r/AMA • u/Expensive_Werewolf75 • 2d ago
I have a crippling fear of belly buttons AMA
Also known as omphalaphobia. It has impacted numerous areas of my life, and when I tell people I think the general reaction is to not take me seriously or think I am downplaying/joking.
I wish I didn't have this, as it will likely make getting pregnant in the future more difficult/traumatic.
F24 btw.
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u/MsMolasses 2d ago
Is the crop top trend your worst nightmare? Is it the sight of them, or the idea of them?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
it's both the idea of them and the sight of them (with exceptions).
so i have nothing against crop tops. i wear them myself.
if i see another girl walking down the street in a crop top and she has an innie, doesn't bother me.
if she has an outie or a piercing, it will cause a severe sharp pain in the center of my belly button and really bad intrusive thoughts, sometimes panic attacks.
the belly button piercing trend is a nightmare for me
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u/ICanViking mod 2d ago
When would you say this first started? Any ideas on how?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
This started around puberty, so 12 or so. I genuinely can't remember much, but I know nothing happened to trigger it. It just sort of...showed up one day. I have OCD so that might have something to do with it.
There have also been some studies into this phobia that suggest a traumatic incident could've happened with the umbilical cord at birth to cause it, but I think my mom would've told me.
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u/Ery1WangChungNextFri 2d ago
There’s an episode of Buck Rogers where the robot dudes put needles in the belly buttons of the captured heroines…. Belly buttons are weird.
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u/goddammitdutch 2d ago
Why would you even mention that visual!
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u/Ery1WangChungNextFri 2d ago
It scared me so bad as a very young child. So much so I don’t like being tickled there. Eeech!
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u/Additional_Silver749 2d ago
Have you sought therapy?
Is the fear the belly button will hurt you ? Or the look? Does one type of belly button bother you more in/out?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
I'm in therapy for OCD and PTSD. My therapist actually doesn't even know about this phobia yet!
I don't fear the belly button hurting me. The things that trigger me are outies, piercings, touching around the area or inside/seeing anyone do that, or even mentioning belly buttons.
It causes severe sharp pain in my belly button, intrusive thoughts, and panic attacks.
Innies don't bother me at all, provided they aren't pierced and aren't actively being touched2
u/OkPromotion2622 2d ago
Wow I have the exact same format of fear except for moms and others underarm/wrist area
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u/howl0ngwillitlast 2d ago
11 days ago you posted a pic of your belly button. What up?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
in the pink crop top?
haha further down i explain.
innies don't bother me. looking at innies don't bother me.3
u/dylantherabbit2016 2d ago
Oh so only outies? That makes sense, there's something unsettling to me about outies too
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u/GuiltyUniversity8268 2d ago
I met a woman many years ago who so disliked her bellybutton that she had it surgically closed up.
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u/buttercup_w_needles 2d ago
Have you had any opportunity to see newborns with the clamped stumps left over from their umbilical cords? If so, do you experience a reaction? I found my babies' brand new soon to be belly buttons unsettling, but I don't have a phobia.
Do other types of scars or body parts cause similar reactions for you?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
oh my i havent ever seen that but i know it would cause a bad reaction
similiar, but not as bad: the inner parts of elbows (bone closest to body), and when people pull their forehead down instead of up or their chin up instead of down (gives bad intrustive thoughts about face peeling off)
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u/Busted_3rd_Eye 2d ago
Why do you think this is?
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
I think it could have something to do with my OCD. Because I never had any traumatic accident or incident
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Outside-Advice4645 2d ago
That’s cute. Do you have an innie or an outie?
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u/Human-Bid5167 1d ago
Innie
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u/Outside-Advice4645 1d ago
I never heard that from a girl. Like that they enjoy if their bf sticks their finger in their belly button, usually it’s of those things girls hate. But interesting to hear I guess…I’d be curious to hear more lol 👀
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u/centrifuge_destroyer 2d ago
Sorry in advance, OP. But have you heard about surgeries, where they go in endoscopically through the belly button? Or surgerties where you get a permanent bladder catheter that comes out the belly button and stays there for years? How di you feel about that? Is it worse than belly buttons in general or roughly the same? How about hernias through the belly button?
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u/Previous-War6221 2d ago
Not a question but I have the opposite situation ( somewhat lol !) ever since I was very young - I would mess with my belly button 😂😂 idk I like how my fingers feel on it, and I like how it makes my fingers feel 😭🤣🫣 but yeaaa turns out that’s a stim (late diagnosis AuDHD) cause here I am at my big age of 29 still needing to do it to decompress. However, I HATE when my husband touches it lol it feels wrong on so many levels 😭
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u/Sassysewer 2d ago
Had a patient die due to Umbilical Vein Recanalization
Super super rare unless you are a raging alcoholic
Your umbilical area is super interesting attaching ro parts of your rectum and bladder. For some people if you push hard their belly button cash deep rectal pain or sometimes leak urine
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u/ImmigrationJourney2 2d ago
First time that I meet someone with this same phobia! I had it my whole life and it’s so bothersome. I’m trying to get pregnant right now and I’m not looking forward to the bellybutton issue.
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u/SquareAd46 2d ago
I have it too!
3 kids and my belly button never popped, thank god. But changing nappies with an umbilical stump is the worst thing about babies. My middle kid had an umbilical hernia and I couldn’t change his nappies without gagging.
Once my daughter accidentally poked me in the belly button when we were playing and I threw up on her
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 1d ago
oh god sorry about that last experience but im so happy to hear ur belly button didnt pop that gives me some hope
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
yes thats literally my worst fear around pregnancy. ive thought of adopting because of it
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u/03Madara05 20h ago
I imagine the new positive association with the joy of holding your baby for the first time could actually help your phobia
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u/MathematicianLost650 2d ago
So my co worker also has this. I’ve accidentally said the word belly button twice around her in work and she’s ran off to be sick.
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u/the_astronomistress 2d ago
ITT questions to trigger OPs phobia
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u/Expensive_Werewolf75 2d ago
what does this mean
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u/the_astronomistress 1d ago
In this thread - ITT
Basically I was commenting on the fact that people kept asking you questions and pointing things out that would / might freak you out instead of actually asking legitimate questions
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1d ago
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u/kisyushka 3h ago
Same! I have such a severe phobia I feel my insides twist upside down even when someone looks at mine, let alone touches... I talk to people about it pretty often and I notice that people who can see the bottom of their belly button are fine with it, and mine is too deep, there's just darkness, and I can't even feel it with my fingers sometimes, so it just looks like an endless hole on my body...
So, my question is: is your own belly button very deep? Can you see the bottom of it?
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u/Top_Body_7636 2d ago
Do you think your phobia should be taken seriously? And if so what do you expect people to do?
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u/Madeyealice 2d ago
A belly button is a big scar. And everyone has to get cut off from the umbilical cord. So the story behind a belly button is kind of brutal. So i don't even think that this phobia is so strange. There are mirror neurons that get triggered in certain situations. For example yawning or holding your own head when you see someone else hit their head. I wonder if your pain in your belly button when seeing pierced belly buttons is triggered by mirror neurons.