Tummy tuck surgery offers a permanent solution to saggy belly skin and lax abdominal muscles that can develop after pregnancy, weight loss, or simply as a result of normal ageing.
With the advancements in surgical techniques and pain management, recovering from a tummy tuck is now easier than ever.
Dr. Robert Schwartz offers his patients customized tummy tuck procedures at his plastic surgery facilities in Dallas, TX. If you have abdominal sagging and your abs aren’t as toned as they used to be, you can get an abdominoplasty - with or without liposuction - for a younger-looking body.
A tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is a cosmetic surgical procedure that flattens the stomach and restores its younger-looking contours.
Most patients who come in for a tummy tuck consultation are women in their 30s or 40s who have had children. Others are men and women who want to tighten their midsection after losing weight.
Pregnancy and weight changes have stretched their abdominal skin and ab muscles. Once flat tummies now bulge.
What a tummy tuck does for the abdomen is:
Most women gain a huge boost in self-confidence after getting a tummy tuck. They feel more confident wearing bathing suits and are more comfortable shopping for clothes without worrying about hiding their bodies.
During a tummy tuck surgery, we can:
Abdominal sagging can result from pregnancy, changes in weight, and ageing.
The two main causes of abdominal sagging are pregnancy and significant weight loss. In both cases, the abdominal muscles and skin become stretched to make more room inside the belly for the baby or the built-up fat.
Your skin can stretch to a certain point before losing its elasticity. Beyond that point the elastic fibers break and the skin can’t snap back to how it was before.
A tummy tuck can correct the stretched-out abdominal muscles and sagging skin.
The five types of tummy tuck surgeries differ in their incisions, how much correction they offer, and the type of scars they leave.
The standard or traditional tummy tuck is the most commonly performed abdominoplasty.
During a standard abdominoplasty:
Women with loose skin limited to the lower part of their abdomen (below their belly button) may prefer a modified tummy tuck.
Unlike a standard abdominoplasty, we don’t make an incision around the belly button to separate it from the surrounding fat and skin.
Instead, we release the base of the belly button, separating it from the underlying muscle layer. That way, we can lift the entire navel along with the skin and fat layers.
As we pull down the fat and skin, the umbilicus shifts down only a little because there isn’t much loose skin in the upper abdomen. This slight shift in position isn’t noticeable when people look at your tummy.
The advantage of this abdominoplasty is that it doesn’t leave an additional scar at the belly button. But, this type of tummy tuck can only slightly tighten the upper part of the abdomen. Too much tightening would lower the belly button too far.
The modified tummy tuck is an excellent procedure for women with the right anatomy. We don’t do it as commonly as the standard tummy tuck because most women have too much upper abdominal skin laxity to qualify.
A mini tummy tuck is the least invasive type of abdominoplasty. It requires a much shorter incision, similar to a C-section scar.
We perform mini-abdominoplasty for women with only a small amount of loose skin restricted to the lower part of the abdomen.
The steps of a mini tummy tuck are similar to those of a standard abdominoplasty except we only lift the skin and fat to the belly button and not to the lower chest.
As a result, a mini tummy tuck has the following limitations:
Although it leaves a shorter scar, mini abdominoplasty is a limited procedure that can only correct a small amount of loose skin and muscle laxity in the lower abdomen.
In our experience, not many women have the very limited laxity that benefits from this minimal tummy tuck. If you have more than subtle excess skin, a mini tummy tuck may lead to disappointing results.
The fleur de Lys abdominoplasty is very similar to the standard tummy tuck. except we make an additional vertical incision, either from the top of the abdomen or the belly button, all the way down to the groin.
The extra vertical incision allows us to remove more saggy skin from the abdomen’s sides, top, and bottom. This tummy tuck is sometimes needed for patients with abundant skin laxity after losing massive weight.
The upside of the fleur de lys is that it can remove more loose skin and tighten the abdomen very dramatically. The vertical scar down the middle of the abdomen can be a high price to pay though, since it will show in a bikini.
