. If you are swaddling your baby, make sure that the edge of the wet gauze diaper or diaper does not touch the wound. The umbilical wound needs to be cared for carefully and regularly. For about 2 weeks, until the navel is completely healed, it is treated daily 1-2 times a day (more frequent treatment injures the wound).
The most convenient time for treatment is after swimming. Dip a cotton swab in hydrogen peroxide and gently wet the scar. Hissing indicates that there is still bloody discharge in it. Use another sterile swab to dry the navel, removing any crusts, and finally lubricate it with an antiseptic. The most common is brilliant green: it not only disinfects, but also dries the wound. But the “green stuff” has a drawback: on an intensely colored navel it is more difficult to notice possible complications - redness around, discharge, etc. Therefore, some doctors advise using colorless antiseptics to treat the navel: an alcoholic (but not oily!) solution of chlorophyllipt, levomyetin alcohol. But an alcohol solution of propolis or calendula can cause allergies in the baby.
Two weeks after the birth of the baby, the navel should be completely dry, there should be no discharge from it! If the umbilical wound bleeds for more than a week and becomes red, the doctor may advise lubricating it with a 0.5-1 percent solution of diokeidin, which kills all known microorganisms. But if the treatment does not produce results, be sure to visit the doctor again.
What does the problem look like?
The navel granuloma, or fungus, is a rounded formation on a stalk, sometimes reaching the size of a pea; it develops if the infection has invaded the umbilical ring. Treatment consists of washing the wound with volorol peroxide and treating with a solution of alcohol or potassium permanganate, cauterization with a lapis pencil, and sometimes eleprocoagulation - all this, of course, on the recommendation of a doctor.
Omphalitis is an inflammation of the umbilical ring, affecting the umbilical fossa, the skin around it, nearby tissues and blood vessels. Omphalitis is very dangerous, as it can quickly penetrate into the peritoneum and provoke the development of peritonitis and sepsis. It can only be treated with antibiotics and only under the guidance of a doctor.
An umbilical fistula is usually detected on ultrasound already during pregnancy or immediately after cutting the umbilical cord. This is the name of the hole that connects the navel with other internal organs, such as the intestines. This developmental defect can occur in children whose mothers are employed in hazardous industries. Fistula can only be treated surgically.
What determines the shape of the navel?
The shape of the navel is not determined by genetics; the accuracy of the midwife cutting the umbilical cord also does not play any role here. What kind of navel will be - convex or sunken - depends solely on the amount of fat on the abdomen, muscle fitness and intra-abdominal pressure. The size of the lumen of the umbilical ring also affects the shape: the larger its diameter, the more convex the navel appears. Some babies have a so-called cutaneous navel. This is a congenital feature in which the skin from the anterior abdominal wall extends too far onto the umbilical cord, covering an area of several centimeters. Accordingly, this skin along with the umbilical cord will not be cut.
Why does an umbilical hernia occur?
In our four-legged friends, the umbilical cord is completely fused to prevent the insides from falling out under the influence of gravity. Man is an upright “animal,” so our umbilical ring does not completely fuse: the lumen can be from several millimeters to several centimeters in diameter. Sometimes, due to weakness of the abdominal muscles in this area, babies develop hernias. The navel inflates into a walnut-sized ball when screaming, coughing or straining, especially in an upright position. Having noticed a hernia, you should definitely consult a surgeon: although in most cases it goes away on its own by a year, sometimes massage of the umbilical area, gymnastics, special bandages and even surgery after 3 years may be required.
Umbilical hernias in children, especially girls, are a common occurrence in the first months of life. It is very useful for hernias to place babies on their tummy: active movements in this position strengthen the abdominal muscles and reduce internal pressure. By the way, many pregnant women also suffer from umbilical hernias: the growing uterus pushes the umbilical ring apart, and the navel “turns out.” After childbirth everything goes away on its own.
Hi all! Today we will continue to talk about how to care for a child in the first days of his life. The topic of our article is the treatment of the umbilical wound. In the maternity hospital, all necessary procedures are carried out by a pediatrician. But then, after the mother and baby return home, treatment of the umbilical wound becomes one of the most important elements of caring for the newborn. How to properly treat an umbilical wound?
