What exactly comes to your mind when you think of a navel? It is a distinctive part of human anatomy which is both stimulating and erogenous. People often wear ornaments by pricking it! But the fact is that this is the site of our maternal attachment and also the first scar in our body. When we were just a foetus in our mother’s womb we had attachments to our mother’s blood supply through this site and the umbilical cord. Even our intestine and urinary bladder were connected to it by connections which withered off once we were born.
But do you know that the bacterial “fauna” in your navel is much like that of a tropical forest. According to researchers, 2,400 species of bacteria types (some new to science) can be found in your belly button, but there’s no reason to worry: they’re quite harmless. The composition of the bacteria in each person’s navel makes them unique. Strangely, scientists even discovered a kind of bacteria that’s only found in the soil of Japan in the belly button of a man who had never been to the country in his life!
Why do we have a navel?
Mammals are split into three groups: placentals, monotremes, and marsupials. Placental mammals are by far the greater and most diverse group of the three, carrying this name because they nourish their offspring through a placenta. Incidentally, the name is somewhat of a misnomer since marsupials also have a placenta. The placenta is essentially an organ that connects the developing fetus to the inner wall of the uterus. As the fetus is carried in the uterus of its mother to a relatively late stage of development, it gets all of its necessary nutrients through the placenta. The placenta also provides oxygen and removes waste products from the fetus’ blood through a cord like structure called the umbilical cord. The fetus’s umbilical cord develops from the placenta. After birth, when the placenta is separated from the baby, the resulting scar tissue (a hollowed or sometimes raised area) is clinically called the umbilicus. Colloquially, it’s called the navel or the belly button. So your belly button is probably your first scar!
Marsupials like kangaroos, wombats and koalas incubate their young in a pouch. Their umbilical cords fall off while they’re still inside the mother’s pouch, so a scar never forms, and they never develop a belly button.
In adult life it acts as a watershed line which basically means that veins and lymphatic drainage above its level and below its level remain confined to respective areas. You will be surprised to know that children born with certain developmental problems of the urinary bladder, abdominal wall are born without a typical navel!
Beauty and the navel
In a study conducted to ascertain the characteristics of an aesthetically pleasing umbilicus, a photographic analysis was undertaken using 147 female participants between the ages of 18 and 62 years. Each subject's age, height, and weight were recorded. Photographs of each participant's umbilicus were then taken from 30 cm and 50 cm away. The photographs were reviewed by the authors, and each umbilicus was categorized on the basis of size, shape, hooding, or protrusion. The photographs were then reviewed by a panel and given a score between 1 and 10 to rate attractiveness. Using linear regression analysis, the effects of body mass index, shape, hooding, and umbilical protrusion on attractiveness were assessed. The T- or vertically shaped umbilicus with superior hooding consistently scored the highest in aesthetic appeal, whereas the presence of any degree of protrusion and a horizontal orientation or distorted shape detracted from the score. Those with a large umbilicus tended to score consistently lower than those with a smaller configuration. [S B Craig , M S Faller, C L Puckett : In search of the ideal female umbilicus. Plast Reconstr Surg . 2000 Jan;105(1):389-92. doi: 10.1097/00006534-200001000-00062.]
Navel is an erogenous zone.
Media has done a great job of hyping up this body part as sexually explicit, but the navel’s heightened sensitivity may also attribute to its status as sensual. “Simply viewing the belly button area can be a sexual trigger, psychologist Leon F. Seltzer, PhD, writes in Psychology Today. “From heterosexual man’s point of view, seeing the exposed navel and surrounding area can be very attractive. It accentuates a woman’s waistline, her curves and brings out the beauty and fertility of a woman’s body.”
The belly button is an erogenous zone. It may just be a scar, but it is highly erogenous. The area has many nerve endings, making it sensitive and ticklish, and can therefore send intimate tingles up your spine. From a heterosexual man's point of view, seeing the exposed navel and surrounding area can be very attractive. It accentuates a woman's waistline, her curves, and brings out the beauty and fertility of a woman's body. Simply viewing the belly button area can be a sexual trigger.
No wonder several thousand people are having navel plastic surgery each year and the trend is increasing. Interestingly, breast implant surgeries can also be done through the navel in order to avoid scarring; it’s called Trans-umbilical breast augmentation. The navel is routinely used by laparoscopic surgeons to hide their port scar.
Types of Navel
Outie and Innie: Most people’s belly buttons are either an “outie” or an “innie.” Outie belly buttons look like a little knot that is sticking out, while innie belly buttons go inward and are like a little dent in your abdominal wall. An estimated 10 percent of the population are outie and most of the remaining are innie. A deep hollow belly button will typically appear if there’s a shadow underneath the belly button’s top fold. Some people in this category may have a “funnel” belly button, which is common with excess abdominal fat.
During pregnancy, a woman’s belly expands to accommodate a growing fetus. The expanding abdomen of pregnancy can pop an innie belly button out, causing it to become an outie. This usually happens during the second or third trimester. After delivery, most women can expect their navel to return to its typical shape.
Vertical: This looks like a vertical slit in the abdominal wall. A vertical belly button typically has very little hooding over its top, instead looking much like an “I” imprinted in the skin. It is a type of ‘innie’ but is much narrower.
Horizontal: Also known as a T-type belly button, a horizontal belly button has most of the belly button fold going horizontally. A depression at the top of the belly button may look like the line that crosses a “T.”
Round: A round belly button is still concave or protruding inward. However, it doesn’t have any hooding or covering, instead it appears symmetrically rounded.
Light bulb: A light bulb-shaped belly button has very little hooding on the top, with a slightly oval shape that narrows as it goes down — much like a light bulb. Some people also compare a light bulb-shaped belly button to an upside-down beer or wine bottle.
But honestly, any classification of navels is an over simplification. They are so diverse in appearance that the refuse to fall in any pattern:
Some people fear belly buttons
Yes, indeed. Some people have an overwhelming fear of seeing or touching a belly button, whether their own or someone else’s. This type of fear is called omphalophobia, which comes from the Greek word omphalo for the navel. This phobia is believed to be associated with umbilical cords and wombs. It can also stem from the childhood fear that a belly button will suddenly become undone, causing our guts to spill out. Yikes!
Keep it clean
Yes, you navel is a place where lots of bacteria and fungi reside. It also has remnants of lint. The lint in our belly button is composed of fabric fibers that are shed from our garments, along with dead skin cells and body hair. Since men typically have more hairs around that area, they have more lint in the navel. The navel lint is mostly blue. Why so? Because blue is the most common clothing colour and many people regularly wear jeans.
Belly button lint is also quite gross. No need to be alarmed, though. Just make sure that you clean your belly button properly every day. Once a week, you should clean it thoroughly using warm water and mild soap. Gently clean in and around the belly button using a damp cloth, and dry off with a towel.
Regenarative medicine has kindled further interest in the umbilicus as umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which can be used to cure many diseases like cancer, blood diseases like anaemias and immune disorders. It is easy to harvest and has ten times more stem cells than bone marrow.
So much about your navel!
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