Abdominoplasty
Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) can address the excess fat, loose skin, and weakened muscle tone that can occur over time can improve the contour, shape, and figure of the body. The reason that surgery can enhance what diet and exercise cannot is that the surgery addresses underlying anatomic and physiologic changes that occur with time and are not under the patient’s control.
During the surgery, the excess skin and fat are treated and, when required, the muscles are tightened.
Abdominoplasty often includes liposuction to address excess fat.
Women who have a tummy tuck often complain to one or several of the following conditions:
- Excess or loose abdominal skin
- Stretch marks
- Pockets or deposits of fat that won’t go away
- Soft tummy
- Laxity/weakness of abdomen following pregnancy
- Loss of waistline
- Combination of excess/loose skin and fat
Abdominoplasty is performed under general anesthesia and takes 2 to 4 hours. The patient usually must spend one to several nights in the hospital. When discharging the patients, doctors prescribe oral pain killers to control typically mild to moderate pain. The patient should also wear the abdominal compression garments to provide support while healing. Compression garments help to keep down swelling and keep the skin shrunken down. This helps to avoid any contour irregularities or imperfections in the skin so you get the best possible result.
It is advised that the patient stays in Ukraine for 5-7 days following the surgery. The recovery in general takes 7-10 days. Patients should restrict their activities for 2-3 weeks, and exertion is prohibited for 4 weeks. It may be months before all the swelling has completely subsided. The scars around the belly button and the lower part of the abdomen will gradually fade and become less visible.
Results of the abdominoplasty:
- improving or eliminating stretch-marks on the lower abdomen,
- reduction of sagging skin,
- tightening weak or bulging abdominal muscles,
- restoring flat, toned appearance.
The end result is a more aesthetic abdomen with regards to tone, shape, and figure. All this is performed using the shortest scar possible to achieve the desired goal.
Tummy tuck risks:
- Anesthesia risks
- Infection
- Fluid accumulation (seroma)
- Poor wound healing
- Numbness or other changes in skin sensation
- Skin discoloration and/or prolonged swelling
- Recurrent looseness of skin
- Fatty tissue found deep in the skin might die (fat necrosis)
- Deep vein thrombosis, cardiac and pulmonary complications
- Asymmetry
- Suboptimal aesthetic result
- Possibility of revisional surgery
- Persistent pain
- Bleeding
- Skin loss
- Unfavorable scarring
These risks and others will be fully discussed prior to your consent. It’s important that you address all your questions directly with your plastic surgeon.