Treatment of the umbilical wound in the maternity hospital
The umbilical cord is the tube through which the embryo is attached to the placenta. Through the umbilical cord, the fetus received oxygen and necessary nutrients from the mother's body. At the birth of a child, as soon as the umbilical cord vessels stop pulsating, the umbilical cord is cut. This happens 2-3 minutes after the baby is born. The umbilical cord is wiped with alcohol, and sterile clamps are applied at a certain distance from each other. Disinfect this gap with iodine and cut it. That's it, from this moment we can consider that the child is born. The remainder of the umbilical cord (stump) and the umbilical wound will require care for some time.
If there are no health complications for the mother or baby, they are discharged from the hospital within 2-4 days. Sometimes during this time the umbilical stump does not fall off by itself, especially if the umbilical cord was thick enough. Then the pediatrician unscrews or surgically cuts it off after the child has reached two full days. In some cases, the baby is discharged before the umbilical cord falls off completely, with a special bracket on the stump. In any case, after returning home, the umbilical wound in newborns requires attention and regular care.
How to treat an umbilical wound?
First of all, it is important to ensure that the navel area always remains clean and dry. It should not come into contact with wet diapers, clothing or the edge of the diaper. By the way, some diapers for newborns have special cutouts for the navel; this is a very convenient option.
Until the umbilical wound is completely healed (about 2 weeks), it should be treated 1-2 times a day with antiseptic agents. This procedure is usually carried out after swimming. To begin with, mom should prepare everything she needs on the changing table so she doesn’t have to look for something in a hurry. And, of course, you need to wash your hands thoroughly before the procedure. We start by using a sterile cotton swab to drip one drop of 3% hydrogen peroxide onto the umbilical wound. Bubbles and hissing indicate that there is still some bleeding in the wound. Using a second sterile cotton swab, carefully dry the wound, and then lubricate it with an antiseptic. A small square of sterile bandage is placed on top to protect the wound from contact with clothing or diapers. Attention! You cannot seal the wound with an adhesive plaster or cover it with cellophane!
Which antiseptic to choose? Usually the umbilical wound is treated with brilliant green - this is very convenient, since brilliant green both dries the wound and disinfects it. But in fact, under the intense coloring, you may not notice the beginning of inflammation in the umbilical wound. Therefore, more and more often, before discharge from the hospital, doctors advise treating the wound with colorless antiseptics - an alcoholic (not oily!) solution of chlorophyllipt or chloramphenicol.
Ideally, by the third week of a newborn’s life, the navel should be completely dry, without crusts, odor or any discharge. If the discharge from the umbilical wound continues, or it looks red and swollen, this is a reason to immediately consult a pediatrician.
To bathe or not to bathe?
Many young mothers are concerned about the question of whether it is possible to bathe a newborn if the umbilical wound has not yet healed at all. In fact, there are different opinions. Dr. Komarovsky, for example, advises starting bathing only after the wound has completely healed, that is, approximately in the third week of the baby’s life. Before that, in his opinion, it is enough to simply wipe the newborn with warm water. However, if no special health problems are observed in the newborn, many parents begin to bathe the child from the very first days after returning from the maternity hospital (just not on the day of vaccination). In this case, you should add a weak solution of potassium permanganate to the water, and wash and rinse the bath thoroughly. It is worth dissolving potassium permanganate in a separate, small container, and then pouring the solution into the bath, filtering through gauze - so that particles of potassium permanganate do not accidentally get on the skin of the newborn. You can read more about this in our article about the first bath of a newborn. After bathing, the umbilical wound is thoroughly treated with peroxide and antiseptic.
What determines the shape of the navel?
Another point that worries parents is the shape of the navel. There are many superstitions on this issue. In fact, genetics or the accuracy of the midwife who cut the umbilical cord does not play any role here. But the amount of subcutaneous fat or pressure inside the abdominal cavity will affect whether the navel will be sunken or convex. The likelihood of a protruding belly button increases if the size of the umbilical ring is large enough.
