The navel is not connected to the intestines at all, why does my stomach hurt when I pick it?

Since ancient times, no matter where the culture is, people have a very special aesthetic for the belly button. For example, in ancient China, people liked the sunken belly button, because people at that time felt that the deeper the belly button, the more blessed.

There is a saying among the people that "the navel is shallow, eat in front of the eyes, the navel is deep, and the gold and silver are loaded", so the ancient midwives were under a lot of pressure, for fear that their umbilical cord was not cut well, and a protruding belly button would appear.

I happen to have a very good friend who has a protruding belly button. I heard him say it when I was studying. It was because his mother was afraid that when he cut the umbilical cord, it would hurt, so the doctor asked the doctor to cut the umbilical cord more outward, so it became the present convex belly button.

So the question is, is the depth of the belly button really related to the length of the umbilical cord?

In fact, there are many misunderstandings about the belly button. In this article, let's re-understand our belly button!

Why is the belly button bulging?

As we all know, our belly button is the remnant of the umbilical cord, and the belly button is essentially a scar left by cutting the umbilical cord after we were born - it is the first scar of all people.

Although the shape of this scar varies, it is generally concave, and only about 10% of people have a raised belly button.

Of course, the bulge of the belly button is not directly related to the method of cutting the umbilical cord, but the previous midwives did not know this, and modern doctors do not care too much about where to cut the umbilical cord.

When we were born, the doctor who delivered the baby basically cut the umbilical cord a few centimeters away from our stomach, and the error can be very large.

The doctor then closes the rest of the umbilical cord with a string or some other clip (my daughter was born with a string), and in about a week or two, the little piece of umbilical cord that remains Will dry out and fall off, eventually leaving a belly button.

The shape and size of the belly button depends entirely on how the abdomen heals after the umbilical cord falls off, and if the baby has an umbilical hernia or other minor infection during this time, there is a high chance that his belly button will bulge.

In fact, umbilical hernia is a very common umbilical disease of infants. Many factors can lead to increased abdominal pressure, which in turn leads to a bulge of the abdomen. The navel that is not fully healed is pushed out, and it will naturally become a protruding navel after healing.

There is also an interesting question here, when the umbilical cord is cut, is it the baby that hurts, or the mother?

In fact, the umbilical cord is connected to the placenta. It is a part of the baby, so the mother will definitely not feel pain, but to many people's surprise, the baby will not feel pain, or even feel any pain. , because the umbilical cord does not have any nerve endings.

The elders must have told you not to pick the belly button casually. The reason may be that the belly button is connected to the intestines, and you will have diarrhea or stomach pains.

If you have ever picked your belly button with an itchy hand, you will definitely think that the elders are right, because the belly button is too sensitive, and pressing it a few times will indeed make the stomach feel uncomfortable, and sometimes even want to pee Urine.

Since there are no nerve endings on the umbilical cord, why is it so sensitive when picking the belly button, and picking the belly button will have adverse reactions, is it really connected to some internal organs?

Where does the inside of the belly button connect?

While the fetus is still in the mother's womb, everything the TA needs to grow is obtained and transferred through the blood circulation of the umbilical cord vessels.

The umbilical cord contains two types of "lifelines," the umbilical vein, which gets nutrients and oxygen from the mother, and the umbilical artery, which carries waste and carbon dioxide out of the fetus and back into the mother—there are two.

In the growing fetus, those umbilical veins and arteries connect to the circulatory system, liver, and bladder. But when the baby is born, the TA begins to inhale air and other nutrients, and the umbilical vein and umbilical artery are no longer needed. As the outer residual umbilical cord falls off, the inner part also dries up and hardens into a kind of ligament, but it remains Inside the navel, it didn't fall off.

One of the ligaments still connects to the liver and bisects it, while the other extends down to the pelvis, and part of it remains part of the circulatory system near the bladder until we reach adulthood.

Therefore, when we pick the navel, the bladder may indeed be stimulated, and there will be a feeling of wanting to pee.

In fact, in some babies, the residual arteries from the bladder to the belly button are not fully closed after the umbilical cord falls off, so the urine of these babies leaks from the belly button, but it can be closed with a simple operation.

Although the belly button is still connected to the liver and bladder, it actually has very little effect on the two.

When we pick the belly button, the real reason that may make us feel uncomfortable in the stomach is that there is almost no subcutaneous fat under the belly button for buffering, and it is directly connected to the fascia and peritoneum. This is the reason why the belly button is very sensitive. It may irritate the stomach and cause digestive discomfort.

So should the belly button be cleaned?

The belly button is really much dirtier than imagined. If the belly is rich in fat, the belly button is often deep, and many oils or other human secretions will gather here. These substances are good ingredients for cultivating microorganisms.

So, unsurprisingly, the belly button is one of the most microbially rich areas of the human body.

A total of 2,368 different bacteria were found in a 2012 study of 60 people's belly button colonies.

Although only eight species of bacteria dominate the belly button microbiome—roughly 45% of the total bacterial population—there is an incredible diversity of bacteria between each individual, and in some people’s belly button Even extremely rare archaea were discovered, which are normally only found in the extreme environments of the ocean.

In fact, most of the time, the colonies of the belly button are not harmful to us - some studies even show that these colonies can strengthen our immune system.

However, the belly button is indeed too susceptible to some bad bacteria or fungi. Some bacteria emit a bad smell when they are alive, and some fungi, such as yeast infections, can cause itchy belly buttons. , redness, and clear or off-white discharge.

In short, if you let the navel colony grow at will, it will bring some bad results.

Therefore, the belly button must be cleaned.

Just as we mentioned earlier, the belly button is relatively fragile, and most importantly, although the belly button colony is mostly harmless, it does not mean that there are no pathogenic bacteria in it.

Staphylococcus, for example, is one of the eight most important bacteria in the belly button. If you accidentally cut the belly button during cleaning, this bacteria may make the belly button purulent.

Therefore, you must be extra careful when cleaning. You can use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean it gently. Alcohol can effectively inhibit bacteria, and cotton swabs can effectively remove dirt.