Question:
ANYONE HAD PANNICULECTOMY WITHOUT MUSCLE TIGHTENING?

I AM WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS HAD A PANNICULECTOMY WITHOUT MUSCLE TIGHTENING AND WAS SATISFIED WITH THE END RESULTS? DO YOU STILL HAVE A FLAT STOMACH JUST WITHOUT THE SIX PACK LOOK? OR IS THE ABDOMINAL AREA STILL REAL FLABBY?    — THE NEW M. (posted on March 30, 2004)

March 30, 2004
Hi, I had my panni, November 2002 without muscle tightening. Satisfied with the end results, they removed the hanging area and were able to keep my bellybutton. My stomach is flat. Was back to work in 13 days.
   — connie m

March 30, 2004
See, I get all kinds of answers to this question. From what I have read here and on Yahoo, the Panniculectomy is just the removal of the apron (gods, I hate that word!). From the belly button down only. The first plastic surgeon I talked to agreed and wanted me to pay a large amount of money to make up the difference between that and abdominoplasty. The second PS I talked to said, no, he would go in and do an anchor cut, tighten up all the skin (above and below the belly button) and would do the muscle tightening - basically an abdominoplasty. For what my ins. was willing to pay. I'll be going back to him after I have my baby!! I think it just depends on the surgeon you go to.
   — Ali M

March 30, 2004
I did and I am very happy with the results! I do wish I could have had lipo and a more defined waistline. My PS said he is very happy with the contour. Still swollen and won't be able to tell the end result for up to a year!
   — Mylou52

March 30, 2004
I had just a panni last year in july. my stomach is flat as a board, i am very pleased, the only thing i wish could of been done better was the flab above the belly button. I still have that over hang but not as much. oh well i have never had a flat stomach so i am pleased. as far as the pain goes, i really didnt have any. the rny hurt alot worse that the panni and i didnt think the rny was bad either. i am almost a year out from the panni and i just quit wearing the binder a month ago and all my swelling is gone.
   — Lisa J.

April 1, 2004
My plastic surgeon explained that he would make a final decision about tightening the underlying muscles "when I get in there and determine what is actually needed"....I trusted him to do that, and I ended up with panniculectomy only...no muscle tightening. That was over two years ago and you can still bounce a quarter off my tummy :-) He also decided that an anchor incision was the best way to go for my particular body shape. He explained that "pear-shaped" folks will usually do just fine with the more simple bikini-line incision from hip-to-hip. Unfortunately, I have been apple-shaped and carrying way too much weight above my belly-button for many years. The anchor-incision (that is STILL a panniculectomy) brings all that above-belly-button skin in from the sides and gives the ribcage and back a nice sleek look....no more bulges above and below the bra line, and a wonderful hourglass waistline. Then the lower abdomen is pulled down and removed in the additional bikini-line incision. I have zero-flab and the plastic surgery was the best decision I ever made...next to the WLS :-) Don't worry too much about the larger scar from an anchor incision....most plastic surgeon use sutures beneath the skin, and the only scar I have now is a fine white line down the front of my abdomen. I have had stretch marks more noticeable than this incision! Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

April 3, 2004
Hi. Depends on status of the muscles. "Don't fix what ain't broke." If you've been pregnant, and the muscles are separated...usually can be seen in photos...then I tighten the muscles. Otherwise no. My experience is that it adds greatly to the result, and in most cases I perform this step.
   — DrL