The scar is decided at the consultation, standing, in your own underwear — not in theatre. Its length follows your loose skin, and that part is not negotiable.
We mark it with you standing, in the underwear or swimwear you actually wear — bring it with you. The line sits low, typically six to eight centimetres above the front of the pubic bone, and it is angled to follow your garment rather than a textbook. Marking a lying patient is how scars end up above the waistband. Ten minutes in front of a mirror at the consultation decides what you will see for the next twenty years.
The scar has to be long enough to remove the skin that is actually loose. If the looseness extends around to the flanks, a short scar simply relocates the problem into dog-ears at each end, which then need a second operation to correct. A full abdominoplasty scar usually runs hip to hip. Anyone quoting you a fixed short scar without seeing you standing is quoting a length, not a surgical plan.
If your loose skin sits mostly below the navel, a mini tummy tuck can be done with no navel repositioning and a shorter scar. If it does not, and the skin above the navel has to come down, the original navel opening is closed — leaving a short vertical scar between the horizontal line and the new navel. It is an expected part of the operation in that scenario, and you should hear about it in the consultation, not the recovery room.
Red and firm for the first two months, softening and paling from month three, final appearance at twelve to eighteen. Silicone gel daily from week three once the wound is fully closed, SPF 50 whenever it will see sun for a year, and no stretching of the area through weight change. Judging the scar at week eight — the phase where it looks its worst — is the most common reason patients panic unnecessarily.
By most bikini bottoms, yes, provided we mark it standing in the garment you intend to wear. Very low-cut styles are the exception, and that is a conversation to have before surgery rather than after.
It is usually removed with the skin ellipse, because it sits inside the area we excise. In that sense you exchange two scars for one, in a lower and better-hidden position.