Tummy Tuck Rehoboth Beach
A tummy tuck, also known as abdominoplasty, is an invasive cosmetic procedure that removes excess skin and fat and repairs rectus diastasis or weakened muscles to create a flatter, smoother and firmer abdominal contour.
There are many women as a result of pregnancies where fat deposits, sagging skin and poor muscle tone contributes to a less than desirable looking tummy. In these patients, liposuction, laser assisted liposuction and nonsurgical contouring procedures are unable to even come close to achieving the same results of a flatter, smoother and firmer abdominal contour that you will get with a tummy tuck.
A flat and well toned abdomen is a goal many of us strive for through regular exercise and proper diet. There are many factors that prevent many of us from maintaining a youthful abdominal contouring despite keeping a normal body weight. The most common causes that leads to an abdomen that protrudes from fat deposits, lack of muscle tone or has loose sagging skin:
- Fluctuations in weight
- Pregnancy
- Hereditary
- Aging
- Hormonal changes
- Prior surgery
Dr. Chang is very personable and professional. He spelled out every detail of my abdomenoplasty and liposuction and it went just as expected. I am thrilled with the results and am recommending him to friends and family.
Tummy Tuck FAQs
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Am I a good candidate for a tummy tuck?
- You are bothered by the appearance of your abdomen which has loose hanging skin, unwanted fat deposits and weakened abdominal muscles unable to respond to healthy diet and regular exercise
- Stable weight and ideally no more than 30% of ideal body weight
- No plans for more pregnancies in the near future
- Physically healthy
- Nonsmoker
- Fully informed on the details, risks and length of recovery of a tummy tuck procedure
- Realistic expectations of final outcome
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What to expect at your tummy tuck consultation
- Listening carefully to your concerns about the appearance of your abdomen, your goals and realistic expectations
- Evaluation of general medical conditions, allergies, medications, previous surgeries, history of smoking or passive smoking
- Examination of your abdomen with attention to fat deposits and other locations outside of the abdomen such as flanks, love handles, bra fat etc…, pinch test, amount of sagging skin and skin quality, presence of stretch marks, presence of rectus diastasis or muscle weakness/separation
- Photographs taken
- Discuss all options for body contouring including noninvasive, minimally invasive and invasive surgery
- Outline a surgical treatment plan
- Discussion of details, risks and recovery of a tummy tuck
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What are the risks of a tummy tuck?
- Anesthesia risks
- Poor scar
- Bleeding
- Fluid collection or seroma
- Infection
- Poor healing of incision
- Skin necrosis
- Numbness
- Pain
- Prolonged swelling
- Suture spitting
- Discoloration
- Unevenness
- Blood clots
- Deformity of belly button
- Fat necrosis or hard lumps under skin
- Less than desired result
- Need for future revision surgery
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What to expect from the tummy tuck procedure
- Tummy tuck can be performed in the ambulatory surgical facility under general anesthesia. If a lot of liposuction or other body contouring procedures are performed at the same time, the procedure would be performed in either the hospital or ambulatory surgical facility with a 23 hour overnight stay for monitoring and iv fluid hydration
- Tummy tuck procedure takes 1.5-2 hours again depending upon how much liposuction is performed
- Drains are placed as well as pain pump catheters for pain control
- Abdominal binder is placed to control swelling and provide support
- Home leg compression pumps may be purchased online for well under $100 to be used until ambulatory
- Walking is encouraged immediately after the surgery
- Depending on the individual, blood thinners may be prescribed for the first 7-14 days
- The first week is the most difficult in terms of discomfort and the need for outside assistance for walking, transferring in and out of bed, nutrition and fluid hydration and taking patient to office for postop visit
- Return to light activity such as car driving, office non lifting work and lifting under 10 lbs : 2-3 weeks
- Return to regular activity including some form of exercise: 6 weeks
- Stop aspirin or NSAIDs 7-10 days prior to procedure
- If during summer, NO SUN TANNING prior to procedure
- Stop oral contraceptives and other hormonal replacement 3 weeks prior
- No exposure to cigarette smoke 4 weeks before surgery
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