Look down at your belly button. If you see these signs, something may be wrong with your body.

Expert of this article: Yang Shi, Associate Researcher, Center for Comparative Medicine, Peking Union Medical College

In the hot summer, in order to cool down, many men go shirtless and women wear belly-baring clothes.

However, the navel is the weakest point in the connection between the human internal organs and the outside world, and is a place in the body that is vulnerable to injury.

Not only that, the different shapes of your belly button can also reflect your health status.

What can your belly button tell you about your health?

Before we were born, the navel had one umbilical vein and two umbilical arteries, which are channels that help us absorb nutrients.

After birth, the placental circulation stops, the umbilical vein closes to form the round ligament of the liver, the terminal ductus venosus of the umbilical vein closes to form the ligamentum venosus, the umbilical artery closes to form the hypogastric artery, and the umbilical artery closes to form the hypogastric ligament. The belly button is essentially the scar left after the umbilical cord is cut.

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Take a look at your belly button to see which situation it belongs to and find out what your physical condition is.

A healthy belly button can be summed up in three words: round, large, and deep.

The navel is in the shape of a perfect moon, the navel is round or oval, the navel ring is round, the navel is deep, the navel mouth is full, firm and rich, the color is red and bright, and it feels strong when pressed.

An abnormal belly button often indicates disease. In terms of shape:

Triangular belly button

The equilateral triangle is commonly seen in diseases of the stomach, gallbladder, and pancreas;

The inverted triangle is commonly seen in visceral prolapse, chronic wasting diseases, constipation, chronic gastrointestinal diseases, gynecological diseases, etc.

The navel deviates from the anterior midline

Left side, common in fear of cold, cold hands and feet, fatigue, poor appetite, indigestion, abdominal distension, constipation, colorectal mucosal lesions, etc.

On the right side, it is common in insomnia, body aches, dryness and heat, hepatitis, flank pain, epigastric pain, duodenal ulcer, etc.

The belly button is flattened into a horizontal or vertical stripe

It is common in gastrointestinal dysfunction, constipation or diarrhea; it forms a horizontal or vertical crack, which is common in liver diseases such as cirrhosis.

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Umbilicus is too deep or too shallow

Generally speaking, a deep navel is one with a depth of more than 1.5 cm.

Deep depression is common in obesity, chronic asthenic diseases, abdominal inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders, long-term diarrhea and severe vomiting, adhesive tuberculous peritonitis, late stage cancer, etc.

A soft, thin and atrophic umbilical cord and a small and shallow navel less than 1 cm are common in people with low immunity, abnormal hormone secretion, general weakness, and poor mental state.

Protruding belly button

The tissue of the belly button is relatively soft and thin. When the abdomen is highly swollen, it will bulge out. This is common in cases of ascites or ovarian cysts caused by cirrhosis of the liver, chronic nephritis, etc.

Abdominal distension, twisted and dilated veins around the navel, or dense capillary network, common in ascites due to cirrhosis;

Abdominal distension, firmness when pressed, and hard stools are common in patients with dry stools, intestinal obstruction, and critically ill patients;

Swelling, wheezing, or asthma patients have sudden blackening of the umbilicus, which is common in critical illness;

There is a cord-like hard nodule just below the middle of the umbilicus, which is common in umbilical fistula or intestinal fistula;

Umbilical fistula that does not heal over time or becomes infected and turns into pus fistula, often leading to convulsions and death;

Ulceration is hard and fixed, which is common in cancer. Umbilical protrusion caused by severe coughing and bloating is not pathological, but umbilical hernia is pathological.

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Color, temperature and secretion:

Navel discharge

Yellow mucus is painless but itchy, and is commonly seen in cases of umbilical leakage with burning pain in the stomach, dry and bitter mouth, thirst without desire to drink, heaviness and fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and constipation.

The pus is thin and painless and does not itch. It is common in cases of umbilical leakage with symptoms such as dizziness, tinnitus, palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, backache, weak legs, insomnia and dreaminess.

Mucoid, commonly seen in patients with oily face, acne, bitter and dry mouth, loss of appetite, burning pain in the stomach, nausea, thirst without desire to drink, heaviness and fatigue, dry and hard stools, short and dark urine, wet scrotum in men, heavy vaginal discharge in women, irritability, susceptibility to boils, jaundice, etc.

The urine is watery and has a urine-smelling smell, which is common in congenital malformations and patent urachal tube.

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Belly button color

White and dull, often seen in lack of energy, fatigue and sweating, dull hair, dizziness and forgetfulness, normal bowel movements, frequent urination, or anemia;

Redness or even boils are common in local skin infections;

Yellow, oily discharge and itching are common due to adverse external factors or excessive consumption of fatty foods, alcohol, and meat;

Green or bluish, often caused by poor blood circulation in the body;

Purple, dull color, or ecchymosis, commonly seen in cases of internal masses, abdominal masses, and pelvic tumors;

Black, often seen in acute and prolonged illnesses to critical illness;

Purple plaques with a diameter of about 2.5 cm appear on the surrounding skin (Cullen sign), which is common in massive intra-abdominal bleeding caused by various reasons, such as acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis, ruptured bleeding of ectopic pregnancy, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and intra-abdominal malignant tumors including primary or metastatic liver cancer.

Navel temperature

Warm, common in normal conditions;

Overheating, common in constipation, hemorrhoids, small boils, and umbilical carbuncle;

Overcooling is common in symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, edema and weakness, cold inside the body, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, low immunity, and decreased renal function.

Feel the navel with your hand

Soft, commonly seen in people with poor body resistance, such as gastrointestinal disorders, blood in stool (distant blood), epigastric pain, etc.

Hard and full, common in indigestion, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, edema, intestinal abscess, etc.

How to protect your belly button?

Principles of belly button health care: three likes and three dislikes

● Prefers warmth and dislikes coolness

Don't expose your belly button. The belly button is the closest part of the human body to the internal organs and is also a very vulnerable part. No matter how hot the weather is, you must cover it and keep it warm.

● Prefer simplicity and dislike complexity

The belly button is very delicate. Do not use other things to beautify, decorate, or damage it, such as belly tattoos, belly stickers, or belly nails. Otherwise, it will hinder the skin's excretion function and cause skin diseases or infectious diseases.

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● Like cleanliness and hate dirt

Use warm water from the shower head to rinse your belly button, gently wipe off the dirt with a soft towel, and dry the belly button with a clean and dry towel.

If the navel is red, swollen, hot, painful, or has secretions, do not treat it yourself, so as to avoid the infection going deep into the body, making it difficult to recover, or even life-threatening. You should follow the doctor's advice and treat it under the doctor's guidance.

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