Abdominoplasty with umbilical hernia
5 kids is a handful! You certainly appear to be an excellent candidate for abdominoplasty to correct your skin stretch and muscle laxity. Your umbilical hernia would be repaired as part of the muscle repair. It is always best to be near your ideal body weight before you proceed with surgery and also to be done with having children.
If your hernia is very painful and is interfering with your activities then it may have to be addressed now – before your abdominoplasty. If you need to have your hernia fixed before, be sure and discuss this at length with your general surgeon and plastic surgeon to make sure that the planned hernia repair will not interfere with your abdominoplasty.
Start with consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon now so you can make plans as you lose weight. (Kevin L. Smith, MD, FACS, Charlotte Plastic Surgeon)
Combined procedure
I do this procedure with a general surgeon on stand by should I have any need for his skills. Most of the time I do most of the procedure and he does about 5 minutes of it which is the hernia repair.
On occasion the hernia is too close or through the belly button and then I remove it and re create a new belly button. (Gregory Lynam, MD, Richmond Plastic Surgeon)
Achieving the most beautiful result
You are a perfect and beautiful candidate for a Tummy Tuck in order to get rid of the saggy skin on your abdomen. Also candidate for a tight muscle repair to achieve a beautiful flat abdomen and mainly a small and tapered waist.
During this procedure it will be mandatory to do the hernia repair, having in mind the abdominal wall Is exposed a this procedure is much easer to perform.I can only envision a wonderful result exactly because you are very young. (Laura Carmina Cardenas, MD, Mexico Plastic Surgeon)
What would be done to fix my abdomen.
If you are currently having pain from your umbilical hernia, you should discuss this with your PCP so they can schedule a consultation with a general surgeon for evaluation. You could have your umbilical hernia repair now and subsequently diet to lose the unwanted weight.
Once you have your umbilical hernia repaired and your weight is where you would like it to be, you could discuss having a tummy tuck with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. This procedure will remove any excess abdominal skin and tighten the abdominal muscles to achieve a flatter appearance. (William J. Vinyard, MD, FACS, Palm Beach Plastic Surgeon)
Abdominoplasty and umbilical hernia
There is a medical indication to undergo surgery to correct the painful umbilical hernia. This should be addressed with your general surgeon, and the hernia repair should be covered by your insurance plan. Hernia repair is often done in conjunction with an elective tummy tuck procedure done by a plastic surgeon. Because of the large size of your umbilical hernia, you are potentially at an increased risk of having poor blood flow to the umbilicus after a tummy tuck, which could cause some minor wound healing issues.
Multiple pregnancies can cause a significant amount of abdominal muscle separation and weakness that can be improved after abdominoplasty. The muscle tightening, combined with excision of the loose skin will dramatically improve the appearance of your abdomen.
As far as the weight loss goes, if you are successfully losing weight, I would recommend continuing to do so and delay the procedure until your weight has been steady for at least 3 months. Of course this delay will be dependent on your surgeon’s recommendations regarding repair of your symptomatic hernia, which should take priority over the cosmetic procedure. (Erik Miles, MD, FACS, Charlotte Plastic Surgeon)
Painful hernia
You would be a good candidate for a tummy tuck and abdominal wall reconstruction but my concern is your painful hernia. I would have this assessed sooner rather than later.
Hernia repairs and tummy tucks can be performed as both one and two stage procedures and the pros and cons need to be discussed with a PS. It really depends on what is needed from the hernia point of view. Presuming you are fit and well with no other co-morbidities you should achieve a good result but get your hernia checked out. (Gary L. Ross, MBChB, FRCS, Manchester Plastic Surgeon)