“Will my belly button look normal after hernia surgery?”
I am a 36 year old female. I want to know if my belly button will look normal after hernia surgery?
7 Answers
That depends on how good your surgeon is. You will always have a scar, however, your surgeon and your surgeon's technique will determine what your belly button will look like after surgery.
Yes it should.
Hi,
You did not specify what kind of hernia repair you are having done. If it is an inguinal hernia repair, which is a hernia in the groin region, your belly button is not affected. If it is an umbilical hernia repair or a ventral hernia repair, the answer is that your belly button may not look the same. In case of an umbilical hernia, the hernia has been there bulging through your belly button, and so you might have seen a bulge through the belly button for years before you get the repair done. Even so, since the incision is close to the belly button and the bulging hernia is reduced and the weakness is repaired with sutures before closing the incision, there will be a new appearance to the belly button which you will get used to, and it will obviously a better looking belly button than one with the bulging hernia. Third kind of hernia is a ventral or abdominal hernia which is a large bulge through the fascia weakness in the abdominal region, and is usually repaired with a larger incision to close the defect in the fascia, and if it can be done laparoscopically may be done with more than 1 small incisions. I am a chest surgeon, so I don't do abdominal hernias, but I have seen and helped in some during my gen surgery years. With large ventral hernias, sometimes they have to remove some skin if excessive, stretched skin is present due to sagging skin after weight loss. In these instances, they have to redesign and create the belly button placement like new.
You did not specify what kind of hernia repair you are having done. If it is an inguinal hernia repair, which is a hernia in the groin region, your belly button is not affected. If it is an umbilical hernia repair or a ventral hernia repair, the answer is that your belly button may not look the same. In case of an umbilical hernia, the hernia has been there bulging through your belly button, and so you might have seen a bulge through the belly button for years before you get the repair done. Even so, since the incision is close to the belly button and the bulging hernia is reduced and the weakness is repaired with sutures before closing the incision, there will be a new appearance to the belly button which you will get used to, and it will obviously a better looking belly button than one with the bulging hernia. Third kind of hernia is a ventral or abdominal hernia which is a large bulge through the fascia weakness in the abdominal region, and is usually repaired with a larger incision to close the defect in the fascia, and if it can be done laparoscopically may be done with more than 1 small incisions. I am a chest surgeon, so I don't do abdominal hernias, but I have seen and helped in some during my gen surgery years. With large ventral hernias, sometimes they have to remove some skin if excessive, stretched skin is present due to sagging skin after weight loss. In these instances, they have to redesign and create the belly button placement like new.
That depends on several factors that are mostly out of the control of the surgeon. How big is the hernia? Do you have a "normal" looking belly button now? (Probably not if you have a hernia.) How well do you heal? Some people do not heal well and have keloids, so this can make the belly button look abnormal. What do you consider a "normal" belly button? If you have a small-medium hernia AND you heal well, the surgeon can put the scar right through the middle of the belly button and it will look relatively "normal" because the scar ends up looking like a belly button fold (innie) and you can still wear a bikini. Another option for large hernias is a robotic or laparoscopic repair, those scars a small and are barely noticeable, but there may be excess skin that needs to be removed and that may require more of a plastic surgery repair. Of course, NO ONE can guarantee that it will look perfect.
My last comment: you are a young female, the surgeon does NOT want to scar you for life; believe me, most good surgeons want their patients to be happy with the results. Have an open conversation with your surgeon about your concerns and if you are not satisfied with that surgeon's answer, then find a different surgeon.
My last comment: you are a young female, the surgeon does NOT want to scar you for life; believe me, most good surgeons want their patients to be happy with the results. Have an open conversation with your surgeon about your concerns and if you are not satisfied with that surgeon's answer, then find a different surgeon.
Depends on what hernia they are fixing. If it is inguinal or femoral hernia, yes. If it is an umbilical hernia, it won't be perfect like now. Explain to your surgeon it is a concern of yours.
It should, but if one is obese or has aberrant anatomy going into surgery, then this plays a role esthetically after surgery.
After an umbilical hernia repair, the belly button will return to more of a normal appearance (the bulge should be gone) but it will likely never look quite like it did prior to surgery.
