Liposuction Through Belly Button Not Possible?

Liposuction is commonly performed through an incision near the belly button. Many of us often opt for 1 or 2 additional incision when performing liposuction on the entire abdominal wall, as it allows for removal of fat from multiple angles, allowing for a more even contour.
It's possible to remove some skin and cinch it around the umbilicus, but the amount you could remove would be limited. Limited incision, limited skin removal = limited result. In addition, the muscle tightening performed with tummy tuck would be very, very difficult, if not impossible in some cases.
Best of luck.

Of course, we routinely do use the belly button as an access point for liposuction of the abdomen.  But, since it works best to attack the fat from multiple different directions to get the smoothest possible result, other access incisions are required as well.

As for removing the loose skin with an incision around the belly button, the problem is one of geometry.  You can't get the large circle of excised skin down to the size of the belly button without a severe "purse-string" effect.

Keep the suggestions coming!  

Your thoughts are nice about eliminating major surgery , but unfortunately, it wont work. Liposuction can be done through the belly button but excess skin can not to removed in this area without creating a deformity. If you wanted extra skin and fat removed, a low abdominal incision would be required.

You would have an unnatural and also very limited result.  In plastic surgery the shorter the incision the less dramatic the result. 
You not only need extra skin and fat removed, but it also needs to be re-draped and rearranged to restore a nicer shape.

Someone once said if you think you have a novel idea, you have not read enough. Sure you can operate through the belly button and we commonly do liposuction through this area. However, you can't just cut out the loose skin and cinch it up into a new belly button. Your abdomen would look like a mess from all the folding and pleating needed to cinch up the skin to the size of a belly button. Try taking a t-shirt and cut a huge hole in it the size of a small dinner plate. Now try bunching up the edges to close the hole to the size of your belly button. That is what your abdomen would look like - not pretty.

You can preform liposuction through the belly button. You can remove "some" skin but that's where pictures of the problem and a discussion of your expectations are important. What may be right for one person could be a VERY bad idea for another patient. Pick a few Board Certified Plastic Surgeons in your area and then spend some time with them at a consultation. The time and money you invest now will go a long way towards your happiness later.

This is possible and can be done but it tends to leave individuals with an unusual umbilicus in which the loose skin is gathered around similar to a drawstring purse. It is less invasive. However, I know you asked another question about treatment of the abdomen following breast cancer AND HYSTERECTOMY. The latter means you were left with a scar which is most likely horizontal and located just above your pubis. It is likely that this scar is causing a shelf like deformity with the overlying skin falling over the scar. Pulling the skin tight around the belly button is unlikely to correct this scar or loose skin

Jay-Jay,
In a more perfect world that would be possible.  Newer technologies have those concepts in mind, e.g. Smartlipo, however, they are not yet advanced enough to do what you propose.

 Wouldn't it be great if that was possible? But unfortunately, suctioning would probably be limited with access only around the umbilicus, and certainly excision of the skin around the umibilicus probably would not be enough to get the desired effect.

Hello Jay-Jay
Removing fat from the breasts to the pubic area, pulling and cutting extra skin is still major surgery. Removing all that skin and gathering through the belly button is not possible without giving someone a very unusual (that is the kindest adjective) belly button area. Pulling the string shut on a large laundry bag tightens it, but at the expense of many irregularities that would not look right on the body.