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From the OR · Abdomen
Is the belly button removed during a tummy tuck? Is it moved? Many patients ask this during their consultation. Dr. med. Zeynep Potente answers the question right after a procedure, using the tissue she has just removed. She shows where she cut around the belly button and explains why it still stayed in its place.
Note: The video was recorded in the operating room. It shows a removed piece of tissue with blood and, at the end, footage of the patient before and after the procedure. It serves to inform about the procedure and does not constitute advertising for a specific result. Watch reel on Instagram ↗
The piece on the green surgical drape is a patient’s lower abdomen: skin and fatty tissue that were removed during the tummy tuck. Dr. Potente points out the edges. At the bottom is the pubic area, on the sides are the groin areas, and at the top is the upper edge of the resection, meaning the line up to which tissue was removed.
One spot is labeled as the belly button. This is where Dr. Potente cut around it: the incision runs all the way around it once, and the skin next to it came off with the removed tissue. The belly button itself is not part of the piece.
The term “belly button relocation,” which Dr. Potente also uses, sounds as if the belly button moves. It stays in its place. The steps:
Afterward, the belly button has new skin around it and sits in the same spot as before.
This patient had only a moderate amount of excess skin on the upper abdomen. Dr. Potente and the patient therefore decided together on a purely horizontal tightening: one horizontal incision above the pubic area, no vertical scar.
To see when an additional vertical incision is needed, read the article Abdominoplasty after major weight loss.
The available options and what they cost are described on the tummy tuck page.
“The belly button has stayed right where it was, so that means the belly button stays on the abdominal wall.”
— Dr. med. Zeynep Potente
Note: This case is an individual example. How far the skin is released, whether a horizontal incision is enough, and how the belly button and scars look after healing depend on the initial findings, tissue quality, and healing process, and cannot be generalized to other patients.
No. If the skin above the belly button is tightened as well, the surgeon does cut it free from the skin all the way around, but it stays attached to the abdominal wall and remains in its place. The abdominal skin is pulled down over it and gets a small opening right where the belly button is, through which the belly button is brought out and stitched in.
No. In a mini tummy tuck, only the skin between the belly button and the incision above the pubic area is released and tightened; the belly button is left untouched. An incision is made around it when the skin above it is to be tightened as well, that is, in a full tummy tuck and in a vertical-horizontal tummy tuck. The examination shows which type is an option for you.
Yes, if an incision was made around the belly button. A small scar forms where it is stitched into the new opening, in addition to the horizontal scar above the pubic area. It fades significantly over the course of a year but does not disappear completely.
The term sounds as if the belly button is moved during a tummy tuck. It isn’t: it stays attached to the abdominal wall and afterward sits in the same spot as before. What is new is the skin around it. Before the tightening, this skin sat higher up on the abdomen. It gets a small opening right where the belly button is, and the belly button is stitched into it.
In a personal consultation, we examine where and how much excess skin there is and discuss which type of tummy tuck is an option and what scars it leaves — with no obligation. Consultations in Frankfurt and Oberursel; surgery takes place in Oberursel.
Medically reviewed by Dr. med. Zeynep Potente · Updated on October 1, 2026