This is the most extensive tummy tuck and can also be part of what is known as a 360-degree body lift.
Similar to the standard tummy tuck, we make a horizontal incision low on the abdomen. But instead of stopping at the hips, it continues onto the lower back.
The extended abdominoplasty allows us to remove loose skin from the back and the front of the abdomen. But there are several problems with it:
If someone needs a tummy tuck and skin tightening in the back, we recommend separating the two procedures for better results.
The best tummy tuck procedure is the one that makes you feel proud of your abdomen and the way it looks after the surgery.
To know what the best tummy tuck procedure is for you, you need to consider the following:
The standard tummy tuck offers powerful abdominal contouring with well-hidden incisions for most women.
Ninety-six percent of our tummy tucks have been standard abdominoplasties.
The remaining four percent of our abdominoplasties have been evenly divided between modified and mini tummy tucks. These are excellent procedures when used on suitable patients.
We rarely recommend or perform Fleur-de-Lys or extended tummy tucks.
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Most tummy tucks are done to fix abdominal sagging and muscle laxity after pregnancy. You may also benefit from a tummy tuck if you’ve lost weight. This is true for both men and women.
Most tummy tuck patients are women in their thirties to fifties. But we also perform this procedure regularly on younger (in their 20s) and older patients (oldest in their 70s).
You’re an ideal candidate for a tummy tuck if:
Yes. We often combine a tummy tuck with other cosmetic surgeries to further improve the outcome.
The most common cosmetic procedures that we pair with abdominoplasty are:
As long as you’re in good health, there should be no problem with you getting an abdominoplasty combined with liposuction or breast surgery.
Deciding whether to get a tummy tuck, liposuction, or both depends on the issues affecting your abdomen.
The difference between a tummy tuck and liposuction is that an abdominoplasty tightens the muscles and skin of the abdomen, while liposuction does not. On the other hand, liposuction gets rid of excess tummy fat more thoroughly than a tummy tuck.
Liposuction is better if you only have excess belly fat without loose skin or stretched muscles.
You need a tummy tuck if you have loose belly skin and your abs aren’t as toned as they used to be.
You can also get liposuction at the same time as your tummy tuck surgery to get rid of saggy skin, tighten the abs, and enhance the contour of your midsection.
Here’s what you can expect if you decide to get your tummy tuck surgery at Robert Schwartz Plastic Surgery in Dallas, Texas:
After sterilizing the operating area, we’ll place sterile drapes to frame the abdominal area. Then we proceed with the abdominoplasty.
The steps of your tummy tuck surgery are:
After your abdominoplasty, you’ll go into the recovery room for 1-2 hours.
Because we inject Exparel to numb the pain, you don’t need heavy painkillers while you recover from your tummy tuck procedure. So, you can usually return home the same day to recover, although you’ll need someone to help take care of you for the first 24 hours.
Here’s a list of the best tips that can help you get ready for your tummy tuck surgery:
With the advancements in pain management and surgical techniques, recovery from a tummy tuck surgery is now much easier and smoother than it used to be. Here’s what you can expect during your tummy tuck recovery:
One of the modern pain management strategies at Robert Schwartz Plastic Surgery is Exparel injections. Exparel is a long-acting non-opioid anesthetic that offers pain relief for 2-3 days after surgery.
In addition to Exparel, we use atraumatic surgical techniques and drain-less wound closure. All of these have made recovery from abdominoplasty dramatically easier.
Scars are, in a sense, the price you pay for a tummy tuck. A tummy tuck surgery can tighten your abdominal muscles, remove loose skin, decrease stretch marks, and rejuvenate your belly button.
Read articleDr. Schwartz shares advice on how to reduce pain after a tummy tuck procedure.
Read articleThe first key to a great tummy tuck is is tightening the abdominal skin just enough, not to tight and not too loose.
