Navel surgery – umbilicoplasty – allows you to change the appearance of the navel or even to reconstruct it in order to find a harmonious belly.

You may never have heard of it, but umbilicoplasty was the fourth most performed procedure in 2018 according to the British Association of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons.

Navel surgery allows you to change the size or shape of the navel in order to obtain a harmonious belly.

The reasons which can explain the resurgence of this cosmetic surgery operation are numerous. Is it the emergence of cropped tops and Instagram that boosted the popularity of umbilicoplasty? May be.

This “birth scar”, which defines the place where the umbilical cord was cut, has in any case become a real object of complex for some, pushing them to go through the scalpel box.

Following pregnancy, an operation, weight gain or loss, the installation of a piercing, or simply due to the passage of time, the navel can change its appearance. In some, it has always emerged due to hypertrophic scarring which has caused an increase in the volume of scar tissue. This excess skin can also be the result of an umbilical hernia, caused by inflammation of a small part of the intestine, and which has not resolved.

Operate a belly button that pops out

The surgeon removes the excess skin “in the central part at the level of the umbilical rod before re-anchoring the skin to the abdominal wall, specifies Doctor Chatel, cosmetic surgeon in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The bottom of the navel is then left in directed healing in order to obtain a retraction and a natural appearance ”. If the excess skin is due to an umbilical hernia, a first examination by a specialist in the digestive system will be recommended before performing any cosmetic surgery.

Changing a belly button that is too big or too small

Umbilicoplasty techniques also make it possible to reduce an umbilicus by removing part of the skin in order to tighten the area, or on the contrary to enlarge it by stretching the skin and then reshaping the navel. It is also possible to act on its shape by giving it a more horizontal or, on the contrary, more vertical orientation.

An umbilicoplasty associated with an abdominoplasty

When umbilicoplasty is performed following pregnancy or significant weight loss, an abdominoplasty is usually performed as a complement to remove excess skin and fatty tissue between the navel and the pubic area in order to tighten the skin. “The umbilicoplasty associated with the tummy tuck is a frequent indication after pregnancy because there is often an excess of skin at the level of the navel”, explains Dr Chatel. It will take at least 9 months after childbirth to consider umbilical surgery. A second pregnancy after navel surgery is quite possible, but is not recommended in the short term in order to optimize the outcome of the operation.

Rebuild a navel

The belly button may have been removed as a result of one or more operations on the abdomen. Reconstruction of the umbilicus is quite possible by incising and then recreating a slight central depression of the belly.

The surgery can be performed by local or general anesthesia if this is combined with a tummy tuck.

If the surgeon performs an umbilicoplasty alone, the operation lasts on average 30 to 60 minutes. If another surgery is performed in addition, the duration of the operation can extend over 2 hours.

The prices vary between 500 € and 4000 € depending on the intervention and the fees of the cosmetic surgeon.