Navel relocation is a surgical procedure that detaches the belly button from its original position and reattaches it to a new spot on the abdominal wall. It’s most commonly performed as part of a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), where tightening and removing excess skin shifts the belly button out of its natural position and requires the surgeon to reposition it. The clinical term is umbilical transposition, and its goal is to recreate a belly button that looks natural, sits in the right place, and leaves no visible scarring.
Why the Belly Button Needs to Move
During a full tummy tuck, the surgeon separates the skin and fat layer of the abdomen from the underlying muscle, pulls it downward to remove excess tissue, and then closes the incision along the lower abdomen. Because the skin is being stretched and repositioned, the belly button would end up far too low if left where it was. So surgeons free the belly button stalk from the surrounding skin, reposition the abdominal skin flap, and then bring the belly button back out through a new opening in the correct location.
Navel relocation also happens during breast reconstruction procedures that use abdominal tissue to rebuild the breast. In these cases, tissue is harvested from the lower abdomen in a way that can disrupt the belly button’s blood supply or position, making repositioning necessary. Occasionally, the procedure is done on its own to correct a belly button that has become misshapen or poorly positioned after previous surgery, pregnancy, or significant weight changes.
Where Surgeons Place the New Navel
Getting the position right matters more than most people realize. A belly button that’s even slightly too high or too low can make an otherwise excellent surgical result look off. Surgeons use specific anatomical landmarks to guide placement. The standard location is roughly at the midpoint between the bottom of the breastbone and the top of the pubic bone.
Research measuring belly button position in young adults found it typically sits about 0.7 centimeters below the level of the hip bones (iliac crests), with slight differences between men and women. The average belly button measures about 2.1 centimeters tall and 2.3 centimeters wide. These measurements give surgeons a reference point, but they also account for each patient’s body proportions and torso length. One positioning method, called the “flap flipping” technique, involves briefly lifting and lowering the repositioned skin flap to visually confirm where the belly button should emerge on the new abdominal surface.
How the Procedure Works
The belly button isn’t actually cut off and sewn back on. It stays attached to its stalk, a short tube of tissue that connects it to the deeper layers of the abdominal wall. During surgery, the surrounding skin is freed from around this stalk, essentially leaving the belly button in place while the skin moves over it. Once the skin has been pulled into its new position and the excess removed, the surgeon creates a small opening in the repositioned skin at the correct spot and brings the belly button stalk through it.
The belly button is then “inset,” meaning it’s sutured to the edges of this new opening and anchored to the underlying tissue. Surgeons place deep stitches between the belly button stalk and the connective tissue over the abdominal muscles at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions. This creates the natural depression that makes a belly button look like a belly button rather than a flat disc of skin. The shape of the skin opening varies by surgeon preference. The most common patterns are round, inverted V, or inverted U incisions, though some surgeons favor an inverted crescent shape about 1.5 centimeters wide.
Scarring and Cosmetic Results
One of the main goals of modern navel relocation techniques is hiding the scar. Surgeons accomplish this by placing the suture line along the sloping inner wall of the belly button rather than on the flat skin surface around it. When done well, the scar sits inside the natural shadow of the belly button and becomes essentially invisible once healed.
The resulting belly button is typically small, vertically oval or circular, with a slight hood of skin overhanging the top. This superior hooding mimics the look of a natural belly button and is considered one of the key markers of a good cosmetic outcome. Newer techniques specifically aim to produce a belly button around 10 by 5 millimeters at its opening, which is smaller than the natural average but tends to look more aesthetically appealing after the swelling resolves. A belly button that’s too large or perfectly round can look obviously surgical, so most techniques err on the smaller side.
Recovery Timeline
The belly button itself heals relatively quickly compared to the larger tummy tuck incision. Stitches are typically removed 7 to 10 days after surgery unless dissolvable sutures were used. Most people can return to work within a couple of days if the navel relocation was done as a standalone procedure, though recovery takes longer when it’s part of a full tummy tuck since the abdominal incision and muscle repair need more healing time.
Exercise and heavy lifting are usually off limits for several weeks. During this period, the belly button’s shape continues to settle. Surgeons often place a small foam or silicone bolster inside the belly button during the early healing phase to help maintain its depth and prevent the opening from flattening as scar tissue forms. A compression garment worn around the abdomen supports the healing tissues and reduces swelling. The final shape of the belly button can take several months to fully emerge as internal swelling subsides and the scar tissue matures and softens.
Risks and Complications
The most serious complication specific to navel relocation is necrosis, where part or all of the belly button tissue dies due to insufficient blood supply. This happens because the belly button stalk relies on small blood vessels that can be damaged during surgery. In a large study of patients undergoing abdominal tissue harvest for breast reconstruction, belly button necrosis occurred in about 3.2% of cases. The majority of those were partial thickness, meaning only the surface layers were affected, and complete loss was rare.
Other potential complications include stenosis, where the belly button opening narrows too much during healing and creates an unnaturally small or slit-like appearance. Malposition, where the belly button ends up slightly off-center or too high or low, is another possibility, though careful surgical planning minimizes this risk. Wound separation at the suture line, infection, and visible scarring can also occur but are uncommon with modern techniques. Patients who smoke, have diabetes, or have had previous abdominal surgeries face somewhat higher complication rates because these factors affect blood flow and healing.