Before and after umbilicoplasty (navel or belly button repair) in a 28 year old woman. After having children, she found her belly button did not have a normal shape. It was wide and indented, and she felt self-conscious wearing a bikini.
This patient was extremely thin and fit, and her minor rectus diastasis (separation of the rectus abdominal muscles from pregnancy) was obvious – whereas it can be hidden in others if there is more fat overtop to conceal it.
Her goal was to have a more normal appearing navel. Like many of our patients, she had an old navel piercing she no longer wanted – belly button rings seem to be less in style these days…
An umbilicoplasty was performed through an incision around her belly button. Her old navel piercing was removed. In order to correct the diastasis, a limited amount of rectus fascial plication (repair of the rectus abdominis muscles back together in the midline) was done, just in the area of their separation.
Rectus fascial plication is what is repaired in a formal tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), although the separation usually extends from the xiphoid process below the sternum above, all the way to the pubic bone down below.
Once the muscle separation was repaired, the belly button was able to be brought out through the top of the circular incision and inset so it looked more aesthetically pleasing. The bottom of the former large navel circle was closed vertically, in what Plastic Surgeons call a “V-to-Y closure”. This makes the belly button circle smaller and prevents stretching of the circle to its formerly large diameter.
A small amount of liposuction was done around the belly button to complete the procedure. Follow up photos are shown a year and a half after surgery. Her scars are mature and she wears bikinis (as she should, given that body!) without a second thought!
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
