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.

When you have an umbilical hernia, parts of your intestines etc.. get caught up between the muscle. SculpSure applies fairly intense heat and you would not want to risk injuring any of your vital organs. Hope this helps. 

Hernias in the abdomen can fill with parts of the intestine.SculpSure is not recommend due to the concern with heating up intestinal tissue.

Hello - that is a really good question.  An umbilical hernia is where the contents of the abdomen (your intestines and other stuff) actually bunch up into a little sac and mushroom through an area of weakness between the muscles covering your abdomen.  Sculpsure applies pretty intense heat to the superficial fat and if there are abdominal contents pushing up more than usual, there could be really bad damage to vital structures.  Probably one would need to get the hernia (abdominal, inguinal, etc) fixed and wait at least 6-12 months following the repair.  At that point only do sculpsure with the blessing of the general surgeon who repaired the hernia.  I hope this helps!

Sculpsure targets the fatty tissue layer beneath the skin. A hernia is an area where the abdominal wall is thin and bowel contents can be directly beneath the skin.   The laser could damage the abdominal contents that are in the hernia, therefore sculpsure is contraindicated over an umbilical or any other abdominal hernia.   Sculpsure could be done on other areas of the abdomen, away from the hernia. 

SculpSure can not be used directly over an unrepaired umbilical hernia due to potential complications from exposure of abdominal contents.  However, other areas can be treated safely.

Because the hernia comes through the abdominal wall, it would be heated by the procedure, which is unsafe and could cause other problems, however, someone with a repaired umbilical hernia can have the treatment with no issues. Additionally, even if you do have an unrepaired umbilical hernia, you can still have the procedure on other areas of the body - the stomach would be the only area of avoidance. Be sure to notify your SculpSure provider prior to the treatment of any health issues, such as umbilical hernia, to ensure your safety and effectiveness of the treatment.

A hernia could possibly be reached by the depth of the laser thereby causing damage to the hernia. Of course, this is only an issue if you want to treat the area around the hernia.