mini tummy tucks and floating belly buttons

[kellyc]

 :-[just want to know if other people have had this done - i did a few months ago and was really freaked out after operation when found out doc had floated my belly button - meaning he cut the stalk underneath and then reattached it after he repaired the muscles all the way up to under breasts (he said like a hood of car have to raise and bb in the way so has to be temporarily detached).  i've learned that in full doc has to cut around the bb so either way i guess it is detached.  this info freaked me out since "cut the cord" - did anyone else feel that way?  thanks

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[DrBermant]

:-[just want to know if other people have had this done - i did a few months ago and was really freaked out after operation when found out doc had floated my belly button - meaning he cut the stalk underneath and then reattached it after he repaired the muscles all the way up to under breasts (he said like a hood of car have to raise and bb in the way so has to be temporarily detached).  i've learned that in full doc has to cut around the bb so either way i guess it is detached.  this info freaked me out since "cut the cord" - did anyone else feel that way?  thanks

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

I never liked the floating of the belly button technique, but each surgeon to their own choices. The problem that I did not like was the proportion of where the belly button ended up. If there is too much skin above the belly button and a Mini Tummy Tuck is chosen incorrectly, then the belly button ends up too low on the stomach. If too much skin above and the belly button in an appropriate place, then there will still be excess skin above.

The second reason was the tether point. The belly button is the attachment of the surface skin to the deeper parts of the body. Reattaching that point can be difficult. I prefer to leave it and detach the belly button skin from the stalk that remains attached. You can see components of pictures during surgery Belly Button Component of Tummy Tuck - Skin Divided from Stalk. In most Tummy Tucks there is so much extra skin above the belly button that that excess needs to be pulled down over the in place stalk. The tethered stalk is then Brought Out Through a New Hole to Complete the Belly Button Surgery

Here is one case of my having to Revise Belly Button Umbilicoplasty that did not adhere well from another surgeon. If the surgeon did it well, then it should look good in my Standard Tummy Tuck Pictures or even more critically in Tummy Tuck Videos showing how the tissues move and just what degree the belly button tethers.

It is also a case of just how good the belly button looks after surgery as seen in this gallery of Belly Button Surgery as Part of Tummy Tuck.

Why not post your images here?  Welcome to our forum.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[kellyc]

mine actually does look very good though and i have minimal loose skin as before - my issue if the emotions i have felt because my "cord was cut" - may not make sense, but to me that felt like some kind of loss and it happens whether you have a full and are cut on top of belly around belly button or it is done underneath in a mini tt and floated (moved down) or reattached like mine and not moved down except maybe tiny amount - my surgeon said he reattached it and it doesn't look lower - just had emotions after about the stalk being cut

[DrBermant]

mine actually does look very good though and i have minimal loose skin as before - my issue if the emotions i have felt because my "cord was cut" - may not make sense, but to me that felt like some kind of loss and it happens whether you have a full and are cut on top of belly around belly button or it is done underneath in a mini tt and floated (moved down) or reattached like mine and not moved down except maybe tiny amount - my surgeon said he reattached it and it doesn't look lower - just had emotions after about the stalk being cut

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

Looking down directly on the belly it can be difficult to tell about location of the belly button. That is why I never used that perspective for my photographic documentation. But if you like it, that is great. I never saw patients happy from surgery elsewhere, only the unhappy ones.

The Belly Button or Umbilicus is the scar left over after the cord falls off. The tube of skin and scar to the abdominal wall are not part of the cord itself. Just the body's scar after that structure fell off. The emotions may be there, but the anatomy does not agree not from the many I have dissected over the years nor the evaluation under the microscope I had done.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[DrBermant]

Ok thanks I replied on there – I didn’t know you were retired – yes mine has been more emotional abouit having cord cut – not about how it looks – surgeon did do a good job except little bit of dog ear one side etc – nothing perfect – just emotionally knowing “cord was cut” has been kind of hard to come to terms with because feels like a loss or something so wanted to see if anyone else had these emotions thanks

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

There are many emotions associated with our bodies. That is what I learned about the power of documentation with first Tummy Tuck Experiences clips and then my Tummy Tuck Videos.  My patients could express how they felt about their problems and surgical solutions. One of the examples has over 30 minutes of such discussion from one patient.

No, that is one I had not yet heard of. But then again, I preferred techniques that did not divide the stalk from the deeper tissues. However, that is the purpose of this forum. To provide a board and discussion place for the public to express themselves.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[kellyc]

ok I hear you and understand your points.  From what I was told by 3 doctors there is no way to repair a diastasis unless you do endoscopy without going through the belly button somehow - either through the top of the tummy or underneath like mine was done because it is in the way - I was told there was no way around that or I would certainly not have allowed it.  I had my muscles repaired the whole way up.  So maybe it's my just understanding that I am being emotional about it all right now and it is a symbol more than anything.  Thanks

