Tummy Tuck Scar: Shapes, Healing, and Treatments in 2025

Table of content

• Tummy Tuck Scar
• Tummy Tuck Scar Healing Stages
  • Closure Phase
  • Establishment Phase
  • Maturity Phase
• Best Tummy Tuck Scar Treatment
• Tummy Tuck Scar Revision
• Extended Tummy Tuck Scar
• Belly Button Scar After Tummy Tuck
• Tummy Tuck Scar After 2 Years
• Tummy Tuck Scar Care
• References

We understand that any patient, especially those who underwent an abdominoplasty, is concerned about possible scarring.

Indeed, how the scars will seem is perhaps one of the most often asked topics regarding abdominoplasty.

A lengthy, horizontal scar that runs from hip to hip is often inevitable to form after a tummy tuck surgery.

Most surgeons try their best to make the scar from a tummy tuck as low or hidden on the abdomen as possible, usually just above the pubic area.

As you can see from before and after pictures of some of the previous patients, hiding scars guarantee that it wont be noticeable even in underwear or a bikini.

Let’s remember always that scarring is one of the common risks associated with any surgical operation, whether it is performed for medical or cosmetic reasons.

Tummy Tuck Scar

Scars must be made regardless of the type of abdominoplasty you choose to get (complete or mini tummy tuck).

A scar will form from the incision created when the skin is removed at the tummy tuck line. Several variables will determine the tummy tuck surgery scars’ ultimate length, location, and quality.

A scar that runs horizontally across the lower abdomen, typically below "normal" contemporary waistbands, is left behind by the majority of abdominoplasty surgeries.

The tummy tuck surgery scar should be located where the lower hair-bearing pubic region (mons pubis) meets the abdomen. However, tummy tuck scars come in different shapes.

The type of tummy tuck surgery (straight line, bicycle handle, or French bikini) determines the scars form.

During the surgery, extra skin, tissue, and fat are removed from the area surrounding your abdomen.

There will inevitably be a tummy tuck scar tissue from such extensive body contour repair. Following Tummy Tuck Recovery, scarring is normal and not a problem in and of itself.

A hip-to-hip incision is made below the navel and above the pubic region, which leads to "traditional" or "standard" scars after tummy tuck.

The underwear line typically makes it easy to conceal this scar. In addition to generating a new navel, a conventional stomach tuck leaves a tiny, round scar.

Tummy Tuck Scar Healing Stages

Any mark or imperfection that results from the skin recovering from a wound can indeed be called a “scar”. Typically, tummy tuck scar progression goes through stages like this:

Closure Phase

Three to four weeks are needed to complete this phase. Your body produces collagen fibers to fill in and repair any damaged skin in the incisions produced during your tummy tuck procedure.

Establishment Phase

Three to six months are needed to complete this phase. The region is strengthened and protected by the constant accumulation of collagen at the wound site.

The creation of the new tissues is supported by an increase in the areas blood supply as the tummy tuck incision healing starts. The new scar gets thicker, darker, and more noticeable as a result of these events.

Maturity Phase

One to two years may pass throughout this phase. After the wound site has produced enough collagen, part of it degrades and the blood flow diminishes. The scar gets flatter, lighter, thinner, and less noticeable and perceptible. This tummy tuck scar healed occurs at the end.

Explore Similar Health Concerns:

Tummy Tuck Scar After 6 Months: Advanced Healing with Best Results?

Mini Tummy Tuck Before and After: Transform Your Body Contour Now

Stages of Swelling After Tummy Tuck: What to Expect in Recovery

Best Tummy Tuck Scar Treatment

After the scars have healed and naturally grown, some tummy tuck patients may still be unhappy with how they look.

Thankfully, some therapies can lessen the noticeable scars left by the stomach tuck process. The following are the most popular and best treatment for tummy tuck scar:

• Scar Revision: Once more, some people seek cosmetic surgery after tummy tuck scar. One effective technique to lessen the visibility of an abdominoplasty scar is through scar revision surgery.

• Laser therapy: Known as laser resurfacing, this can be used to resurface the skin, reduce redness, and replace damaged skin with healthy collagen. The lasers cause the blood vessels on the surface of the skin to burst. Laser liposuction is a different form of body sculpting that can be used to remove more fat pockets in the abdomen.

