Life After Weight Loss
Tummy tuck info
The term “tummy tuck" is often used by people who desire a flatter abdomen after weight loss, and understanding a few simple concepts can make sense of this procedure.
The first concept is that to get a flatter belly, you have to remove any excess skin. Just removing fat with liposuction from beneath loose skin will only make the loose skin worse. There are many versions of the abdominoplasty (the medical term for “Tummy Tuck"), and all of them have a common element of removing skin in the lower part of the abdomen. This results is a scar that usually runs along the lower part of the abdomen from hip bone to hip bone.
The length of the scar is determined by how much skin needs to be removed, and can be kept much shorter in some patients.
The second concept is that tightening of stretched out abdominal muscles is a technique that is often used along with skin removal to help get a flatter belly.This tightening is done with sutures and gives a corset effect. Muscle tightening is used in varying degrees—some people need a lot of it to get a good shape, while others need no muscle tightening at all. Surgeons will customize the technique for each patient’s body type.
The third concept is that the belly button is kept in place, like a flower on a stem, and the loose skin of the belly is freed up and pulled down over it. This means that a new incision must be made on the skin for the belly button to pass through. The final scar pattern involves a scar low across the belly and around the belly button.
There are special cir****tances in which patients have so much extra skin that the surgeon will recommend a vertical scar in addition to the low horizontal scar. While the procedure involves an additional scar, it prevents loose skin in the middle of the belly.
Recovery from a tummy tuck requires 6 weeks with no heavy lifting. People with desk jobs average 2 to 3 weeks out of the office, while people with strenuous jobs can’t go back to full duty until after 6 weeks.
The first concept is that to get a flatter belly, you have to remove any excess skin. Just removing fat with liposuction from beneath loose skin will only make the loose skin worse. There are many versions of the abdominoplasty (the medical term for “Tummy Tuck"), and all of them have a common element of removing skin in the lower part of the abdomen. This results is a scar that usually runs along the lower part of the abdomen from hip bone to hip bone.
The length of the scar is determined by how much skin needs to be removed, and can be kept much shorter in some patients.
The second concept is that tightening of stretched out abdominal muscles is a technique that is often used along with skin removal to help get a flatter belly.This tightening is done with sutures and gives a corset effect. Muscle tightening is used in varying degrees—some people need a lot of it to get a good shape, while others need no muscle tightening at all. Surgeons will customize the technique for each patient’s body type.
The third concept is that the belly button is kept in place, like a flower on a stem, and the loose skin of the belly is freed up and pulled down over it. This means that a new incision must be made on the skin for the belly button to pass through. The final scar pattern involves a scar low across the belly and around the belly button.
There are special cir****tances in which patients have so much extra skin that the surgeon will recommend a vertical scar in addition to the low horizontal scar. While the procedure involves an additional scar, it prevents loose skin in the middle of the belly.
Recovery from a tummy tuck requires 6 weeks with no heavy lifting. People with desk jobs average 2 to 3 weeks out of the office, while people with strenuous jobs can’t go back to full duty until after 6 weeks.
