Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Articles

In my previous post (part one of this two-part series), we started our deep dive into the tummy tuck by exploring a few basic points: what the surgery’s meant to accomplish, what it entails, and what the recovery’s like.

Here, we’ll get into how to determine if a tummy tuck is right for you and, in the process, compare it to a couple of other popular body-contouring procedures, liposuction and CoolSculpting.

Is it right for you?

Tummy tucks are most commonly performed on women in their 40s and 50s, after they’ve finished having children. The reason for that can be traced to the two differentiating factors of the surgery: the muscle repair and skin removal. (Getting pregnant after a tummy tuck will stretch out the rectus muscles and the skin, essentially undoing the entire process.)

If you’re someone who has concerns about excess fat around your midsection, but not muscle separation or loose skin, or if you’re planning on having children, doctors generally won’t recommend a tummy tuck. In those instances, liposuction or a non-invasive body-contouring procedure, like CoolSculpting, may be a more appropriate choice.

Identifying which procedure is right for you can be tricky; each fills a different role. To help with that decision, seek out a board-certified plastic surgeon who’s experienced in all three forms of body contouring and try to be as clear as you can be in communicating what bothers you about your body and what your expectations are for the procedure.

How it compares

As I mentioned in my last post, a big part of the reason the tummy tuck has increased in popularity in recent years is because comparable noninvasive procedures can’t yet achieve the same results.

CoolSculpting works by freezing fat cells to kill them off, which is effective for dealing with trouble spots that no amount of diet or exercise ever seems to affect—a noninvasive procedure can usually reduce superficial fat by 25%, on average. But it won’t do anything to address the loose skin or underlying muscle separation the tummy tuck targets.

Liposuction can remove significantly more fat than noninvasive body contouring, but that’s the extent of its capabilities. In other words, it won’t tighten loose muscles, nor will it remedy loose skin.

For those for whom a tummy tuck is the most appropriate treatment, it’s still considered to be, among plastic surgeons, the gold standard of body contouring when it comes to results. Aside from the reasons mentioned up to this point, a tummy tuck, unlike many noninvasive procedures, likely won’t need to be refreshed after a few years. The results are considered fairly long-lasting—and, very often, nothing short of dramatic.

Even with the increasing popularity of noninvasive plastic surgery procedures, invasive plastic surgery remains on the rise.

Part of the reason may be because injectables, effective as they are, don’t offer the same level of results as a traditional surgical procedure, like a tummy tuck, which is still very prevalent—more than 130,000 were done in 2018, an increase over the prior year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons—despite the immense growth of body-contouring procedures like CoolSculpting.

So, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the tummy tuck over the next two blogs and breaking down everything you need to know about it, including whether a noninvasive option can give you the results you’re after.

What to expect

A tummy tuck, also known as abdominoplasty, serves two purposes: It removes excess skin and reduces the separation between the abdominal muscles. As a bonus, it also gets rid of excess fat (more on that later).

A tummy tuck, in fact, is the only way to get rid of loose, sagging skin that can result from significant weight loss or pregnancy. Our skin is very much like elastic, and once it gets stretched to a certain point, it’s never going to return to its original state.

As for the muscle separation, we’re all born with it, though it increases with age, certain lifestyle factors, and, certainly, pregnancy. Once these muscles spread, the only way to bring them back together is through surgery. A tummy tuck brings the muscle edges together, acting like an internal corset.

A surgeon will make an incision across your bikini line, and through that incision, remove skin and tighten your abdominal muscles. Once the muscles are stitched together, the surgeon will pull the skin tight and remove any excess. (Yes, your belly button will shift down in the process, but don’t worry about that. The surgeon will make a new hole for it.)

Before finishing, the surgeon will place drains in your stomach to remove any excess fluid that accumulates as you heal. They’ll be removed after about a week.

Mini vs. full

Both the extent of the surgery and the recovery will depend on the type of tummy tuck, a “mini” or a full. The main difference between the two is the length of the incision and, thus, the amount of skin that can be removed. A mini runs from inner thigh to inner thigh, while a full spans the stomach from hip to hip. Another difference: The surgeon usually only stitches up the lower half of the abdominal muscles in a mini.

You’ll be under anesthesia for two-and-a-half to four hours, but tummy tucks are technically outpatient procedures, so you’ll be able to go home after spending a couple hours in the recovery room. But once you get home, you’ll need to be patient with your recovery. It could be a few days before you feel comfortable sitting or standing fully upright.

Plan to take a couple weeks off from work. You should be back to your normal activities—which will now include ample posing in front of a mirror—within five weeks.