Belly button restoration after a tummy tuck or hernia repair

Most people who text me about this had no idea it was possible until they went looking. Surgery did what it was supposed to do, and one small thing went missing from the middle of your stomach. You are allowed to want it back. Here is how it works, in the order it happens.

Can a belly button be tattooed back after a tummy tuck or hernia repair?

Yes, in the sense that I can draw one on healed skin so that it reads as a belly button. I mix pigment to your skin in daylight, and then I draw it by hand, with shadow and highlight layered until something flat looks three-dimensional. It is what I love most about this work. A person does not have a belly button, and I get to draw one, and it has to look right on that particular stomach.

It comes in a few times a year rather than a few times a month, so if you have never heard of it, that is why. Yes, I rebuild belly buttons. I am always glad when one comes in.

When is the right time to ask?

Once the skin has healed and settled, and your surgeon is the person who tells you when that is. I am not a doctor, and I do not work on skin that somebody else is still looking after. For scars, my usual rule is a year past surgery or longer, because color and tissue keep changing while a scar matures. Send me photos and I will tell you where yours is.

You are welcome to call before then. Plenty of people call once, just to know it is possible, and come back later. Nothing gets booked on that call.

What is the session actually like?

It starts with two photos and a fifteen-minute phone call, free. In the studio, I mix your color first, against your skin, in daylight, and nothing starts until the mix disappears against you. We decide shape, size and placement together, and you look at it in a mirror before anything permanent happens.

Then I draw and shade it by hand. This is a small area with a lot of detail, so the time goes into the drawing rather than into covering ground. Most cases take one session plus a touch-up.

Walking out, the color looks stronger and darker than the finished result. Over the next weeks it lifts and softens into something quieter, which is why nobody judges it on day two, me included. You go home with written aftercare and my phone number. Then we look at it together and I do the touch-up. Skin takes pigment differently from person to person, so the second visit is in the plan from the beginning.

Will it look real?

Healed and settled, it reads as a belly button, with a shadow where the shadow would fall and a highlight where light would land. Up close, you will know it is a drawing, because it is flat. It does not add a hollow you can feel with a fingertip. In the mirror and in photos, on an ordinary morning, it is what your eye expects to find there.

It is a small area, and every millimeter of it shows.

If I think a drawing would draw more attention than the blank space does on your stomach, I will tell you that on the phone. I would rather lose the booking than do work I am not going to be proud of.

Does it hurt?

It depends on what is under the skin, and I give you my honest read on the phone before you sit down. Cut scars, like the ones a tummy tuck or hernia repair leaves behind, tend to have fewer nerve endings than the skin around them, and people are usually surprised by how little they feel.

You can take a break whenever you want. I keep a stress ball in the studio for anyone who wants something to squeeze, and most people are glad they had it.

What about the scar around it?

A tummy tuck or hernia repair usually leaves a scar somewhere nearby, and a healed scar is often pale in skin that is a different color. That is a color problem, and color work is what I do. If that line is what you see first when you look down, tell me on the call and we can talk about both. You can read how that works on the scar camouflage page. If you have been putting oil on a pale scar for years, this post explains why the color has not come back.

What does it cost?

Pricing is quoted at your free consult, after I have seen your photos, and we agree on the whole thing, cost included, before anything begins. You can read how quotes work on the pricing page.

How do I start?

Text two photos to 805-971-0097. Daylight, no filter, one close and one further back so I can see the whole stomach. Tell me what surgery you had and roughly when. We do fifteen minutes on the phone, free, and I tell you honestly what is possible, roughly how many sessions I think it would take, and what it would cost. If your skin is not ready, I will tell you that, and I will tell you roughly when to ask me again.

You can also ask about belly button work on the contact page, and quick answers live on the FAQ page. Healed results from real clients are in the gallery.