Get to the Bottom of Your Belly Button

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  • Question 1/8
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    What percentage of people have outies?

  • Answer 1/8

    What percentage of people have outies?

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    • Correct Answer:

    Your belly button, also called your navel, is a scar from where your umbilical cord was attached when you were born. An infection can cause more tissue to grow on top of the wound and create an outie. You also might have an outie if you were born with a tiny hole in your stomach muscles and part of your intestine poked through (called an umbilical hernia).

  • Question 1/8
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    Everyone has a belly button.

  • Answer 1/8

    Everyone has a belly button.

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    • Correct Answer:

    Everyone’s born with a belly button, but some people have umbilical hernias and birth defects which can leave belly openings that need repair. A surgeon closes the holes with stitches that sometimes flatten or stretch the navel, making it almost disappear.

  • Question 1/8
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    You can turn your outie into an innie.

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    You can turn your outie into an innie.

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    Apparently, people do spend time studying their belly buttons. And most prefer one that’s a small indent, not an outie. A surgeon can resize and reshape it. This kind of operation (called umbilicoplasty) is popular after a pregnancy or tummy tuck. And no, the old wives’ tale won’t work -- you can’t tape a coin over it and push it back in!

  • Question 1/8
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    The position of your belly button can make you a better athlete.

  • Answer 1/8

    The position of your belly button can make you a better athlete.

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    • Correct Answer:

    The navel is your center of gravity. Its position affects your speed. The higher your belly button, the faster you can run sprints. The lower it is, the faster you can swim laps.  

  • Question 1/8
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    It takes this long for a belly piercing to heal.

  • Answer 1/8

    It takes this long for a belly piercing to heal.

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    • Correct Answer:

    To compare, ear lobes take 6 to 8 weeks. Before you add a little charm to your midsection, remember that piercings can get infected. Bacteria love dark, damp places, and your piercing needs air to heal. Your clothes can bother the sensitive skin, too. All the more reason to wear crop tops, right?

  • Question 1/8
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    How many types of bacteria live in your belly button?

  • Answer 1/8

    How many types of bacteria live in your belly button?

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    • Correct Answer:

    This gunk trap is the dirtiest part of your body, thanks to the dead skin, lint, dirt, dried sweat, soap, and lotion that get stuck in there. The Belly Button Biodiversity project found many species of bacteria that had never been seen before. It may sound gross, but a scientist has made cheese from a mix of belly-button bacteria and yeast.

  • Question 1/8
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    What’s the best way to clean your navel?

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    What’s the best way to clean your navel?

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    • Correct Answer:

    You don’t have to dig around in that crater. Your daily shower should do the trick. If you notice dirt or a bad smell, you can gently clean your innie -- or outie -- with a cotton swab and a little rubbing alcohol.

  • Question 1/8
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    Which one doesn’t add to the “lint trap”?

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    Which one doesn’t add to the “lint trap”?

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    • Correct Answer:

    A top-load washer is rougher on clothes and loosens up the fibers more than a front-loader. The result is more fluff. Worn shirts have less fuzz than brand-new threads, so there’s no reason to ditch your dear old concert T.

  • Your Score:

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    Your Score:

    You correctly answered out of questions.

    Results:

    You ran circles around your navel!

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    Not bad -- the belly button is a puzzling body part.

    Results:

    All that lint clogged your mind. Clean it out and take the quiz again.

Sources | Reviewed by Minesh Khatri, MD on June 25, 2018 Medically Reviewed on June 25, 2018

Reviewed by Minesh Khatri, MD on
June 25, 2018

IMAGE PROVIDED BY:

1) Laurence Monneret / Getty Images

 

SOURCES:

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: “Reconsidering the Belly Button.”

CDC: “Facts About Omphalocele,” “Facts About Gastroschisis.”

Center for Young Women’s Health: “Body Piercing.”

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital: “Umbilical Hernia.”

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital: “Innies vs. Outies.”

Mayo Clinic: “Umbilical Hernia.”

National Geographic Society: “Belly Button Biodiversity.”

NPR: “An Omnivore’s Dilemma: Would You Eat Michael Pollan Microbe Cheese?”

Palo Alto Medical Foundation: “Body Piercing.”

Penn State: “Stay Sanitary,” “What Causes an Innie or Outie Belly Button?”

UC Berkeley Health Services: “Body Piercings: Cleaning and Healing.”

U.S. National Library of Medicine: “Umbilical Hernia Repair,” “In Search of the Ideal Female Umbilicus.”

Your Wild Life: “Belly Button Biodiversity.”

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