Nothin' like pulling out your pt's old crusty bellybutton crud!

2 Ugh,

Today I was cleaning my pt and I was wondering why her bellybutton looked black. It kept bugging me.

Well....I had to dig and actually PULL on it to get it out (it was that stuck to the inside of her bellybutton ick!) and out came a HUGE ball of dried up skin cell stuff and covered with some gross black crusty stuff. It was this big chunk of hard dried icky material. The washcloth helped get it out. The patient didn't mind either.

I don't think the pt had the inside of her bellybutton cleaned in about 6 months, thats the best I can describe it! It was so bad that I was gagging

LOL I guess I had a bad shift!

However, the pt looked alot better afterwards!

Edit * whoops hit enter as I was typing the title...its supposed to read "pt's old" haha sorry!* Last edit by student456 on Aug 24, '08 : Reason: mistake in title of post
You'd be surprised at how many pts. have that. It takes a little gentle work with a washcloth, soap and/or baby oil type stuff. Check folds of skin also, great breeding grounds for fungus, etc.

Yep, checking the skin folds is something I always do...you never know what can be growing there (fungus, etc). Sometimes you see a layer of lotion / cream / powder that can be wiped off because it's caked on

I had a pt with a leaky belly button once.....Ewwww.

Best way to clean them is fill them up with lotion/vasoline and come back in an hour and it all swabs out with a Q tip. Causes less irritation too.

Quote from awsmom8Best way to clean them is fill them up with lotion/vasoline and come back in an hour and it all swabs out with a Q tip. Causes less irritation too.

Haven't dealt with this before, thanks for the post...

I get annoyed with ear wax and toe crud too... don't get me started.

Quote from NRSKarenRNI get annoyed with ear wax and toe crud too... don't get me started.

Yes, nursing a is a SEXY profession, isn't it?!? LOL....So far my worst has been a tie between grey slimy growths in the folds underneath an obese abdomen and giant breasts, AND black flaky stuff that came off from the toes/feet of a homeless dude.Yeah, the glamour rules...

I hate belly buttons...makes me quite squeamish! I once had a Nun who's belly-button was black and hard.I filled it with olive oil and eventually got it out.It was shaped like a big black rotten tooth,ewwww.anyway,someone later told me that some nuns believe it is bad luck to clean this out!!!

Quote from nightmareI hate belly buttons...makes me quite squeamish! I once had a Nun who's belly-button was black and hard.I filled it with olive oil and eventually got it out.It was shaped like a big black rotten tooth,ewwww.anyway,someone later told me that some nuns believe it is bad luck to clean this out!!!

I worked with a surgeon in OR who had a sense of humour and even gave these collections of hardened belly button matter a name. Umbiliths! (Lith = Stone)