1. Will an abdominoplasty tighten up loose skin?

The traditional tummy tuck procedure, also called an abdominoplasty, will tighten up the loose skin of the lower abdomen and can help to sculpt the abdomen to give it a more normal and beautiful appearance.


2. Can the problems come back after the abdominoplasty?

If the patient gains weight after undergoing an abdominoplasty, they will increase the width and girth of the abdominal tissue. This will then lead to skin laxity if the patient subsequently has a dramatic weight loss. I ask that my patients be in a weight that they can maintain. I do not ask my patients to lose 50 or 100 pounds if they cannot maintain that significant weight loss. I prefer them to be in a situation where their weight can be maintained within five to ten pounds. On the same note, I do not think an abdominoplasty should be considered a form of weight loss.


3. Is a tummy tuck a good way to lose weight?

Rarely do I perform a tummy tuck surgery for a patient as a form of weight loss. There are some patients that have a large amount of soft tissue that hangs down from their belly button to the pubic region. That excess tissue is called a panus. A significant amount of panus tissue can prevent a patient from working out, and can even lead to difficulties with walking. Those patients that have a significant panus tissue and have been unsuccessful at standard weight loss measures are candidates for a panus resection abdominoplasty. I always remind patients who undergo this treatment that there is a high likelihood that they will need a revision abdominoplasty in about six months to a year. This is because once the panus is removed the patients feel so great about themselves and start working out because they are motivated for further weight loss. So it is important to be realistic about the expectations of the surgery for your first stage and potentially the second stage, in some cases.


4. Can men benefit from a tummy tuck?

Men can have a nice result from a tummy tuck. Typically, a tummy tuck on a male patient occurs after they have had significant weight loss and they have excess skin. However, the male anatomy is distinctly different from the woman in the abdomen, sometimes making the result harder to achieve.


5. Will I feel pain afterwards?

The patients typically feel a tight sensation in the center abdomin where the muscles have been brought back into the midline area. They will have pain on the lateral flank area, the lateral abdominal area, but in the central low zone below the umbilicus they will have very little discomfort. I describe to my patients that they will not feel as much pain after this surgery, but they will feel a very tight sensation.


6. Why do patients seek a tummy tuck?

Many women have undergone C-sections and have had excessive amounts of weight loss. The ideal candidate for tummy tuck is the patient who has had the scar from c-section or excessive weight loss and has excessive skin hanging down. The tummy tuck can be absolutely life-changing for these patients. I have many women who say that they are very uncomfortable with their bodies and disappointed in the way they look outside of the shower and therefore feel that it affects not only themselves, but their personal lives. Because of this, patients who seek tummy tucks and then undergo the surgery often have an extremely positive result, and in many cases life-changing results.


7. Is recovery time different for a full tummy tuck and a mini tummy tuck?

The difference between a full tummy tuck and a mini tummy tuck can be dramatic in terms of recovery. A patient recovering from a mini tummy tuck will typically take ten days to return to relatively normal activity. I require my patients to limit their stretching and aggressive lower abdominal movement for six weeks because I am trying to decrease the scar from showing by limiting the tension on the incision line. A full tummy tuck often requires repair of the underlying fascia (muscle tightening) so this requires a minimum of two weeks off from work, and ideally three weeks to get the best results. If patients can only get off for two weeks, I inform them that they must be moving very slow, and depending upon job description, we discuss what their capabilities are on an individual basis.