Afraid my Belly Button is Not Healing Properly After Tummy Tuck.

Question

I am cleaning it daily with soap and water and then peroxide after the shower. I still have to cover it with gauze. It's like a scab over it, but now it is turning the gauze a brownish-red color, like it is bleeding slightly. Should I worry about this or just keep doing what I am doing? I go back for my 2nd follow-up in a week, should I go back sooner?

Farbod Esmailian, MD · Answer

Soap and water is good.  I usually dont have my patients clean with pure peroxide.  It is diluted 1/2 strength with saline or water.  I feel that full strength peroxide does not allow the tissue to heal.

	Hope that helps.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

The belly button is your one natural scar. Remenber it formed from a dead umbilical cord. So it does not have a healthy blood supply and will often heal slowly. Rarely this is a true infection but can be colonized (meaning bacteria are present but not causing disease). Occasionally this will require a scar revision. However, it typically heals with wound care.

Steve Laverson, MD, FACS · Answer

The best person to inform you of whether your healing is progressing normally, or course, is the board certified plastic surgeon who performed your procedure.  That being said, in general, it is quite common for edges of the belly button to ooze, change color, and heal in a delayed fashion.  The belly button is essentially, at its base, a scar from childbirth, and these healing issues after tummy tuck often do not detract at all from the final result, even though they can be a nuisance during the early post surgical period.

	Do what your surgeon tells you to do.  In general, good hygiene, perhaps a topical antibiotic ointment, a protective bandage, and patience are all that is required.  If the situation is worsening, you are anxious or especially concerned, see your surgeon more frequently. 

	Hope this helps, Steve Laverson, MD

Ronald Levine, MD · Answer

It's best to follow the instructions provided to you by your surgeon. They should assess your belly button at the time of your followup.

Afraid my Belly Button is Not Healing Properly After Tummy Tuck.

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