This is my Belly Button 2 Weeks Post-op - Will This Heal on Its Own or Will It Look Normal-ish? (photo)

The photograph demonstrates wound healing problems with an umbilical stalk. These need to heal completely before a conclusion can be made about the ultimate appearance of the umbilicus.

I'm sorry to hear about the complication you are experiencing. As you can imagine, no one ( including your own plastic surgeon) will be able to predict with any degree of accuracy exactly what the umbilicus will look like when complete healing has occurred. At this point, the important thing is to follow up closely with your plastic surgeon who is able to rule out/treat secondary problems such as infection.

 These types of situations are situations where only “time will tell” how  deep the vascular compromise extends  and what the area will look like once the nonviable tissue lifts or is debrided.

 I hope this helps.

Hello,

Thank you for the question and the photos.  There might be some delayed healing secondary to a blood supply issue.  If that is the case conservative treatment with dressing change will be needed until the extent of the healing issue can be determined.  A beely button revision can be performed later on once the proper amount of healing has occurred.

All the best,

Dr Remus Repta

Hi Tempvisitor

Your photos show an umbilicus (belly button) that is struggling for blood supply. It appears that that there is fair bit of fat around the umbilical stalk that is also unhappy.

If you were my patient, I would remove the obviously dead tissue (either in the OR or in my rooms) and then begin dressings. If the wound can be kept clean and stays uninfected these problems will often heal by themselves. I personally prefer to dress the wound with antibiotic ointment and clean it daily.

Belly buttons can behave oddly after abdominoplasty - some that heal well early can end up with hypertrophic scars later, and some the struggle early on can look great at the 1 year check up. They are never the same as they were before your tummy tuck.

Due to your darker skin colour, you are at a higher risk of hypertrophic (thick, firm) scars. I would suggest that you are militant about scar management once this wound heals. Scar massage, silicone treatments +/- laser will help make your scar as good as possible.

Good Luck

Dr Gavin Sandercoe

You appear to have some degree of vascular compromise to the umbilical stalk.  This can happen for a variety of reasons.  With proper wound care it will eventually heal and should look okay.  You should be seen by your plastic surgeon who can direct your wound care.  

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on from your images, but the one thing that is fairly clear is that you have had separation of the incision around the belly button.  I agree that there does not appear to be infection, but it is hard to tell for sure if the belly button is totally necrotic (dead) or not.  If I had to guess I would say it's not because I can see some pink tissue at what looks like the top edge of it.  If this is the case, wet to dry dressings as your surgeon suggests would be appropriate until the deep parts of the wound heal closed.  I would expect this to happen, but it may take a few weeks.  Keep an eye on things with your surgeon, and if you see some dead tissue or debris in the wound, keeping that under control with regular debridement in the office will help it heal faster.  Once things heal, you can step back and see how it looks, and if things aren't to your liking a revision could be considered at that time.  The main priority at this stage though is to simply get the wound to heal, and that will take time, patience, and meticulous cleaning, debridement, and dressing changes until it does.  Good luck.

Hopefully your surgeon has seen this and not just advised over the phone. The photo is not in great focus, but the black material in not viable, and should be debrided by your surgeon unless it looks different than it appears on the photo.

This will heal and leave a scar that may reasonably resemble a navel. The navel is a scar from an open wound wear exited the umbilical cord. It will probably take several weeks. Discuss with your surgeon. All the best.