Rishi Jindal, MD

Hi,

Belly buttons can get quite swollen immediately after a tummy tuck, since the “stalk“ may need to be thinned adequately so you don’t feel or see a big lump under the skin in that area after your stomach has been flattened by the procedure. The hole that is made in the skin to bring the belly button through does look like it may have been made a little too large, but it is probably too early to truly worry about it. As the swelling of the actually belly button goes down, it should certainly look better, but if not then just continue to follow up with your plastic surgeon and there are always ways to improve things. Good luck with your continued healing!

Hi Graceful, it sounds like an area of fat necrosis or scar tissue, but it could be a weakness in the muscles if you had an abdominoplasty/diastasis repair as well. The best answer will be from getting examined by a board-certified plastic surgeon asap, especially if it’s painful. Good luck!

Hello, as with many areas, the answer is going to depend on how much tissue you have there and how loose the skin is. Liposuction alone is usually good for the small area just in front of the axilla when your arm is down at your side, but if someone truly has a large mass or area of breast tissue under the arm, I think techniques that do not excise skin do not adequately flatten the area out. I typically liposuction what I can, see if it’s “debulked” enough, and then excise skin that’s too loose along with any fibrous breast tissue there that did not come out with lipo.

Lastly, I would say that there are techniques like doing ultrasound-assisted lipo, lipo with a skin tightening device like Renuvion, or just liposuction with a lot of compression to see how much contracts and then coming back later or doing an in-office skin excision to avoid a second trip to the OR, all depending on what the area looks and feels like on you specifically.

Hope this helps, thanks!