How many women go shopping for a bathing suit, cocktail dress or evening gown, and just can’t find the one that flatters their figures?
While some women might spend endless hours searching for an outfit that camouflages that “little bulge” below their waistline, others attack the problem with exercise, special diets and weight loss, but are still left with unsightly loose, sagging abdominal skin. Still other women with thin figures wouldn’t dream of wearing a two-piece bathing suit for fear of exposing their stretch marks. These women share a common dilemma that can be remedied by an increasingly common solution: abdominoplasty or, as most of us call it, a “tummy tuck.”
The goal of the tummy tuck is to create an hourglass figure with a narrow waistline and flat profile. Good candidates for abdominoplasty are in good physical condition with minimal fluctuation in weight. Often these are women who are through with childbearing but are left with weakened or spread abdominal muscles and overstretched skin, or formerly overweight individuals who’ve lost significant amounts of weight and have redundant, flaccid skin. Unfortunately all the sit-ups and abdominal crunches in the world will not get this type of tissue to shrink. In these instances, the removal of the excess abdominal tissue and surgical tightening of the abdominal muscles is the way to correct the problem.
A tummy tuck can be done in conjunction with other intra-abdominal procedures such as hysterectomy, bladder suspension, or hernia repair. Additional body contouring using liposuction, breast reduction/augmentation, or thigh and buttock lift may be recommended on an individual basis. A mini-abdominoplasty (mini-tuck) with liposuction, endoscopic abdominoplasty, or liposuction alone are less extensive procedures but may be all that is required. A consultation with Dr. Graivier, with special attention to your goals and expectations, will determine the appropriate procedures.
Abdominoplasty is done as an outpatient procedure, with local nerve blocks used to control pain. Patients are asked to refrain from serious exercise for at least four weeks after surgery, though it usually takes up to six weeks to feel completely normal. The surgery will leave a scar that usually extends from hip bone to hip bone, along with another small scar around the navel. The incisions are designed to be hidden entirely in a bikini.
Abdominoplasty is not a substitute for a healthy diet and a conscientious exercise program. But for those who have tried their best at everything else to no avail, it can be a welcome opportunity for not only an attractive new figure but also the improved attitude and self esteem that go with it.
Pauline is a 46-year-old housewife who’d been carrying around an extra 45 pounds for years. After six months of intense effort, she finally managed to shed the excess weight and was anxious to show off her new figure. However, with sagging skin on her tummy, buttocks and thighs, she was unable to show off as much as she wanted. A tummy tuck, thigh lift and buttock lift completed the metamorphosis.
Allison had always had a slim, athletic figure, but after a third child was left with a below-the-belt “pooch” as well as lower abdominal stretch marks. No further pregnancies were planned, and medical circumstances required her to undergo a hysterectomy. This surgery seemed a perfect opportunity to regain her lost figure. Liposuction of her hips and thighs as well as a tummy tuck performed in conjunction with the other procedure brought her the results she wanted: the figure she thought she had left behind three babies ago.
