Navel
It is a mark/spot where your umbilical cord used to be attached. It is also known as the belly or tummy button while clinically it is known as the umbilicus.
Some interesting facts about the navel:
1. You will be surprised to know that just as every human’s fingertips, the retina of eyes, and the pattern of the tongue, the structure of the navel of each person and the number and types of bacteria in it are also different.2
2. It is a birthmark that reminds us of our origin.
3. All mammals have belly buttons except kangaroos and Platypus. Even dolphin also has belly buttons.3
4. Umbilical cord is the tube that connects the baby to the mother during the developing stages, through it nutrition is delivered and waste is removed. It is cut off at birth. Thus it becomes the first mark on our body. Its remaining part which is attached to our belly automatically dries up and takes a shape of a pit, known as the navel.
Types of navel
A navel has basic two types:
1. Innie: it is like a pit in a belly
2. Outie: it looks like a little knot sticking out of the belly.
Most people have an Innie type of navel.
It is believed that many germs live in the navel.
In 2011, an experiment was conducted in North Carolina, USA, in which navel samples of 60 people were taken and tested. Scientists discovered 2,386 species of bacteria from the navel, out of which 1,458 were new to science.
We are born with outies which later turn out to be innie and only 10 per cent of people hold onto their outies through adulthood.
Umbilicoplasty:
It is also known as Belly button surgery. It is a procedure performed to remove excess skin from the navel of people who are born with extra skin in their navel.
In laparoscopic surgery, a small incision is made through the belly button and a laparoscope is inserted to examine the internal organs.
The belly button provides the shortest distance from the skin to the inside of the abdominal cavity and also easy to hide incision marks on the belly.
Omphalomancy_a mean of divination using navel:
It is a system of divination in which a future number of female babies is predicted by examining the navel of her first child.
Doctors can also predict pregnancy complications by looking at the belly button.
The shape of Belly Button reveals everything about one’s Personality
The shape of the belly button can tell us a lot about one’s personality. For example;
1. Outie: People with outie type of naval people have strong character: are attention seekers: and are faithful in relationships.
2. Big and Deep: Kind, and supportive.
3. Shallow and small: Cautious and secretive.
4. Long and Downward: Smart and clever
5. Oval: Sensitive and impatient
6. Wide: Cautious and brave
However, further research is ongoing on this study.
An Australian artist Graham Barker collected his belly button’s fluff for 26 years and his name was included in the Guinness World Record.
What is behind the belly button?
Just behind our belly button lies our small intestine and some part of the large intestine while above it is our pancreas, stomach and gall bladder