Belly Button Appearance After Hernia and Diastasis Recti Repair?

Question

Will my own belly button look the same after hernia and diastasis recti repair?

Brent Moelleken, MD · Answer

Plastic surgeons often take great pains to make the belly button appealing as will as functional after an umbilical hernia repair and tummy tuck.
With few exceptations, patients will have an appealing looking belly button when a careful plastic surgeon is done with their procedure. 
It makes it much more difficult to achieve an excellent result if the patient has had a umbilical hernia repair with mesh in which the belly button was completely cut off in order to allow a large sheet of mesh to be placed.  It also makes the diastasis repair much more difficult as well.
That is why I prefer to do my own hernia repairs around the belly button.

Chad Deal, MD · Answer

Your belly button should be much improved as they tend to become distorted and stretched with pregnancy. If yours has remained quite normal, then it should be the goal of any great Cosmetic Surgeon to maintain the original shape, if not improve it.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

It is very likely that your belly button will become smaller.
There are many different types of hernias in this location i,e, incisional , ventral, umbilical. IF you are referring to an umbilical hernia which presents looking like an "outie", correction may produce an "innie. The diastasis repair will also narrow the appearance of the base.

G. Gregory Gallico III, MD · Answer

Your belly button should look better after Abdominoplasty. Before abdominoplasty, the umbilicus (belly button) is frequently hidden by overhanging skin and fat. A good abdominoplasty will leave the umbilicus more open and normal appearing. Any scar will be hidden inside so the look will be natural.

Elan B. Singer, MD · Answer

If you're having a tummy tuck you can expect your overall belly button appearance to improve. Most patients who present for tummy tuck have hanging skin in their lower abdomen allowing for "hooding" of the belly button. Postoperatively, there will be much tighter skin around the belly button which is usually a desired result. Good luck!
Dr. Singer

Scott E. Kasden, MD, FACS · Answer

It sounds like you are having a tummy tuck.  The navel will be reshaped during the procedure, and the skin around it will also be tightened, which should lead to a more "vertical" orientation to the navel, and no stretched skin around it.
If you truly have a hernia, and especially if mesh is required to fix it, your umbilicus is at risk for loss and even being malpositioned.
No way to predict however.  Your risks should be low if you are in good health.

Robert B. Pollack, MD · Answer

Many times with a hernia the belly button appears flat or bulging, wide, and not particularly attractive. If this is your situation then you should be happy to know that after repair of the hernia and correction of diastasis your belly button should look much better. It should look smaller, more like an innie, with no more bulging. You should be able to confirm this information with your plastic surgeon.

John P. Stratis, MD · Answer

Your belly button will certainly look different after a hernia and diastasis recti repair. During these procedures the covering of the muscles are sewn tight together and theis will pull the belly button inward. The effect will be a deeper and smaller belly button. If a full tummy tuck is done you may have a scar aorund the belly button because of skin removal.

William B. Rosenblatt, MD · Answer

Without seeing you in person, it is impossible to answer this question. It sounds as if you need a tummy tuck with correction of the diastasis recti. The belly button will then be re- inset. It might be smaller than before, but it depends on what you want and what you look like now. See a plastic surgeon who does a lot of these or look at my web site to give you an idea as to what we do.

Peter A. Aldea, MD · Answer

Probably not. It may look better - it may look worse. That would depend on HOW your diastasis would be repaired.
If done via an Abdominoplasty incision, there is no reason why your surgeon could not re-create an "innie" belly button with a hooded superior margin. After all, it is done using your existing belly button and only modifying the new area it will be re-existed through.

Belly Button Appearance After Hernia and Diastasis Recti Repair?

Answers (10)

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