Where Should Belly Button Scar Be After Tummy Tuck?

The belly button scar is essential an opening in the abdominal skin with the stump of the natural umbilicus repaired to the edges of the opening. The location of that scar/incision cannot always be controlled and may roll inwards with a tight and short umbilicus.

If you are having a full tummy tuck, your belly button stalk comes through a fenestration, (window), made in the abdominal soft tissue to let the stalk come through.  Plastic surgeons all have different ways of making the incision in the skin to get the best result in their hands.  Some guys like vertical, elliptical, circular, etc.  Scars usually look the worst at 4 months and then better after 10 months.  So you do have to wait to see the final result.  Take a look at the Board Certified Plastic Surgeon's photos...

There is not much of a choice of how the belly button is approached.  If you have a full tummy tuck then the incision is always around the belly button.  The final result in appearance depends on how the surgeon handles suturing the belly button back to its natural position.

Dr. ES

A full abdominoplasty requires the surgical creation of a new belly button. Creating the new belly button, which is called an umbilicoplasty, is a part of tummy tuck surgery that requires a great deal of attention and finesse on the part of the surgeon. My goal is to create a new belly button that, as much as possible, resembles a 'natural' belly button. Natural belly buttons do NOT look like a perfect circle, and circular umbilicoplasty scars are a tummy tuck dead giveaway.

The technique I use for umbilicoplasty is designed to create a slightly 'hooded' appearance to the upper half of the belly button, an appearance that is generally considered fit and athletic. Not all patients have the goal of wearing a two-piece swimsuit, but many do, and I want these patients to be able to do so without feeling self-conscious about the appearance of their new belly button.

The belly button is sited through the upper abdominal flap after it is secured in place.  As for  the final scar, sometimes thge scar may be hidden deep if the flap is relatively thick, and sometimes it is not.