[kellyc]

thank you it does help to have you explain the anatomy because i thought it was the bottom of my "cord" my belly button that was cut to correct the diastasis - i thought that is what went down underneath the top of the bb and was atatched to deeper structures.  it didn't make sense to me how that could be reatatched but doc swears he did as i told him i did not want it moved down because i do think that looks odd.  I had a large hernia and my bb stuck out after 3 babies or i would have left it alone.  it is sort of tucked back inside now.  i will send you pic

[DrBermant]

thank you it does help to have you explain the anatomy because i thought it was the bottom of my "cord" my belly button that was cut to correct the diastasis - i thought that is what went down underneath the top of the bb and was atatched to deeper structures.  it didn't make sense to me how that could be reatatched but doc swears he did as i told him i did not want it moved down because i do think that looks odd.  I had a large hernia and my bb stuck out after 3 babies or i would have left it alone.  it is sort of tucked back inside now.  i will send you pic

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

Why not post it here so that others can understand. I do not post images sent to me.

Posting Images from ImageShack Instructions is one post on how to do that, or use the attachments option below the posting window.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[kellyc]

so from your website baby you mean the cord completely falls off and what is left on outside is not part of the cord at all?  i never knew that.  I thought that and what goes down underneath was an extension of the cord.  the top part on abdomen is the end of teh cord or the cord completely breaks away?  i guess i never really looked at it on the babies so this is an education for me.  I am attaching meaning to something that is not even real?  i think because that is where the cord is/was and nurtures babies it was weird for me......

[kellyc]

not sure how to post pics was trying to figure that out

[DrBermant]

not sure how to post pics was trying to figure that out

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

How to Post Images

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[kellyc]

i couldn't get the attachment to work but i will try again - all i have is a picture of result - thanks for your education - i wrote you a reply on that - i had really gotten myself upset about this so read my reply it explains how little i understood - nice to get educated

[DrBermant]

i couldn't get the attachment to work but i will try again - all i have is a picture of result - thanks for your education - i wrote you a reply on that - i had really gotten myself upset about this so read my reply it explains how little i understood - nice to get educated

You are quite welcome.

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery

[kellyc]

i tried to attach the pictures several times, but they kept saying too large and i don't know how to make them any smaller.  i looked at your photos of full tummy tucks to understand how it all is done.  it says on there the "belly button stalk" is pulled through and sutured so I guess the part left over after the cord is the stalk of that cord??  when i figure out how to get the picture smaller you will see my doc formed my old bb and then put a hood on top of it and i can feel the stitches in it - feel like they are going to come through at some point.  was surprised because my bb had popped out after 3 pregnancies so i thought it would just be kind of pulled back in, but not sure what was done.  i always had a flat bb, not an innie or an outie so taking some getting used to - this doc likes innies i think.

[DrBermant]

i tried to attach the pictures several times, but they kept saying too large and i don't know how to make them any smaller.  i looked at your photos of full tummy tucks to understand how it all is done.  it says on there the "belly button stalk" is pulled through and sutured so I guess the part left over after the cord is the stalk of that cord??  when i figure out how to get the picture smaller you will see my doc formed my old bb and then put a hood on top of it and i can feel the stitches in it - feel like they are going to come through at some point.  was surprised because my bb had popped out after 3 pregnancies so i thought it would just be kind of pulled back in, but not sure what was done.  i always had a flat bb, not an innie or an outie so taking some getting used to - this doc likes innies i think.

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a retired Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.


I guess I will need to write a page about image posting beyond what I have already answered in posts and gave you links for. The easiest is inserting a link to an image you already have up on the internet as discussed on those posts. There are several sites that permit you to post pictures. The question is protecting you identity and if the images will adhere to their standards if breasts or groin are exposed.

and are inserted with
pasting the URLs
selecting the URL
Clicking on first image middle row Insert Image which will surround the image with the image tags. You can see this code by selecting the Quote Button on the top right of the message window. 

Almost all image editing software has an option, save for web. These small images do not look good when printing, but they are what you need to put things up on a forum. Typical image size needed depends on what you are trying to show and can vary from 200 to 400 pixels in height to look right. There is also a resize option, but that is more advanced, you first need to get images up there if using our attachment feature. Here are two example programs to see how they do it.

iPhoto
Use Export from top row in the File Menu.
Choose File Export and set:
      Kind: JPEG
      JPEG Quality: Medium
      Size: Custom and set Max height to 200 to 400 pixels depending on what you are trying to show.
      File Name: Use File Name. You may need to edit the name before posting to preserve privacy.

Photoshop much more complex
Use Save for Web and Devices from top row File Menu.
     Use Optimized Tab
     Preset: JPEG Medium
     Check Convert to sRGB
     Image Size: Height to 200 to 400 depending on what you are posting

The process is similar, you are looking for something under the Restrictions: 4 per post, maximum total size 192KB, maximum individual size 128KB. It also is nice to keep the image size not to overwhelm the screen so that side by side images look good.

The images in this window are 200 pixels high, too small to see the items. The attached images are 400 pixels high after they have been clicked on to enlarge. The third image expands to 400 pixels high but is too wide for the screen and forces you to scroll the image in the window to see the entire image.

Hope this helps,

Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Tummy Tuck Abdominoplasty Surgery