Belly Button Misaligned After Tummy Tuck- Options? (photo)

Question

I had surgery 4 weeks ago and my Dr said it was the worst case of muscle separation he has seen in 17 yrs (over 6 inches). He said that my rt side was open more then my left and even though the muscles are together it's still pulling to the rt so my belly button is off centered and the skin is buckling. My pre-op pics showed that my belly button was off centered before the TT but not before pregnancy. Has anyone had this happen to a patient and if so what was the outcome?

Don W. Griffin, MD · Answer

There are a number of women who have scoliosis or other asymmetries that cause the umbilical position to be off center. If this was present preoperatively, it is difficult to move the umbilicus to the center even with an asymmetric muscle plication. This may be something that becomes less bothersome to you as you heal.

Thomas T. Jeneby, MD · Answer

Hello!

	Belly Button malalignemt can be an side effect of tummy tucks and is an issue with the originial geography of the belly button. If it is off , or muscles are severely wide, then mmidline placment may not be possible. You are also very early in your healing and should take this up wiht your plastic surgeon

Steven Turkeltaub, MD · Answer

Clearly, there is significant displacement of the belly button from the mid-line. There are several reasons that this can/does occur but I don't want to speculate based on little information. Usually, adjustments can be made intra-operatively to re-center the umbilicus at or close to the mid-line.

	Correcting your situation is possible but not necessarily simple. There are a few options available but an examination and full discussion would need to occur in order to find the best approach for you.

Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD · Answer

If you have had a full tummy tuck performed and the belly button is off center, there is little that you can do to correct it without making a scar that extends further out from the belly button. Regardless of how much fascial plication was done, which can definitely pull the imbilical stalk off to one side in cases of asymmetry, the belly button should still end up in the midline when the skin closure of the tummy tuck is pulled down. The belly button can then be centered back through the skin. Now you can only cut a new hole for a centered belly button and move it over, closing the original hole and leaving a residual scar. That may not be a good aesthetic trade-off.

Peter E. Johnson, MD · Answer

Your story is a very unusual one. Diastasis is  midline issue and it is hard to know after the fact why the extra width on one side. No matter where the belly button started, tummy tuck offers the opportunity to place the belly button in the correct 'anatomic' or centered spot through a variety of techniques. Once the new scar or placement is committed to, moving it to center at a later time may be impossible to do.
	Best of luck, peterejohnsonmd.com

Belly Button Misaligned After Tummy Tuck- Options? (photo)

Answers (6)