@Andrew: Try to urinate, it should give u relief from this pain.. It helps me atleast.. One probable logic behind this could be that the urinary bladder might be pressing against the then swollen or then sensitive hernia region OR as some said it could be inner part of umblical cord that didnt dissolve till now.. So when we would urinate, the bladder size would reduce, which would decrease the pressure on the sensitive area, reducing the pain... I might be wrong with this logic as i'm not a doctor, but urinating does help me several times to get rid of this pain..
So i too have been plagued by this problem over the years, but only momentarily, and then it goes away. There has been one or two times where it's been a nagging issue for a two or three day time span. I'm 31 with no known medical problems, it seems to occur at random (once every two to four months) intervals. I've had it since before i've ever had my period and i remember being a kid trying to explain it to my mother. In reading that it's a male problem too it's really gotten me thinking...at first i figured it could be muscular, like the strain of a certain muscle, even nerve, but something about the bellybutton area had me thinking more and more...and now i'm thinking more about the function of the bellybutton, the umbilical cord, possible scar tissue from birth, goodness i don't know but you would think someone in the medical profession would thoroughly research this already, it's painful!
oops and now i see that those possibilities have been mentioned already so yeah,
1. bacterial/yeast oriented? 2. muscular/nerve? 3. umbilical trauma? 4. aliens trying to impregnate us?
I've had this pain since i was a young teenager, and i've found it to be directly related to dehydration with me personally. It feels as though when my blatter is emptying, the emptier it gets the more the pain starts for me right under the belly button.
I don't know if thats how it exactly is for anyone else, but like everyone else is saying i've found that drinking water is the best cure.
I feel it usually when I'm hunched for a little too long and possibly not eaten in a while, but u can usually make it go away with slow stretching just slowly stretch your tummy. You'll probably still feel it but nowhere near painful. stretch slowly and each time go a little further. If you can't dont do it.
I beleive that's what it is. One day in school i had extreme gas and was holding it in and this happened when I got up to leave. I was late to my next class -____-
Wow! As a lot of other contributors have mentioned, I also thought I was alone with this..until now.
I'm male, 22, and have been experiencing this pain probably since I was 8 or so.
What I've come to notice for myself is that it seems to flare up after I do a lot of physical activity, and especially when I hunch over (e.g. homework, reading, laptop use) for a while afterward. For example, I went for a run today, followed by some pull-ups, and then turned over a lot of soil in my garden. Now it's a few hours later and I've been hunched around my laptop reading for a while, and the pain has been pretty excruciating every time I straighten up to walk around. The worst it's been in a while...
Hydration, sugar and bathroom usage are interesting thoughts... I'll have to keep a closer eye. Good to know nothing bad seems to have happened to anyone else experiencing this.
OMG I found peeps that have the same thing I do. I to thought it was all in my head. I have not had this pain for over a year and thought it was all done, but just as I sat down to eat tonight there it was again and I almost dropped my plate on the floor. This is real! OUCH!
i'm 25 and having this issue for more than 10 years but not sure if since birth... as kids do ignore certain pain for extesive amount of time... Now obviously it's not a serious issue as people would have known about it especially general doctors. Just to mention the similarities I have as for anyone else it's happening once a month or less after bladdering and goes away in a minute or so. It's quiet irritating but no serious pain of course. After I had enough I started doing some research and first I thought it's an extremely mild surgical error after birth when the cord gets cut and the ward heals incorrectly (internally) for some. In the link below you see that there's a tiny channel called urachus connecting your navel (belly button) and bladder (bot for males and females) which I assume after birth gets closed as it's not needed for your system (for obvious reasons)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1156.png
Now there might be an issue with the closing of that 'connection' after birth and sometimes urine gets pumped up irritating this defectively healed navel tissue... for the rest of your life but I'm a person with a piece of mind and don't want to guess.
Whatever it is it's certainly not 'an' infection... it can't happen for 10 years and having only short living slightly irritating effect. It's just absurd. Also this is a common but not widespread issue out of sight from most doctors.
But just for the sake of god I'll see a urologist and get an explanation - they are the relevant professionals in any subject relating to urinary issues and get back with the results. Suggest you do the same.
i also forgot to mention that i also relief from the pain by urinating and i think it might be due to the body gets rid of the chems like that.
Hello Im a 25 year old male, and like many of you, also have sharp pains in my belly button that feels like something inside me is being pulled. I would like to give you a possible explanation (not very detailed from an amateur) to this as well as some things I did that prevented further pains. This is very late as I see the thread started in 09...but i guess it can be for future readers :)
With my situation, it usually happens when I straighten my stomach area- like a combination of stretching/ yawning when I wake up, standing up from a sitting position, etc. I have also worked with people with kidney issues and hernia. And based on our descriptions of pain and what happens during the episodes, it's not the same. If there is something wrong with your kidney or you have a urinary infection, the doctor can figure that out by doing tests. I think that maybe we tell our problems to the wrong doctor. Maybe someone who specializes in muscles and body movements will have a better explanation (just an idea.)
Now, the thread contains many experiences that I think are different problems. There was one mentioned of relief when they pee, it is the opposite with me. When my belly button hurts, I have to hunch down when I pee- like a standing up fetal position. Anyway- if you feel your case is more of the stress and strain of muscles, ligaments, etc, then it's probably the same as mine.
Explanation time: Since I don't know exactly what muscle ligament it is, I will call it AREA like stomach AREA or ab AREA. Muscles are elastic organs. Being elastic- think rubber band, if you are standing straight for a long time, certain muscles in your abdomen area (I'm not talking about ab muscles) are stretched. When one is lifting something, and using your back, this usually means you are also using your abdomen area (muscles work in pairs like the biceps and triceps). So picture moving stuff around the house and your stomach area has been in stretch mode all day. Or it could be one simple lift and not as strenuous. As soon as you put your stomach area in rest mode for a period of time, it will want to stay there. Siting on the couch slouch over, or anything that stop the stomach area from stretching. Then, when you suddenly want to stretch it again...sharp PAIN!
For those who are experiencing it when they pee, think a big bowl of skittles. When you grab a handful of skittles, the area (the special word "area" does not apply to this paragraph) that is suppose to be empty of skittles, is now full of skittles. There is no such thing as an empty space. So we apply this to our body. When we pee, our bladder is being emptied, but what is replacing that "empty space" in our body? other sensitive organs / muscles / etc. This can stretch out some muscles that were in rest mode (because of our full bladder).
Solutions: Use your ab muscles! Many people do not flex their ab muscles and this puts all the strain on your sensitive organs and voluntary muscles. Simply flex your abs when lifting things...or doing anything at all.
Stretch those abs / stomach area.
When you sleep, try not to put yourself in a fetal position. We do this without thinking when we are cold.
Stop hunching. Bad for your back...and stomach area.
We are not all born the same and some of us have to live life going through this checklist. I am very sure it is not a major problem. We just have to find ways of living life around this issue. I have two nurses in my family and have complained to them since I was very young. They never payed attention to me so its not serious :D
Hello,
I'm a 35 year old female. I had this same belly button string thing last night. I would say it felt as if there was a knife being turned inside my belly button, then continued to cut straight down. Yes, pain when & after I urinated as well. I have an idea of what it is related to. I am currently trying to "pass" a kidney stone, which is what my dr and I assume to be happening. (Have never had them before, but they are in my family). I am having a CT Scan tomorrow related to the kidney stone. I am guessing the belly button pain is associated with the kidney stone moving around. Maybe this will help someone else?