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Tummy Tuck to Remove Stretch Marks Above Belly Button?

asked 2 years ago by kat01 in OH
Latest answer by Young R. Cho, MD, PhD
Question viewed 4,333 times
Tags: age 18-24, abdomen, belly button, breasts, stretch marks, upper abs, female, lower abdomen, overweight, weight

I'm 23 and I have stretch marks from my lower abdomen up to my breasts from being overweight. Will a Tummy tuck get rid of the upper abdomen stretch marks?

21 answers to Tummy Tuck to Remove Stretch Marks Above Belly Button?

Tummy tuck and stretch mark reduction

A tummy tuck removes a great deal of tissue from below the belly button to the bikini line where the scar resides. Thus stretch marks above the belly button will often remain behind and have a stretched appearance as the remaining abdominal tissue is stretched to it's new appearance. They may appear more shallow, but will also appear longer.

Young R. Cho, MD, PhD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Not all your stretch marks will be removed with tummy tuck

A tummy tuck will remove most of the excess skin below the umbilicus to the pubic area, along with stretch marks in that area. The stretch marks above the umbilicus will remain, but will be improved in appearance. The scar goes from hip to hip, but is positioned low to be hidden by a two piece bathing suit. A traditional tummy tuck tightens skin up and down. If you have had a lot of weight loss, you may also have looseness across your abdomen (transversely). If this transverse laxity is... more

Michael D. Yates, MD
Huntsville Plastic Surgeon

Probably not

The tummy tuck operation is good at removing stretch marks in the lower part of the abdomen up to and extending slightly above the belly button. However, if you have stretch marks extending all the way up to your breasts, it is unlikely if not impossible to remove them all. The upper abdominal skin will be stretched alot and made smoother and the stretch marks left may be less apparent. It does sound like you would benefit alot from the tummy tuck operation. more

James Tang, MD
Houston Plastic Surgeon

Tummy Tuck to remove stretch marks

A standard Tummy tuck removes the skin from just above the belly button down to the pubic bone. If there is a lot of loose skin present, a limited amount of additional skin above the belly button can be removed. The remaining skin is pulled taut and down. It is not possible to remove most stretch marks that are above the belly button, but they will look better after surgery because the skin will be pulled tighter.

Caroline Min, MD
Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

Stretch Marks and Tummy Tuck Surgery

An abdominoplasty will not get rid of all of your stretch marks. It will get rid of most of the stretch marks below the umbilicus, but not above. I always tell my patients it will probably get rid of about 80-85% by directly excising them. Many patients, especially if they’ve had large babies, they will have stretch marks extending all the way up to their rib cage areas. However, it is very effective in removing surgically the stretch marks below the umbilicus.

Rod J. Rohrich, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Stretch mark questions

We can only get rid of the stretch marks that are on the actual piece of skin which is surgically removed. The rest of them stay behind. In the standard tummy tuck, this means the stretch marks that are below, or up to, the belly button are typically removed, and the ones above that get pulled to a lower position, but are still present. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any tummy tuck method that could treat your situation completely.

Thomas Fiala, MD
Altamonte Springs Plastic Surgeon

DoesTummy Tuck to Remove Stretch Marks Above Belly Button?

The skin that is discarded is the skin below the belly button. If your stretch marks are immediately above your BB. they will end up above the pubic bone and could be partially covered by the underwear. The tightness of the skin make the stretch marks less visible.

Farhad Rafizadeh, MD
Morristown Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck will probably not remove stretch marks above the belly button

Tummy tuck removes stretched out skin but usually only those stretch marks below the belly button. As a wedge of skin is removed, the rest of the abdominal wall skin will be stretched to reach down to the level of the pubic bone. If you have stretch marks above the belly button, these will move down to below the umbilicus but will not be removed completely.

Elizabeth Lee, MD
Bay Area Plastic Surgeon

artfulsurgery.com

Not all stretch marks may be removed after Tummy Tuck

If you have very loose skin, some of the skin can be removed above the umbilicus. In patients with very loose skin, I am able to remove one to two inches of skin above the umbilicus. It is, however, impossible to remove all the stretch marks up to your breasts. If one removes all the skin, then there is no skin left to pull down and close the wound! see video

Michael A. Jazayeri, MD
Santa Ana Plastic Surgeon

Stretch marks and tummy tuck

Hi, Only the stretch marks below your belly button will be removed with an abdominoplasty. The ones above that level are stretched and pulled down to the lower abdomen. Sometimes this will make them appear less noticeable, but there is no guarantee of this. Good luck, /nsn.

