Belly Button (Credit: Canva)
The belly button marks the exact spot where your umbilical cord was once attached—the vital connection that provided oxygen and nutrients in the womb. Once you started breathing, eating, and discharging waste on your own, this cord was no longer needed. What remains is a mark, a reminder of your months in your mother’s womb. However, it often gets ignored as you grow up. And there is nothing wrong with that. Your belly button does not require a special skincare routine, but neglecting its hygiene can lead to a buildup of bacteria, potentially causing a smelly discharge.
But generally, a discharge from your belly button is normal and colourless. According to experts, normal discharge is typically clear or light-coloured, has a slight odor (similar to sweat), and has no pain or redness around the navel.
Experts say that the most common funk you might encounter in your belly button is a bacterial or fungal infection. A study titled
A Jungle in There: Bacteria in Belly Buttons are Highly Diverse, but Predictable published in 2012 in PLOS One Journal states that once rarefied to four hundred reads per sample, bacterial communities from belly buttons proved to be at least as diverse as communities known from other skin studies (on average 67 bacterial phylotypes per belly button).
This occurs due to poor hygiene, excessive sweating, or trapped moisture. Other conditions include navel piercings, cysts, and skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis. People with diabetes are particularly susceptible to fungal infections such as candidiasis if their blood sugar isn't under control, according to a 2019 review in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Bacteria and fungi love the dark environment of your belly button. If your belly button is infected, you might notice some redness or swelling. The discharge might look like pus, making your belly button smell bad. If it's a yeast infection, your belly button might also itch.
Belly button or naval piercing, if infected, can lead to severe pain, discolouration, swelling, discharge and pus. It can also cause the skin to appear red, causing delayed or failed healing.
Other common signs include:
Chills or fever
Persistent pain or inflammation
Sensitivity or discomfort when moving
Swelling or tenderness to touch
Excessive sweating and tight clothing combined can lead to skin infections. (Photo credit: AI generated)
When it comes to heatwave-like conditions, most people worry about the risk of dehydration and sunburn. But it turns out that the scorching heat could also take a toll on your skin—according to experts, extreme summer heat can increase the risk of skin infections. Heatwave-related skin infections can be triggered by high humidity, sweat, and bacteria trapped on the skin. Some of the other issues associated with heatwaves are folliculitis, heat rash, impetigo, and yeast infections.
Talking about it, Dr. Gitika Sanodia, Consultant Dermatologist at Dr. L H Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, answered some FAQs associated with heatwaves and consequent skin infections.
The expert said that when there is an increase in temperature, there is an increase in sweating, dehydration, and breakdown of the skin barrier, which creates an environment suitable for infection development, mainly in children, the elderly, diabetics, and obese individuals. Heatwaves also cause friction, which leads to skin infections. As a result, rashes can develop and cause a great deal of discomfort.
During summer, because of the heat, one ends up sweating far more than normal, and if you are someone who often wears tight clothes, it can be even worse. Overproduction of sweat keeps the skin constantly wet. Such an environment provides perfect conditions for bacteria and fungi to multiply. Being trapped under breast tissue, between the thighs, and in folds around the neck and armpits causes conditions such as yeast infections or folliculitis.
During a heatwave, some skin infections are likely to develop silently. These include:
At a time when temperatures are rising constantly, heatwave-related infections are likely to affect certain groups more than others. These high-risk groups are:
In order to prevent heatwave-related skin infections, you need not make major changes to your lifestyle or wardrobe. Rather, some simple, cost-free methods can also do the trick. Here are some expert-recommended tips to beat the heat:
With the increasing number of heatwaves, these problems have become more than just seasonal. However, with the right choices in terms of diet, lifestyle, and clothing, you may be able to avoid skin infections during a heatwave.
Create: AI generated image
Persistent back pain in young adults is often dismissed as poor posture, long hours at a desk, or muscle strain. But doctors are warning that in some cases, it could be a sign of ankylosing spondylitis — a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects the spine and can silently progress for years before diagnosis.
In India, 16.5 lakh people suffer from the condition, with an average diagnostic gap of nearly seven years from the time symptoms first appear. During that window, the disease continues to silently progress, and the burden is far from small.
“Ankylosing Spondylitis is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions we encounter in clinical practice, and the consequences of that delay are real,” Dr. Arvind Mehra, Senior Director and HOD - Orthopaedics at Paras Health Gurugram, told HealthandMe.
Moreover, “It takes several years of pain and stiffness before people seek treatment, and by then, the diagnosis comes too late, and there has already been damage to the spine,” added Dr. Ashish Tomar, Director - Orthopaedics & Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad.
Ankylosing spondylitis, also known as axial spondyloarthritis, is a type of arthritis that primarily targets the spine but can also affect other joints. The term “ankylosing” means stiff or rigid, “spondyl” refers to the spine, and “itis” indicates inflammation.
The inflammatory disease causes some of the bones in the spine to fuse over time. This fusing not only makes the spine less flexible but can also cause issues while breathing.
Ankylosing spondylitis leads to inflammation in the spine and large joints, causing stiffness and pain. It can also impact the joint between the spine and the hipbone, potentially resulting in additional symptoms such as digestive issues, rashes, and weight loss.
What makes ankylosing spondylitis difficult to spot is that it often feels like ordinary back pain — but there are warning signs that set it apart.
According to experts, ankylosing spondylitis-related pain typically:
This pattern is very different from mechanical back pain, which usually worsens with movement and improves with rest.
Dr. Tomar told HealthandMe that ankylosing spondylitis is not simply a musculoskeletal problem — it is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, particularly around the spine and joints.
“Ankylosing spondylitis is not just another musculoskeletal disease. It requires the attention given to autoimmune disorders because it may affect the chest, hips, shoulders, and even the eyes, while also causing severe posture problems in advanced stages,” he said.
Beyond the spine, the disease may affect:
Who Is At Most Risk? How To Treat?
Young adults, typically in their twenties, are more likely to experience this condition because people often overlook its existence or mistakenly identify it as something else.
The combination of early diagnosis, structured physiotherapy, and suitable medications allows for effective disease progression control.
“When a young adult presents with inflammatory back pain, especially in the gluteal area, that persists beyond three months, the reflex should not be to prescribe a painkiller and wait. It should be investigated further. That shift in approach can make an extraordinary difference to someone’s long-term quality of life,” Dr. Tomar said.
Common treatments for ankylosing spondylitis include:
Credit: AI generated image
When women are in their 40s, their bodies start to change a lot because of the hormones. This is mainly because the estrogen and progesterone levels in the body start to go down. This time is called Perimenopause.
It is when women start to move towards menopause. It can bring a lot of emotional changes. Some of these changes are normal.
After 40, women's bodies start to produce estrogen. This means they can have an imbalance.
Women's bodies need hormones like estrogen and progesterone to have periods, strong bones, a good mood, and to stay at a healthy weight. When these hormone levels change, it affects parts of the body. This change can take a year before it stops at menopause.
Common hormonal changes women experience
While some changes are normal, some symptoms need a doctor's help:
When women are over 40 and their hormones change, they are more likely to have:
Estrogen helps keep the heart and bones healthy, so when its levels go down, women are more likely to have these health problems."
Women should talk about these changes openly. If they know what is happening and see a doctor early, they can make this time easier.
Hormonal changes after 40 are a part of getting older, but women should not ignore them. Especially if the symptoms are very bad or happen all the time.
If women understand what is happening in their bodies and see a doctor when they need to, they can be healthier and more confident. If women take care of themselves now, they can have a life in the years to come.
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