Belly Button Surgery: What You Need to Know
Pros & cons
How much it costs
How it works
How long healing takes
Fast facts
Belly button surgery, sometimes called umbilicoplasty or a belly button lift, is a minor surgical procedure that changes the shape, size, and often the position of your navel (also called the umbilicus).Â
You're probably a good candidate for belly button reshaping surgery if you're healthy, with a desire to restore your navel to how it looked before pregnancy, weight loss, or piercing damage, or just change the natural appearance of your belly button. Have an "outie" and want an “innie”? Your surgeon can turn a protruding belly button into an innie by removing excess skin and reshaping your navel.Â
If you’ve lost your belly button during a previous surgery, they can also perform belly button reconstruction to create a new navel using surrounding skin.Â
Beyond just changing the appearance of the belly button, this type of plastic surgery can also be performed for medical reasons, like correcting an umbilical hernia. In this case, you might need the surgery to relieve pain or prevent more serious complications.
Umbilicoplasty can be a stand-alone procedure or be done along with other abdominal surgeries, like a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty). Dr. George Marosan, a plastic surgeon in Bellevue, Washington, says that he often removes the belly button during tummy tuck surgery and restores it later.
“The advantages of this are numerous," says Dr. Marosan. "There’s no potential separation during healing or stress on the abdominoplasty incision from being tethered to the belly button. I reconstruct the belly button at the optimum position to give the appearance of a youthful, not-operated-on abdomen. There’s also no visible scarring.” He notes that a scarred or distorted belly button can distract greatly, even from a good tummy tuck.
During an initial consultation, your plastic surgeon will discuss your medical history and goals before explaining your options and the risks of surgery. There are about 10 different navel reshaping techniques, and your surgeon will suggest the one they think will create the best result, based on your unique anatomy and goals.
RealSelf members’ belly button surgery before and after photos can help you see how the different incision styles look.
Pros
- Compared to more complex cosmetic surgeries like liposuction or breast augmentation, an umbilicoplasty is much more straightforward and less expensive, with a lower risk of complications.
- It can be easily combined with other plastic surgery procedures and is often done as part of a tummy tuck.
- The incision usually heals quickly, and the scar is hidden inside your navel.
- If you need the surgery for medical reasons, such as umbilical hernia repair, your health insurance may cover it.
- Belly button surgery has an unusually high Worth It Rating from RealSelf members. Many of them say they feel less self-conscious after getting back their pre-baby, pre-weight-loss, or pre-piercing navel.
- Umbilicoplasty is considered a very safe procedure, with only minor risks of complications like infection and bleeding.
Cons
- Scarring usually fades over a few months, but in some cases, the scar remains noticeable.
- The out-of-pocket cost of umbilicoplasty procedures (without help from insurance) can still be significant.
- The small percentage of RealSelf members who rated it Not Worth It said that they were unhappy with their results and had to have corrective surgery.
- Average Cost:
- $2,625
- Range:
- $850 - $7,800
Your cost will depend on the specifics of your procedure as well as your surgeon’s practice location and level of expertise.
The total umbilicoplasty cost includes:
- Your surgical consultation
- A surgeon’s fee and possibly a separate anesthesia and facility fee
- Follow-up appointments, including the removal of stitches (unless you have dissolvable stitches)
Purely cosmetic procedures aren't covered by insurance, but your health insurance may cover the procedure if your surgery is considered medically necessary to relieve umbilical hernia pain.
Umbilicoplasty surgery typically takes one to two hours. First, you'll be given local anesthesia, possibly with IV sedation, depending on the complexity of your procedure. If it's being combined with other, more invasive surgeries, you may be given general anesthesia.Â
Depending on your goals, here’s how belly button surgery works.
- To turn an outie into an innie, your surgeon makes a small incision inside your belly button, removes excess skin, and reshapes the contours of your navel before closing the incision with either sutures or surgical skin glue, sometimes called "liquid stitches."
- To close up a belly button piercing, your surgeon removes a small amount of extra skin to smoothly eliminate the hole and stitches up the incision.
- For umbilical hernia repair, your surgeon makes an incision and pushes the protrusion back into the stomach, sometimes using a mesh patch to strengthen the abdominal wall before closing the incision with stitches.
You should be able to go home shortly after your surgery. If you've had only local anesthesia, you'll be fine going home by yourself, but arrange a ride in advance if you're having a longer surgery that requires general anesthesia.
You'll need only about two days of downtime before you can head back to work, but it can take a full six weeks before your belly button will be fully healed. During that time, you'll need to avoid exercise and any kind of heavy lifting (including small children).
During the first week, you can expect some swelling, bruising, and tenderness around the area. You’ll need to wear a cotton bandage for about five days and follow your surgeon's instructions to keep your umbilicus clean, to reduce your risk of infection.
Stay alert to signs of infection, including fever, redness or swelling of the incision site, or any drainage of yellow or cloudy pus from the incision site.
Any non-dissolvable stitches are usually removed at a follow-up appointment a week after your surgery.
RealSelf Tip: Dr. Larry Nichter, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, California and member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), says you can help prevent belly button scarring by not pulling on the area, keeping the site clean, and protecting your midriff from the sun as you heal.
Updated August 14, 2023