Patients interested in improvement of abdominal contours may consider abdominoplasty (tummy tuck).
This procedure involves tightening the supportive tissues of the abdominal wall and removing skin and adipose
tissue (fat). This may be considered by individuals that have had considerable weight loss or have stretching
of the abdominal tissues due to bearing children.
Many times patients inquire as to the benefit of liposuction compared to abdominoplasty. Liposuction is best for patients with localized
adipose deposits with good skin elasticity without excessive skin or abdominal laxity. Abdominoplasty gives the best results in patients
that have redundancy of skin and abdominal wall laxity. Many times patients have these procedures after they have completed their plans
for children and would like to regain some of their abdominal contours.
Occasionally this procedure is performed at the same time as an operation required for intraabdominal difficulties. This operation is
typically, however, performed in the office under general anesthesia (going to sleep). The operation takes approximately 2 hours and
may be combined with liposuction to further improve the truncal areas.
Patients go home the same day returning to the office for follow-up visits as needed. This procedure takes some two to three weeks to
return to most physical activities. The scar of an abdominoplasty is placed in the lower abdominal area in the distribution of an
undergarment so that clothing can be worn to conceal the scar.
This type of operation can certainly be a motivating factor to lead a more active and healthy lifestyle since the tissues removed are
very resistant to improvement by diet and exercise alone. This type of procedure is quite long lasting if patients maintain their healthy
lifestyles.
– James Green, MD
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