Belly button question

Hi Everyone,
I'm three weeks out from surgery today and feeling great...except for my belly button. It has been pusy for about a week. At my two week visit to the surgeon, I was told that the belly button is usually one of the "grossest" areas of healing and will weep for weeks. He told me that if it gets red or I get a fever to let him know. I've been cleaning it with Betadine solution and putting bacitracin on it, but it is definitely getting red .  Can anyone share their healing experience and doctor's advice? How long until your belly button healed?  I'll call my surgeon in the morning and hopefully he can prescribe something over the phone.
TIA for your feedback!
Leah

Leah,

I had my belly button migrated when I got my tummy tuck.  So I had a ring of stitches around it.  They healed without any any pus or redness.

I think you have an infection and need to have your doctor take a look-see.

Lisa

Hi Lisa,
I sent the dr a picture of my bb and he says it looks normal.  I'll be watching closely for any changes in the color or odor of the drainage.

It sounds like you have an infection and I'm glad you're calling your surgeon for treatment.

My belly button was never "gross looking". There was a small amount of bruising around the area of the stitches which disappeared in a few days. For the first few days I had surgical glue with some dried blood covering it until it flaked off. While the wound itself was red, the skin immediately next to it was never red. My BB was never wet/moist and never weeped. I washed it with the same gentle cleanser I use for the rest of my body during my shower. I always kept the area dry especially since one of the reasons I wanted the LBL was because I had problems with rashes in my BB.

I'm a little over 8 weeks now and the scar is extremely thin and pink - not completely faded but definitely not red. I would say that my BB actually has looked and healed better than parts of my LBL scar. I had 4 drains inserted during my LBL so maybe that's why my BB didn't weep - did you have drains?

Thanks for your response. I also had four drains, which have all been removed.  I sent the dr. a picture of my bb and he says it looks fine and to please stop using betadine and bacitracin,  He said to keep it dry and it wil be fine. Apparently the redness is just the wound left behind after the scabs came off.  I'll be keeping a close eye on things.

Hi Leah,

My belly button was black, pure black.  With each shower a little dropped off and finally the other day at about 3 weeks out, the last black piece fell off and I have a little redness around it.  PS states that soap and water is still the best to use.    Also, I had a ring of stitches as well.  Every post-op visit I showed PS my black belly button and they said it was fine and actually better then most patients. 

Alice

Hi Alice,
I had a lot of dried blood in my bb for the first 2 weeks.  I was afraid to touch anything b/c I thought there might be stitches under the scabs.  I finally cleaned it out and this is what I have been left with. Redness and oozing. doc says it looks fine, so I guess it is normal.

I had some redness and oozing in my armpits after brachioplasty.  My surgeon also felt it was not and infection and normal.  He didn't want me to put anything on it either and I would blot it with sterile gauze to remove the ooze. Hang in there!

Thanks, Cher!

My belly button came out pure black.  I will be three weeks out on Friday and it is still black, well half of it and last friday it got infected.  There is the pus, ooze, redness around the edges and black hard scab on the top part.  My doctor told me to put alcohol on it three times a day and but dry bandage over it.  I am also taking antibotics for it hoping it survives.  He will have to trim off some of the damage when the infection clears up.  Mine lasted two weeks before infection set in overnight, so watch it carefully, it can happen quickly.

Good luck to you.

Valerie