# Inies and Outies Question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871 "2010-06-04T02:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/1 "2010-06-04T02:10:03Z")
Not many people I know have outies, mostly it’s inies all around. I was talking about this with a friend, and we got to wondering, what’s the difference? Besides the obvious, one sticks out, while one goes in. But what makes the difference? Is it how or when the cord is cut? Is it cord care? Is it something to do with your abdominal wall? What’s going on, exactly? Why is an inie an inie and not an outie? I know a family, where everyone but one, is an inie, which makes me think it’s not necessarily a genetic thing. Bonus points for proper spelling of inie and outie! ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/2 "2010-06-04T13:48:15Z")
No idea as to the answer to your question. May have to do with how long or short the cord is cut & tied. As for me I have had what feels like 10,000 little devils pulling on a rope tied to the inside of my navel every once in a while. This has gone on all of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/3 "2010-06-06T04:04:32Z")
Up until I was 22ish, I was always very thin. I always had an outie, because there was nowhere else for that bit of tissue “knot” to go except out. As I gained a few pounds and became more “normal” in my weight range, it became an inie. I assume what happens is that the skin moves out as weight is gained, but the tissue knot stays attached in the same place. No empirical evidence, just a thought. I am guessing most people that have outies are particularly thin. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/4 "2010-06-06T23:02:41Z")
According to the _Oxford English Dictionary_, a concave navel is spelled _innie_, with two _n_s, probably because with one _n_, people would think it was pronounced “eye-knee.” Just FYI. [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00338527?single=1&query\_type=word&queryword=innie](http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/00338527?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=innie) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/5 "2010-06-07T01:20:18Z")
Ok, so you get the bonus points for spelling, **RadicalPi**. I’m astounded there seems no answers are forthcoming. That’s a great theory **Hermitian** , unfortunately I am living proof that’s not how it works. I have been underweight most of my adult life. Doctors often think I might have an eating disorder. (I don’t, I can eat an amazing amount of food!) But I have an ‘innie’. I was really just wondering about the actual mechanics of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/6 "2010-06-07T01:43:48Z")
After a pregnant woman develops an outie, does it ever stay that way post-partum? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/7 "2010-06-07T02:04:28Z")
There is nothing a doctor can do or not do to promote an innie or an outie. Not cutting style, not length, not tying, not cord care. All umbilical stumps fall off where they will when healing is complete, even those in lotus birth where the cord isn’t cut at all. Some outies are caused by an umbilical hernia (basically, a small loop of intestine that falls into the space usually taken up by the belly button), but most are just luck of the draw. Two belly button anecdotes: my friend has a convertible belly button. It can be an outie, and quite a protruding outie, but he can also push it in to be an innie. It’s weird, and it oogs me out as an outie, so I’ve been known to request him to convert it to an innie when we hang out and he’s got no shirt on! Secondly, my daughter has neither an innie nor an outie! She was born very premature, before her skin was at the stage of producing much in the way of scar tissue. Her umbilical scar is completely flat! It’s possible that as she gains weight with age it might turn innie, but at age 5 (with a cute little preschooler belly), it’s still flat! Okay, one more…my dad had abdominal surgery as an adult, and they cut his umbilicus out in the process. Later, he had plastic surgery done to create an artificial belly button! I joked with him that he should have left it, and we could have convinced my daughter she inherited her “flattie” from him, but he didn’t go for it. 😃 **needscoffee** , all the pregnancy navels I know of have gone back to their prepregnant state, but I can’t answer that one authoritatively. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/8 "2010-06-07T02:24:23Z")
Related anecdote: My oldest brother had an outie, which was apparently Very Bad, so my mom taped a quarter to his belly for, I don’t know, ever, until it became a flatty. She says it worked. I have not examined my brother’s belly for evidence. Times have changed. My son has an outie, and we stuff him full of food until it really pops, and are hugely entertained. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/9 "2010-06-07T03:27:41Z")
There was a thread not so long ago about people with no apparent belly button. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/10 "2010-06-08T20:35:24Z")
I thought it was hereditary - we’re all innies - mine is a star, my husband and daughter have bum shaped ones. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/11 "2010-06-08T22:30:22Z")
References seem to agree that it’s not genetic - it’s simply a function of the way the umbilical scar heals, and is not controlled by anything the doctor might have done, either, as previously posted. Wiki observes: > [@](#): > > In humans, the scar can appear as a depression (often referred to colloquially as an innie) or as a protrusion (outie). Although they can be separated into these two categories, navels actually vary quite widely among people in terms of size, shape, depth/length, and overall appearance. As navels are scars, and not in any way defined by genetics, they can serve as a way of distinguishing between identical twins in the absence of other identifiable marks. At any rate, if you don’t like yours, you can have a plastic surgeon modify it: [http://www.aboardcertifiedplasticsurgeonresource.com/umbilicoplasty/index.html](http://www.aboardcertifiedplasticsurgeonresource.com/umbilicoplasty/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inies-and-outies-question/541871/12 "2010-06-09T02:07:18Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > …my daughter has neither an innie nor an outie! > [@needscoffee](#): > > There was a thread not so long ago about people with no apparent belly button. It’s [quite common](http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2010/06/otto-navel-attack.html) with fashion models these days.