Seattle Plastic Surgeon finds (and fixes) umbilical hernias in about 20% of her tummy tuck patients.
I do a lot of abdominoplasties a.k.a. tummy tucks and I fix a lot of umbilical hernias.
It's not an "outie'. It's a hernia but I'm here to help.
Here’s how I approach this very common problem:
During surgery, I carefully exaimine the umbilicus (that’s belly button in normal speech) to feel if there is any weakness in the abdominal wall. Sometimes the weakness is obvious like in the photo, but often it is not. If I think there is a hernia, I will incise the umbilicus from the center to the 6:00 position and take a look at the abdominal wall underneath. If there is a hernia, it shows up as a little or not-so-little blob of fat that is poking out from the inside to the outside. I coax the little fat blob back into the inside and put 1 – 3 permanent sutures in to repair the small hole in the abdominal wall. Then I stitch up the belly button incision and proceed with the rest of the surgery.
@lisalynnsowder
