The following post from our forum is from a woman who had a tummy tuck but is unhappy with her new belly button and is wondering if it can be corrected.

Date: 10/24/2010 Submitted by: EM

Hello, Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I had a Tummy Tuck 8 months ago that didn’t go well and had a revision full tummy tuck 10 days ago that went much better. My first tummy tuck, the surgeon didn’t use drains and I suffered terribly with many sarcomas. This time, I used a different surgeon and he used drains. I still have the drains in me and I’m now draining about 70 cc’s. Still too much for the drains to be removed. I’m scheduled to get them out this Wednesday. Every day, I’m draining less.

I am very happy with the tummy tuck, but very unhappy with my belly button. The dr. had said he used the same opening from the last tummy tuck. Honestly, my belly button is very large and the inside tissue is so puffy and swollen. Was your belly button swollen? how long? and did it contract to an inny??? If I am still unhappy with the results, do you think it’s possible to have that corrected? I understand your not a dr., but I would love to hear your experience. Do you have a recent picture, or before and afters. Thank you for the information that you have up on this website. It was very helpful.
EM

RESPONSE

Date: 10/24/2010 Submitted by: Tanner

Response – EM,

I’m glad that your tummy tuck revision is going well, but sorry for you that you had to have one at all.

Belly buttons seem to be one of the “trickier parts” of the tummy tuck operation and one of the most difficult parts for plastic surgeons to get right. People want their belly button to look like it did before the tummy tuck (or look even better). I would think it would be difficult for the surgeon to do because he only has a small circular incision area to work in and lots of localized cutting and suturing to do. It’s no wonder that wilt all of the cutting and suturing the belly button area is subject to massive amounts of swelling.

I can relate to your belly button being large, puffy and swollen. I would guess that it took around 3 weeks for my puffiness to go down. More for my swelling. You can judge for yourself. I just added a bunch of tummy tuck belly button pictures (taken at different times after my tummy tuck) on my tummy tuck belly button webpage at https://www.tummytuckformen.com/tummy-tuck-abdominoplasty-belly-button.html.

My belly button was never really an “outie” but it just looked that way immediately after the surgery. After the puffiness and swelling went away it did revert back to an innie.

10 days is way too soon to make any judgments on whether or not you are happy with your belly button. I would suggest you wait several months before deciding if you are happy with the results or not. As far as if it could be corrected or not, I don’t know. I would think it would depend largely on the amount of scar tissue you have. Only a plastic surgeon can tell you that. Ask him when you go back to have the drains removed.

Good luck with your recovery.

Tanner