• Punch Grafts: In this procedure, the surgeon eliminates the scar tissue by creating a tiny hole in the skin. After that, the surgeon replaces it with skin from another area of the body, usually the skin behind the ear, and secures it in place with stitches.

• Intralesional steroids: These injections aid in the removal of excessive scar tissue from tummy tuck. Corticosteroids, such as triamcinolone acetonide, are injected either directly onto the lesion or just beneath the skin.

Tummy Tuck Scar Revision

Surgery may be required to repair some belly tuck scars, such as hypertrophic or keloid scars, especially in critical cases. Scar revision is accomplished using a variety of procedures, such as Z-plasty and W-plasty.

A surgeon removes the scar from your skin during scar revision, and the incision is then sutured completely.

For scar revision surgery, however, most patients must wait 12 to 18 months following their stomach tuck.

During this period, the scar is at its best and the skin has had time to further relax and release tension from the scar.

Under general anesthesia, the scar is cut out and the incision is closed to achieve tummy tuck scar removal.

The surgeon can relocate the scar to align with the natural path of the skins collagen fibers, improving healing and flexibility while also making the scar less noticeable.

Suturing the incision with a layered closure eases the strain on the scar and stops it from becoming wider as it heals, which might lead to complete tummy tuck scar treatment.

Extended Tummy Tuck Scar

The front of the abdomen and the hips are the trouble spots and places with loose skin. An extended abdominoplasty is the appropriate surgery for these cases.

Because the surgeon has reached farther to repair the abdomen, the scar is longer. Scars from extended abdominoplasties spread to the patients sides in addition to the hip bones.

Although it is rare, some patients may recover with atypical or extremely extended scars. In certain cases, a patient may acquire excessive and irregular scarring, which might seem reddish, big, and uneven.

You could get a terrible scar for a number of reasons. For instance, it can be the result of healing process issues, which produces an excess of collagen, proteoglycans, elastin, and extracellular matrix proteins

Such problems can lead to further scarring or a circular tummy tuck scar or extended tummy tuck scars.

Keloid and hypertrophic scars are the two most prevalent forms of uneven or excessive scarring. The lower abdomen, belly button, or pelvic region might all have scarring after tummy tuck.

Belly Button Scar After Tummy Tuck

Most complete abdominoplasty procedures leave scarred tissues around or beside the belly button.

However, mostly the scar remains in place, and the skin of your abdomen "moves around" your natural belly button.

For most patients, the scar will eventually blend into the belly and become less obvious, even if it may be evident at first.

More tissue needs to be smoothed and tightened in patients who have a complete abdominoplasty, but the Tummy Tuck Belly Button is left in place.

The surgeon manipulates the abdominal tissue around the belly button to get the desired result. A scar around this core area of the abdomen may arise from this.

After a standard abdominoplasty, many patients may have a scar around the belly button, although this usually goes away and blends in rather well with time.

Tummy Tuck Scar After 2 Years

It takes 8–12 months for scars to develop. Scars tend to disappear at this point because the scar dissolves the blood vessels that were necessary to aid in wound healing.

After the first year, the scars often significantly diminish, and the edema will totally disappear.

By adopting healthy lifestyle practices including eating a balanced diet, exercising, and using sunscreen, patients may permanently enjoy their better-shaped body and their subtle tummy tuck scars after 2 years!

Although scar management treatments can help make belly tuck scars seem better, you can increase your chances of success by choosing a board-certified plastic surgeon with the necessary training and expertise to conduct your tummy tuck.

Selecting a skilled, certified surgeon reduces the need for further revision surgeries while resulting in safer operations and improved cosmetic results post tummy tuck scar.

Tummy Tuck Scar Care

Each patient has unique characteristics that affect healing of tummy tuck scars over time. Age, diet, smoking, infection, and general body composition are some of these.

Your overall health and well-being affect how quickly and effectively your scars heal and disappear.

Various stages of the healing process for tummy tuck scars may require different ways to deal with them, which could increase Tummy Tuck Cost.

The therapies that may be suggested by your healthcare professional include antimicrobial cream, petroleum jelly, sheets of silicone gel, and vitamin D or vitamin E.

Interesting read:

Liposuction vs Tummy Tuck Results: Which One is Better for You?

360 Tummy Tuck: Ultimate Solution for Contoured, Confident You

References

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