Read article
Dr. Robert Schwartz is the founder and director of Robert Schwartz Plastic Surgery in Dallas, TX. He is certified by the American board of Plastic Surgery and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA and has been in practice for over 20 years. Dr. Schwartz is gifted with a keen eye and the unique skill to visualize you at your best, and he will execute that vision throughout every phase of your treatment to consistmently deliver stunning results. This is what makes him a world-class plastic surgeon.
We perform our tummy tucks at a JCAHO-certified ambulatory surgery center.
The tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure to tighten lax abdominal wall muscles and remove excess skin and fat.
Most types of exercise can be restarted eight weeks after a tummy tuck. Performing physically strenuous activities earlier than this can impair healing.
Most patients can resume driving 10 days after a tummy tuck.
All surgical procedures result in scars. The main tummy tuck scar extends across the lower abdomen starting just above the pubic hair. The length of the scar varies from patient to patient but, in most cases, is from hip to hip. We use advanced multilayer incision-closure techniques and custom design each incision to accommodate the clothing styles you prefer. Nonetheless, tummy tuck scars will typically remain visible when you are undressed.
Most tummy tucks also require a small circular scar around the umbilicus (belly-button). We have developed techniques that will often hide this scar inside the belly button and produce a more natural looking “innie.”
Some insurers may cover a tummy tuck following massive weight loss. The vast majority of tummy tucks are cosmetic and therefore, not covered.
Most patients with desk jobs can return to work in 10-14 days. Patients with more physically demanding jobs will require a longer recuperation.
Your tummy tuck will be performed under general anesthesia (i.e. you will be asleep). We use only board-certified physician anesthesiologists.
After pregnancy, many women find that their tummies never return to their previous flat contour. The abdomen often bulges forward and is covered by loose, hanging skin covered with stretch marks. These women are excellent tummy tuck candidates as are men and women who experience similar problems after significant weight loss.
We provide all of our tummy tuck patients with the On-Q pain pump system. The pump bathes the tightened muscles with local anesthetic for several days. This dramatically reduces post-operative pain and lessens the need for narcotic pain medicine. Our tummy tuck patients are usually able to return home several hours after surgery.
In the first few weeks after a tummy tuck, it's best to avoid anything that causes a forceful contraction of the abdominal muscles. This obviously applies to heavy lifting but also includes sneezing, coughing, straining because of constipation, and vigorous laughter. Any activity that creates a sensation of pulling or tearing should be immediately ceased.
Stretch marks occur when the skin is stretched beyond the limits of its elasticity. A tummy tuck removes excess skin that has already been stretched. The remaining skin is tightened but not excessively. Overtightening would not only cause stretch marks but would also produce an unnatural contour.
Liposuction and tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) are both excellent contouring procedures for the abdomen. But they serve different and complementary purposes:
So if your abdomen is relatively lean but protrudes outward, you probably need a tummy tuck. Likewise, if you have loose, hanging abdominal skin, a tummy tuck is probably right.
On the other hand, if your skin is relatively smooth and elastic but there is a fat layer you can't get rid of, liposuction is probably the procedure for you.
Of course, sometimes the problem is fat, skin and/or muscle. In that case, both liposuction and a tummy tuck may be needed.
During your consultation, we examine your abdomen carefully and assess you goals to determine which procedure better meets your needs.
Sore throat can happen after surgery. It is usually caused by the endotracheal tube the anesthesiologist uses to help you breath. It is somewhat more common in women than in men. The soreness is usually mild and goes away within a few days. A severe sore throat or one that lasts for more than a few days should be reported to Dr. Schwartz.
Donating blood causes a temporary anemia. This usually corrects within 1-2 weeks. Nonetheless, we recommend that patients do not donate blood for at least one month before cosmetic surgery.
Some patients have expressed interest in donating blood for their own use, if needed. Since most cosmetic procedures are designed to produce minimal to moderate blood loss, transfusion is almost never needed. While you are, of course, free to self-donate blood, this would almost always be unnecessary.
*Individual results are not guaranteed and may vary from person to person.
