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

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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!*

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

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.

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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

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Specializes in Cardiac.

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

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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.

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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.

There was literally nothing to fill up with lotion...it was all full of gunk!. Next time I encounter the same thing, I will try your trick though. Sounds like it would be helpful

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

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

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

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

Not to mention the crud that forms on the inside of the mouths of GT feeders. Or the lovely spray of dry skin flakes that showers the room when I remove a pair of ted hose that the patient seems to think must become a permanent part of their anatomy.

And don't get me started on fingernails. Yeech.

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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...

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Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

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!!!

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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!!!

And I guess the odor and potential infection from being dirty is GOOD luck?! Yeesh.

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