Why can SculpSure NOT be performed if you have an umbilical hernia? What happens?

If there is bowel right under the hernia, the energy could theoretically injure the bowel. Most umbilical hernias have fat in between the skin and the bowel, but you would not want to expose whatever is under the skin of the umbilical hernia to the laser energy just to be safe. Also there is no reason to treat close to an umbilical hernia, and certainly not over it.
However, you can treat the area of fat not near the hernia. Some patients with an umbilical hernia might also have small ventral hernias along the midline that are not easily detectable on inspection or palpation.  Although treating away from the hernia about three inches would be safe, if you want to be really conservative, you could get an ultrasound and rule out any other hernias, and then treat.

Thank you for your question. SculpSure on a patient with an umbilical hernia can risk injuring your internal organs. During your consultation with your board certified facial plastic surgeon you will discuss your health profile and your candidacy for the procedure.
Best wishes,

A hernia is a hole or an opening in the muscle and fascia layer of the abdominal wall. The fascia is the leather like covering of the muscles that joins along the midline from the right side to the left side. A common area of weakness in this layer of the abdomen is around the bellybutton. A small opening which can be as small as a third of an inch or less can cause contents from inside the deep abdominal area to protrude into the more superficial layer above the muscle which is the fat under the skin. Although the contents with an umbilical hernia is usually fatty tissue from deep down, it is possible for intestines to stick up through a hernia opening if the opening is large enough. When SculpSure is performed, or cool sculpting, heating or freezing of the fatty layer of occurs. This could damage intestine if it happened to be poking through the umbilical opening. For this reason, it is not advisable to perform these treatments in the presence of a hernia if the hernia is in the area treated.