Expect to be at a stable weight before your tummy tuck Most surgeons will recommend patients be between 10-15 pounds from their goal weight. This is important as gaining or losing additional weight can undo the contoured shape achieved through your surgery.
Is there a weight limit for a tummy tuck? While there is no explicit weight limit for tummy tucks, most doctors recommend that their patients be at a stable weight at least 6 months before the procedure.
Myth: Tummy tucks are a weight loss procedure
In fact, the ideal candidate for tummy tuck surgery is someone who is at or close to a normal weight for their physique and who is otherwise active and healthy but is troubled by the appearance of a protruding abdomen or sagging, loose skin on their stomach.
Troy Pittman, a board-certified Washington D.C.-based plastic surgeon, patients who have obesity, a lot of visceral fat (located near vital organs), underlying medical conditions or blood-clotting disorders should refrain from having tummy tucks.
Larger patients can safely have a tummy tuck when done by a board-certified plastic surgeon with experience treating those who have experienced massive weight loss or are carrying substantial weight.
Most women lose between 2 and 3 pants sizes after a tuck, but there are patients who lose even more. If you had a lot of loose skin before the procedure, for example, you could go down 4 more pants sizes.
Even in most normal weight and extremely fit women, the abdomen may not be completely flat following abdominoplasty. It is realistic for patients to expect improvement in the flatness of the stomach, but should not immediately assume that their abdomen will be entirely flat.
Whether you're contemplating a Mommy Makeover package or just want to undergo a tummy tuck, you'll be relieved to know that any pain from this cosmetic procedure is far less than that experienced after a C-section.
There will be some discomfort after a tummy tuck, with the worst discomfort experienced within the first week. On a scale of 1 – 10, pain is often estimated at around a 6-7 for the the first few days to a week, reducing to around a 3 – 4 in the second week. This would, of course, depend on the individual.
While a tummy tuck incision is similar to a C-section, the intra abdominal component of the operation is not there. This essentially means that a tummy tuck is less invasive procedure compared to the cesarean section.
A properly performed tummy tuck can reduce your waist size and help you feel confident about your curves again. Some patients may lose many inches off their waist, while others will see more subtle results. It all depends on how much tissue can be removed safely.
The physical factor: Since tummy tuck surgery removes excess skin and fat, and can correct diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation), patients often feel lighter and more mobile after their procedure. As a result, physical activity is often easier and more enjoyable, which can encourage further weight loss.
Most women who choose this procedure are in their late 30s, early 40s, or beyond. However, when it comes to your age, as long as you are committed to maintaining results, don't plan on getting pregnant again, and are in good health, any age is the right age.
The amount of fat that can be removed is typically between four and 10 pounds – up to 4.5kg. However, it may be better to think of it in terms of the shape of the tummy as it is hard to visualise what a few kilograms of fat actually looks like, how much flatter will this make the tummy?
It is important that you be close to your desired weight for six to twelve months before undergoing a tummy tuck. Most surgeons will recommend patients be between 10-15 pounds from their goal weight. This is important as gaining or losing additional weight can undo the contoured shape achieved through your surgery.
The good news is that tummy tuck procedures are very safe, with high success rates and low rates of complications. According to an American Society of Plastic Surgeons® (ASPS) survey of over 3,500 surgeries, over 95% of patients had zero complications.
How long does a tummy tuck take? On the day of your procedure, you should plan to be at the surgery center for at least 3 ½ hours. The surgery itself takes approximately 2 1/2 hours in surgery and the remaining time will be spent administering anesthesia and preparing you to go home.
You may notice that your bowel movements are not regular right after your surgery. This is common. Try to avoid constipation and straining with bowel movements. You may want to take a fibre supplement every day.
While pain tolerance can differ from individual to individual, patients often say the process of recovering from tummy tuck surgery is more painful than liposuction. While liposuction requires small incisions in the skin only, many tummy tuck techniques involve incisions that penetrate the muscle.
Liposuction is a far less invasive procedure than a tummy tuck. It can be performed on almost any part of the body that has excess fat: the stomach, back, arms, legs, and even under the chin. During the procedure, a solution of saline, water, and anesthesia is injected into the fat cells to be removed.
The average cost of a tummy tuck is $6,154, according to the most recent statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. This average cost is only part of the total price – it does not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses.
The worst days after your tummy tuck will be the first one to three days. You may experience some discomfort, bloating, pressure, and swelling, but these symptoms are normal and will resolve themselves.
Because a tummy tuck is a more extensive surgery, patients need around 10 to 14 days to recover. The results are long-lasting, and the removed fat cells won't grow back—but remaining fat cells may expand and the skin may re-stretch if you gain a large amount of weight.
For many men and women, no amount of dieting or exercise will result in a significant fat reduction in the lower back. For these patients, celebrity tummy tuck surgery may be a fantastic solution to remove fat from the lower back.
Thinned out muscles and their lining causes this muffin top deformity in some patients. This occurs following muscle tightening if the increased tension makes the muscle and lining stretch out again. The medical terminology for thinned out muscles is muscle attenuation.