While the primary goal of abdominoplasty or ‘tummy tuck’ surgery is to repair damaged abdominal muscles and remove excess skin and tissue, the choice of incision and scar placement varies depending on individual patient needs and anatomy. In a minority of cases, I find that patients may require an inverted “T” scar to achieve the best possible result. In this blog post, we will explore what an inverted “T” scar looks like and why some abdominoplasty patients require this specific type of scar.
What does an inverted “T” scar look like?
A traditional abdominoplasty scar involves a horizontal incision from hip to hip, resulting in a scar that runs along the lower abdominal region, generally hidden within the bikini line.
When an inverted “T” scar is required, a small vertical incision is made between the navel and the horizontal incision, resembling the shape of an upside-down letter T. The length of the vertical incision is customised depending on the patient’s needs.
Why do some patients require this type of scar?
An inverted T scar may be recommended in some cases when there is a significant amount of excess skin below the navel, but not quite enough excess skin above the navel to allow for the traditional horizontal tummy tuck incision to be hidden in the bikini line. In simple terms, there isn’t enough loose skin to pull down to get the horizontal scar low enough.
An inverted T allows for the skin to be pulled not just downward, but also from side to side, meaning the main horizontal incision line can still be as low as possible.
Particularly in patients with high navels, an inverted T scar may be required to position the “new” belly button in the most natural position.
For patients who require this specific type of scar, I find that the vertical T incision is a small trade off in the grand scheme of abdominoplasty surgery to ensure horizontal portion of the incision can be made as low as possible on the body.
66 years, 7 months post inverted 'T' scar abdominoplasty
38 years, 10 months post inverted 'T' scar abdominoplasty
36 years, 6 months post inverted 'T' scar abdominoplasty
Have another question about abdominoplasty scars?
Just call one of our friendly team on 4920 7700 to organise an initial appointment with my Practice Manager to begin exploring tummy tuck surgery. You may also be interested in a complimentary pre-assessment, or browsing our tummy tuck before and after galley.
More blogs you may be interested in:
- What does a tummy tuck scar look like?
- Minimising scars after plastic surgery
- Mini vs. full tummy tuck: What is the difference?
- Will Medicare help fund my tummy tuck?
- Recovering from a tummy tuck
- Liposuction vs. tummy tuck: Which procedure is right for me?
Blog Author:
Dr Nicholas Moncrieff, Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon
About Dr Moncrieff
Dr Moncrieff focuses exclusively on breast reductions, breast lifts, breast augmentation, tummy tucks and body lifts.
He is one of only a handful of Plastic Surgeons across Australia with this sole breast and body focus.
Dr Moncrieff has performed thousands of surgical procedures over more than two decades in medicine. Over 20,000 of these procedures have been in Newcastle.
More information about Dr Moncrieff is available here.
