A tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) is a surgical procedure that can dramatically reduce a protruding abdomen and help your clothes fit better. The surgeon removes excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen and sometimes the middle abdomen, while also tightening the abdominal muscles.
Pregnancy, obesity, and age can loosen the skin of the abdomen and cause the muscles to lose tone. The best candidates for abdominoplasty are men and women who are in relatively good shape but have loose skin, excess stomach fat, and/or stretched abdominal muscles that cannot be corrected with weight loss or exercise.
If you plan to lose a significant amount of weight, you should postpone a tummy tuck until you have achieved a normal, healthy weight for your height. If you plan on becoming pregnant, you also should postpone a tummy tuck because the vertical muscles that are tightened during the procedure can separate again during pregnancy. Note that a tummy tuck is not a weight loss procedure and is not a substitute for proper diet and regular exercise.
At Summit Medical Group, we have developed a set of protocols to limit the pain and discomfort from this procedure. These protocols involve providing medications before, during, and after the surgery, as well as optimizing our patient care. We also use Exparel, a long-acting advanced local anesthetic, which extends your comfort after surgery.
Liposuction is often included with a tummy tuck particularly to the flanks. If you have only excess fat with good skin elasticity and no stretched muscles, liposuction alone of the abdomen may be enough to provide you with your desired results. Read more about liposuction.
You may also choose to have liposuction on other parts of your body at the same time as your tummy tuck. Some patients have additional procedures for a more polished look overall, such as a lower body and buttock lift, and/or a thigh lift. It is less costly to combine procedures, and often they can be done concurrently so that you have only one incident of anesthesia and one recovery period.
“After years of thinking about it, I finally decided to have a tummy tuck, and I am so happy I did. Dr. Hyans did such a great job, and he and his staff made me feel comfortable every step of the way. It's been about six months now since I've had my surgery, and my stomach looks amazing! I'm so looking forward to wearing a bikini this summer!”
– Patient on RateMDs.com
“I had a tummy tuck with Dr. Momeni in December. The experience was nothing short of amazing. If anything, I think he and the office staff over-prepped me, as I expected the recovery to take 2-3 months. Dr. Momeni has worked out some great tricks; he used special drains that they removed in 3 days, and I only used pain medications for those 3 days. By 2 weeks, I was pain-free, driving the kids around, and ready to go back to work…. I can't wait to put on my bikini this summer.”
– Patient on RateMDs.com