Tummy Tuck Belly Button Scar

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bellybutton“I had a tummy tuck and I hate my belly button scar!” I get this comment from many women during their cosmetic surgery consultation for tummy tuck revision in Los Angeles.

Just search Google for tummy tuck belly button scar pictures and you will find amazing photos of ugly belly button scars after tummy tuck.

As a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon that specializes in tummy tuck surgery or abdominoplasty I find that there are three things that most women complain about when they are not happy with their tummy tuck results. First they are not happy with their tummy tuck scars, especially if they cannot hide their tummy tuck scar under their bikini or underwear. Second, patients complain of not seeing a difference in their shape or size after having undergone an abdominoplasty. And last, they complain of their belly button scars after tummy tuck.

Common Complaints

  • The most common complaint about an ugly belly button scar is that it is too large or wide. I have seen belly buttons that are larger than a large watch! There is no way that you can hide such a large and unsightly belly button with a belly button ring!
  • The second most common complaint about a bad belly button scar is that it is flat or, even worse; it protrudes outwards like an “outy”. These belly buttons look like a stuck on sticker especially when there is no abdominal contour or shape.
  • The third reason that women are unhappy with their belly button scar after tummy tuck is that the scars around it are very prominent and ugly.

Unfortunately, I find that while some plastic surgeons do a great job with tightening the abdominal muscles or making the tummy tuck scars look good, they don’t pay much attention to how their build a “new” belly button during abdominoplasty surgery.

What happens to the belly button during a tummy tuck? Does it get moved as the redundant abdominal skin is removed? Do plastic surgeons make a “new” umbilicus with an abdominoplasty? During a tummy tuck procedure an incision is made around the belly button to detach it from the abdominal skin. Next, the redundant abdominal skin is pulled down and the excess is removed, along with the hole which represented where the umbilicus was attached to the skin. A new location for the belly button is marked on the remaining abdominal skin, at the site where the “new” belly bottom is going to be. Then, a hole is cored out at this site in the abdominal skin, the belly button stalk is brought out, and it is attached or sutured circumferentially to the abdominal skin. How meticulously and artistically these steps are performed determines how nice the “new” belly button will look.

When I perform a tummy tuck, I strive to make the umbilicus small, with an invagination or inward slope, and I place the scars not at the level of the abdominal skin but deeper in the stalk of the umbilicus so that it would not be visible.

An unattractive belly button can be repaired or revised either as part of a tummy tuck revision or sometimes just by itself, fortunately.

I urge people who are contemplating a tummy tuck to do diligent research and to closely evaluate the before and after tummy tuck pictures of plastic surgeons you are considering. Pay attention to the appearance of the belly button in the after-tummy tuck pictures. Once you have had your tummy tuck it would then be hard to hide an ugly belly button, especially when you want to show off you new body in a bikini!