Men and women considering a tummy tuck at our Burlington, Ontario, plastic surgery practice are often curious what their midsections will look like after the procedure—especially the bellybutton. While it may seem like a minor issue, the navel plays a major role in how tummy tucks are performed. Whether or not a bellybutton appears natural can make or break your tummy tuck results.
In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at what exactly happens to the bellybutton during a tummy tuck procedure.
Tummy Tuck Procedure Steps
During a traditional tummy tuck, Dr. Weiglein will:
- Make one incision very low on your abdomen and another around your bellybutton to free it from the surrounding skin
- Remove excess fat, sometimes with the help of liposuction
- Tighten abdominal muscles as needed
- Pull down the abdominal skin and trim off the excess
- Create a new opening to allow the bellybutton to peek through
- Close all incisions with sutures
This process is effective for creating significant corrections within the abdominal area. Learn more about everything the procedure can achieve in our previous blog post.
Tummy Tuck Variations
In addition to traditional tummy tucks, Dr. Weiglein also performs 2 variations:
- Mini tummy tuck: The bellybutton is not addressed during a mini tummy tuck, as the procedure only corrects concerns on the lower abdomen. The skin below the bellybutton will be tightened, but the navel itself will remain the same.
- Extended tummy tuck: During an extended tummy tuck, which addresses the flanks as well, the bellybutton goes through the same changes it would during a traditional tummy tuck.
Creating a Beautiful Bellybutton
As you can see in the procedure steps outlined above, the bellybutton doesn’t actually move during the surgery. It stays in the same place, but it comes through a newly created opening in the adjusted skin.
Dr. Weiglein puts a special focus on creating a natural-looking bellybutton when he performs a tummy tuck. The feature is very prominent on the abdomen, and a poorly addressed bellybutton can sometimes be an obvious sign that you’ve had surgery, something most tummy tuck patients would rather avoid.
Success in creating a seamless and beautiful bellybutton is something you should keep an eye out for as you browse through potential surgeons’ tummy tuck before-and-after photos.
Scars
Both the lower abdomen incision and the navel incision are designed to be hidden. The lower abdomen incision runs from hip to hip low enough to be covered by underwear or a bikini bottom. The bellybutton scar closely circles the bellybutton itself, blending into the shadow of the navel and not obstructing the smooth, newly tightened skin surrounding it.
If you would like to learn more about tummy tuck procedures here at my Burlington, Ontario, plastic surgery practice, please contact us online or call (905) 634-5573.
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