A tummy tuck can be a great operation.
As many people discover, all the exercise in the world cannot eliminate excess skin from the lower abdomen. After pregnancy or weight loss, the abdominal skin frequently does not contract back to its original contour, leaving excess skin with stretch marks. Exercise will strengthen the abdominal muscles and is good for your back and your psyche, but it will never make the extra skin go away. In those cases we recommend a tummy tuck.
Like any operation in Plastic Surgery, the technique used for abdominoplasty (incisions, length of procedure, recovery etc.) depends on the patient. A thin woman who has a little extra skin above her pubic area is totally different from a large male patient who has lost 150 pounds.
Traditional abdominoplasty is associated with a number of unsightly problems: long, ugly scar, boxy abdominal shape without a waist, unnatural belly button, and a pubic area that comes up too high on the abdomen.
I prefer to accentuate the waist, attempting to make the abdomen look longer, not shorter, and to make the incision as low as possible. I also try to close the skin under slightly less tension in the center of the abdomen, so that the scar is finer and the mons area is not pulled up too high. If the pubic area is pulled up too high it also makes the abdomen look shorter. Not a good look.
Abdominoplasty can be an enormously satisfying procedure for the patient and the surgeon, restoring in many cases an almost ideal abdominal shape. Frequently abdominoplasty is combined with liposuction of the hips and love handles to make a more elegant trunk.
To see before and after images, please click Abdominoplasty.
Dr. Thorne is the Editor-in-Chief and the author of several chapters in Grabb and Smith's PLASTIC SURGERY, 7th Edition.