Nina S. Naidu, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck and Stretch Marks

I generally tell my patients that all the strectch marks below the belly button will be gone and what ever stretch marks are left over above the belly button will be pulled down lower on the abdomen. Hope that helps.

Farbod Esmailian, MD
Orange County Plastic Surgeon

Stretch Marks and Tummy Tuck

Fortunately, most stretch marks occur between the pubis and navel. This is fortunate because this is the tissue that is removed with tummy tuck. The remaining stretch marks are pulled down, and tend to look better under tension. Not all of your stretch marks will be improved or eliminated. I would recommend that you wait unti after child bearig to consider this procedure. sek

Scott E. Kasden, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck will lower upper umbilicus marks

As the majority of expert posters have stated the upper or above the umbilicus marks will be lowered but still there. Hope this helps in your decision. Remember there are always trade offs. Regards!

Darryl J. Blinski, MD
Miami Plastic Surgeon

Stretch marks (striae) and tummy tuck (abdominoplasty)

Unfortunately, even a full tummy tuck will not remove all the stretch marks with a horizontal incision. In rare instances a vertical incision may remove the striae but these are generally unconsidered undesireable. There are no lasers or treatments that can consistently remove striae. see video

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tucks and upper abdominal stretch marks

Since the only stretch marks that a tummy tuck can eliminate are the ones in the lower abdomen, unfortunately your upper abdomen won't benefit at all.

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS
Seattle Plastic Surgeon

Tummy tuck is most effective for removing lower abdominal stretch marks

Hi Kat, A standard tummy tuck is generally effective in removing stretch marks located between the belly button and pubic region. If you have a lot of extra skin, in some cases, your surgeon can remove skin extending 1 or 2 inches higher than the belly button. Much higher than this, the stretch marks will remain. Hope this helps. Best of luck.

Sam Jejurikar, MD
Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Stretch marks and tummy tuck

The answer is no. You can only remove the stretch marks that are in the skin that is removed. If all of your belly skin has stretch marks the you would have to remopve all of the skin and that is not what is done. There may be some other options and these can be discussed with a plastic surgeon who is experienced in Tummy tucks.

John P. Stratis, MD
Harrisburg Plastic Surgeon

Stretch Marks and Tummy Tuck

Without photos, it is hard to give you specific advice. In most cases Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) can remove all the skin between your pubic bone and your belly button. If you have very loose skin, we can sometime extend the skin excision a few centimeters above your belly button. There is no way to remove the stretch marks all the way up to your breasts. Good luck.

David Shafer, MD
New York Plastic Surgeon

www.ShaferPlasticSurgery.com

Removal of Stretch Marks with Tummy Tuck

A tummy tuck will not remove stretch marks which are situated above the belly button. A full tummy tuck will remove most of your stretch marks below the umbilicus. Some of the stretch marks located on your upper abdomen will be transferred to the lower abdomen. If your stretch marks encompass your entire abdomen, there is no procedure that I am aware of that will remove them all.

John Whitt, MD
Louisville Plastic Surgeon

Tummy Tuck and stretch marks above the belly button

Dr. Aldea is right. Stretch marks above the belly button typically cannot be removed through a typical abdominoplasty. The stretch marks will be moved down below your belly button however. If you have stretch marks covering all the skin from the breasts down to below your belly button there is no way to remove all of them since all the skin of your abdomen is affected. Be aware though that just the tightening of the skin from the tummy tuck is usually able to improve the appearance of... more

Robert B. Pollack, MD
La Jolla Plastic Surgeon

A Standard Tummy Tuck CANNOT remove stretch marks ABOVE belly button

A standard tummy tuck (incision hidden in panties will NOT be able to remove stretch cracks in the upper abdomen - ONLY from the lower abdomen in the central area between the belly button and the pubis. I rare cases, a REVERSE Abdominoplasty (Tummy tuck) is done by placing the incision / scar across the rib cage just under the breasts. Such a scar would allow removal of the skin / stretch marks of the upper tummy BUT the trade-offs is a much more visible scar. Think twice. Dr. P. Aldea more