Sometimes weak abdominal muscles can cause an umbilical hernia in a newborn. It is not difficult to notice, especially when the child is tense - for example, screaming or coughing. The navel is inflated with a small ball the size of a nut. A hernia should be treated only under the supervision of a pediatrician. Massage, special gymnastics and a bandage are quite capable of solving this problem in the first 10-12 months of the baby’s life. It is very useful to place the baby on the stomach - it strengthens the muscles and reduces the pressure inside the abdominal cavity. If the hernia does not disappear within three years, surgical intervention is required.
Navel
General information
Navel(from Latin umbilicus) is essentially the first acquired scar that appears on the anterior abdominal wall after cutting the umbilical cord in a newborn. The configuration of the navel is individual for each person and varies in shape, size, and depth: in some it is sunken, in others it protrudes above the skin level. An unsightly stretched or bulging navel can spoil the aesthetic perception of a generally beautiful tummy and cause psychological suffering to its owner. Many people, especially young girls, are embarrassed to wear a short top or swimsuit because of an ugly navel.
Normally, the navel is located in the midline of the abdomen, midway between the pubis and the xiphoid process. The shape of the navel is funnel-shaped, its depth depends on the severity of subcutaneous fatty tissue on the anterior abdominal wall. Obese people have a deeper and wider navel, thin people have a shallower navel, with the apex at the level of the surrounding skin. The shape of the navel is largely determined by the correct treatment of the umbilical cord of a newborn baby and the care of the umbilical wound. 30-35% of newborns have a minor developmental anomaly, the so-called “cutaneous navel”, when the skin of the abdomen passes to the umbilical cord. In this case, after crossing the umbilical cord, the navel remains convex for life, being a feature of the individual structure of the navel of this person.
Sometimes, with increased intra-abdominal pressure or a large diameter of the umbilical ring, a wide navel is formed, protruding 0.5-1.5 cm above the surface of the abdomen. In addition to the fact that such a navel is unsightly for aesthetic perception, it can hide an umbilical hernia. In this case, simultaneously with navel surgery repair of the hernial orifice will be required.
The navel can be ugly from birth, and also change its shape and size as a result umbilical hernia, inflammation of the tissues around the navel - omphalitis traumatic to the skin of the navel piercing, pregnancy, fluctuations in body weight, age-related changes in abdominal tissue.
Increasingly, owners of what they consider to be ugly navels are resorting to correction plastic surgery, and specifically – to umbilicoplasty. The vast majority of patients (92%) undergoing plastic correction of the navel are women who want to change the size and shape of this part of the body, to make the navel neat, aesthetically attractive and sexy. Often, umbilicoplasty is combined with abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and umbilical hernia repair (if indicated).
Plastic correction of an ugly navel
Carrying out umbilicoplasty allows you to restore the correct position of the navel when it is displaced, correct a curved shape or give the navel a certain appearance at the request of the patient. Most patients wish to have a “T”-shaped navel or a small vertical fold or.
Indications for plastic correction of the navel may include its bulging above the level of the abdominal skin, too great a depth or width, rupture of the navel skin after unsuccessful piercing, an unsightly protruding navel with a flat stomach, the presence of an umbilical hernia, cicatricial post-inflammatory changes, accumulation of secretions in the umbilical funnel, unsightly navel shape with age-related changes in abdominal tissue, after abdominoplasty, abdominal liposuction, abdominal surgeries, pregnancies, injuries, significant weight loss.
The umbilicoplasty operation is usually performed under local anesthesia in combination with light sedation and lasts from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours (when combined with liposuction or abdominoplasty).
If there is a convex navel, excess skin is excised and the navel is covered inside a skin fold. A technically more complex manipulation is the restoration of a lost navel. Using a skin flap cut from the skin of the abdomen, the surgeon re-shapes the navel in the shape chosen by the patient. Postoperative scar located inside the navel and remains invisible. Bruises in the navel area disappear on their own after a few days.
Self-absorbing sutures do not require subsequent removal. On the same day (if umbilical hernia repair has not been performed additionally), the patient goes home. After umbilicoplasty, it is recommended to refrain from bending and lifting heavy objects for 2 months.
Postoperative complications of navel surgery may include the development of infection of the suture, the formation of a seroma or hematoma. The cosmetic result after navel surgery is usually permanent, unless the patient develops obesity or umbilical hernia.
