Reader Question:
When I was pregnant, my daughter pushed against my belly button the last couple of months and stretched it out. Then I ended up having two hernias which also stretched it out. Unfortunately I pierced my belly button when I was 15 and the skin above my belly button is now extremely loose. Can you fix this?
I am 26 and had my baby in Sept of 2010. I gained 30 pounds (healthy) and immediately had the two hernias. I think they were a result of the pregnancy or labor. I had them repaired in Jan of 2011. I am planning on having one more child. If it’s not a boy, then we’ll be having another one. Lastly, no I am not a fitness model. I’d like to be!
Belly button plastic surgery is usually referred to as umbilicoplasty. It is a routine part of tummy tuck operations as it becomes necessary when moving the position of the umbilical opening. As you have discovered, the belly button can be changed by pregnancy, weight changes and trauma which adds scarring. Belly button hernia repair is focused upon fixing the muscular layers under the skin. It usually does little for the loose skin and/or scar above that repair.
You seem to have a condition of extra loose skin with scar tissue that gives your belly button a lumpy and less than tight look. The best treatment for the whole picture here is a tummy tuck, but for that I would wait until after you have completed your childbearing. A limited umbilicoplasty might be done before that to just tuck the skin a tiny bit, but the results would not be as remarkable as those you would see with a tummy tuck. I would need to see and examine you to be able to confirm what the image has shown and predict if this might be productive for you.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
