Belly Button Weirdness

Did you know that Omphalophobia is the fear of belly buttons? It seems there is such a thing. People suffering from Omphalophobia are terrified of belly buttons- maybe their own. Maybe others’. Or both. I never knew that.

Now we know that all humans have a belly button. Unless you were born with an umbilical hernia and had to have it surgical repaired, leaving you without the bb. But not every mammal has belly buttons. Kangaroos and platypuses alas, are without a bb. But dolphins are not.

BB’s accumulate a lot of bugs. Some 2,400 different species have been found lurking in the bb. And everyone’s bb bugs are a different composition. Bb lint is a gross mix of fibres, hair, dead skin cells.

Collecting it is actually a hobby! Graham Barker from Australia holds the largest collection of belly button lint, earning him a place in the Guinness World Records in the year 2000. And the artist Rachel Betty Case even makes small bears from bb lint.

It seems there are many kinds of belly buttons. That I do know. Wikipedia lists the following :

Outie: A navel consisting of the umbilical tip protruding past the periumbilical skin is an outie, essentially any navel which is not concave. A study taken of 1008 individuals aged at least 19 years old found that 49% have outies.
Round shaped: Round navels are completely circular with no hooding.
Vertical shaped: Some navels present in the form of a more elongate hollow parallel with the linea alba, that white midline.
Oval: This form consists of three variants; superior hooding, inferior hooding, no hooding.
T-shaped: As the name states, the scar is in the shape of a T, and may have superior hooding.
Horizontal: The scar is least visible as the natural lines of the tendinous intersection fold over the scar.
Swirly/Spiral: A rare form in which the umbilical scar literally forms a swirl shape.
Distorted: Any navel which does not fit well into any of the other categories.

I also learnt another interesting thing yesterday. Apparently there is a belly button gland called the Pechoti. The bit that is left over after the umbilicus has been cut at birth. It is purported to be a dense network of more than 72,000 veins connected to the whole body. It makes sense given that the umbilicus was the means of delivering nutrients to the growing baby in utero.

Well, it seems that in Ayurveda, the belly button is used as a portal to deliver nutrients/medicines to the body. Whoever knew! Here’s just a few tips about which oils do what when massaged into the belly button:

Neem oil helps to get rid of facial puffiness and white spots

Coconut or olive oil makes the skin feel silky smooth

Lemon essential oil gets rid of skin pigmentation

Almond oil makes your skin glow with that inner vitality

Mustard oil heals cracked lips

A cotton wool ball soaked in brandy and placed on the belly button eases menstrual cramps,cold,flu and runny nose

Ghee or clarified butter gives you baby soft skin

Coconut oil improves fertility

Castor oil cures constipation

And if you are using cannabinoid oil as a means to manage pain or improve your health, a hot tip for best absorption and delivery to the whole body is the Pechoti Method: the belly button drip.

Raili Tanska

Oil your way to wellness