Belly buttton question

I had a tummy tuck with lipo 17 days ago.  I feel just great and I'm  very happy with my results.  But I'm wondering how long it took your belly button to heal?  It seems like mine is taking forever.  I know its only been 17 days but my incision looks great its all healed up.  This thing keeps looking weepy and I keep cleaning it with peroxide like I was instructed to but its not looking much better.  Any suggestion on how I can help this along?  Thanks! Lou :D

I just had a LBL 18 days ego.  My surgeon told me to keep my belly button moist at all times by putting neosporin on it for two days and then Vaseline five times a day.  It is healing pretty nicely, so I think it is working.  Maybe you should call your surgeon back and ask about this.  I hope it works out for you.

Hey Elina...you've been missed.  Congratulations on the LBL!!

Ms Shell

Thank you Ms. Shell.  I hope you are delighted with your plastics and everything is healing beautifully.

My belly button took about 4 weeks to heal. Funny, but my doctor told me to keep it as dry as possible and do not put any cream or anything at all - he said the constant moisture was what was keeping it from healing.

Funny how each surgeon is so different. My BB actually looks really good and has looked good since 4 weeks out.

Thanks for the info.  My Dr. said the same thing about keeping it dry.  Just clean it with peroxide dry with a qtip and a dry dressing.  It is funny how everyones Dr. is different. Hopefully in the next week or so it will be all healed up.  I hope, its driving me crazy worrying about it.  Lou

It is so weird how different surgeons give totally different advice.  My doctor also did not want me to wear any compression items or a bra for the first two weeks.  Some want woman to do a massage after BA while I wonder if they really know what they are talking about.  I have to say, up to now everything looks great so I am keeping my fingers crossed it stays this way.

My dr told me to air out my incisions an hour a day which I normally did after my shower. I had a couple of stubborn spots on my thighs and he actually told me to let it air out and if I could, sit in front of a fan to help it dry. He said the moisture just made it take longer to heal. I'm guessing it's different for those deep open wounds where they have to be packed.

wow - docs are all across the board. my doc explained to be very conservative in my use of peroxide (to use alcohol instead). Peroxide, he explains kills bacteria, but also it can't tell the difference between good cells and bad cells so it will kill the new skin trying to grow as well. (OK, weird, but then I got confirmation from three different nurses (who work in different ICU centers) that if you use too much peroxide (too often) it can hinder the new skin grafting. When people have infections they do not treat it with peroxide except maybe the first time, then alcohol to get it clean after that, antibiotic ointment and something to cover it (sterile gauze) to keep the cooties out. This plan worked for me too.

Also weird on my belly button... mine was 100% healed and looks 100% perfect and beautiful for the last 14 months. All the sudden (less than a 24h onset) I had this lump the size of a golf ball that started weeping at the belly button and finally 'burst' - about a tablespoon of green pus came out - BARF (and it takes a LOT to make me quezzy) - along with a LOT of the 'self-absorbing' stitches - HA - right self-absorbing my a**. Well I went back to the cleaning w/ alcohol (not peroxide) and neosporin, kept it clean and covered. When to sick call on monday with the packet of "GROSS" that came out - they told me that my treatment of it was PERFECT and to keep doing exactly what I was doing and gave me anti-biotics. It's nearly healed now - but they still don't know why it did that...so weird.