Umbilical Granuloma
You may notice that, after the umbilical cord of your
newborn has fallen off, a red moist swelling is left behind.
This is the umbilical granuloma.
The standard practice is to touch it with a silver
nitrate stick to dry it, but a simple method propagated by Dr.
Nirmala Kesree and her colleagues from Davangere in Karnataka works quite well. Just put a crystal of rock salt
(cleaned with boiled and cooled water and dried) on the swelling. Keep
it in place with leucoplast or a band-aid. The swelling
disappears within a few days in most cases.
If no improvement is noted by use of these methods, a minor surgery may have to be
undertaken.
Umbilical Hernia
This is quite common and does not need any treatment in most cases.
This hernia becomes more prominent after the child
cries. Crying results in increased intra-abdominal pressure.
This pushes the abdominal tissue through the umbilicus
because of a small gap in the abdominal muscles in that region.
This hernia should be left alone. You may be advised by others to put a coin on the swollen
part and tie it up.
This is not required. In fact, if a leucoplast is used to keep
the coin in place for a number of days, your child may get an itchy
rash on the skin.
The swelling generally disappears by the time the child enters his second year. In rare
cases, surgery may be required.
