Is There a Special Technique to Achieve a Hooded BB During a TT?

The belly button is perhaps the most important post surgical remnant of a tummy tuck.  To get a good belly button, there are several techniques:

    1.  I make a vertical ellipse one cm below the bottom edge of the belly button stalk.

     2.  My belly button starts out as a vertical ellipse being 15 mm long by 8 mm wide.

     3.  I defat the under surface of the skin for a distance of 2-3 cm around the ellipse.

     4.  I anchor the umbilical or belly button stalk to the rectus fascia with four 3/O PDS    sutures at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock.

     5.  All suturing is subcuticular with super glue at the umbilical abdominal wall junction. 

The above is my formula for an attractive, small, hooded umbilicus which is an inny that shows little to no scarring.

 

 

Yes, as long as you don't have previous scarring at the belly button, a hood can be achieved. This can be done in serveral ways.

One way is to make the tummy opening for the belly button with an upside down triangle at the top that splits the umbilical stalk.

Another way is to make the opening slightly lower than where the belly button stalk is attached to the abomen.

Most people consider an attractive belly button as one that is taller than it is wide. A tall but narrow opening that is slightly lower than where the stalk attaches is a technique I commonly use and makes for an attractive belly button.

I hope this helps.

Hi there-

There is no doubt that the appearance of the belly button can make or break a tummy tuck outcome, and that this is one way of separating an average tummy tuck surgeon from a truly skilled and talented one.

Ask to see lots of photos of each surgeon's work, with a focus on this critical detail.

It is possible to get a hooded belly button. It depends on the technique that a surgeon develops over years of experience. Believe me, I had my share of average looking or ugly "target" looking belly buttons. In the last few years, I developed my technique, looking and studying hundreds of belly buttons. My preferred approach is an upside down "V" and I take a pie shaped wedge out of the lower belly button and introduce the upper part of the V into this opening. This breaks up the circular scar that you so often see on many surgeons' web sites.

The best way to create this "hooded" type of umbilicus (belly button) is to create the "neoumbilical" opening slightly below (inferior to) the umblical stalk location after abdominoplasty flap advancement, and to bevel the peri-umbilical incision during flap development from distal superior to proximal inferior.  Some examples of this type of belly button should be in the gallery on our website.