Tummy Tuck

Tummy Tuck Benefits

For people who are frustrated, embarrassed, or ashamed of their bodies after extreme weight loss or pregnancy, an abdominoplasty can be a life-changing procedure, helping rejuvenate the body contour and repair separated abdominal muscles.

Many changes can occur to the abdomen with pregnancies or significant weight gain and loss. Notably, the skin gets stretched, leading to loose skin, stretch marks, or poor skin elasticity. Other conditions include stretched or even separated muscles from the abdominal wall (called diastasis rectus), which results in a stomach bulge that won’t go away with just diet and exercise.

While maintaining an active lifestyle and a healthy weight is important, usually no amount of exercise or weight loss can improve the quality of your skin or repair your stretched abdominal muscles. Fortunately, a tummy tuck surgery can remove excess skin, repair stretched muscles, and contour the waist and abdomen with liposuction.

Good Candidates for Tummy Tuck

The best candidates for this procedure are in good physical health and have clearance from their primary physician in order to have the surgery. In addition, patients should have realistic expectations for what an abdominoplasty can accomplish.

Dr. Florin encourages patients to be within 10-15 pounds of their ideal body weight before undergoing surgery, and can confirm their specific eligibility during a consultation appointment in Newport Beach, CA.

Tummy Tuck Options

The days of just aiming for a “flat tummy” through cosmetic surgery are over. The better, more realistic approach involves creating natural shadows, dips and valleys, and curves that mimic the natural shape of the human body.

Over the years, Dr. Florin has fine-tuned her techniques to give tummy tuck patients a beautifully contoured and natural belly button, a scar that is easy to hide, and curves and shadows that are feminine and natural, no matter which abdominoplasty procedure is used.

Mini Tummy Tuck

For people with loose skin predominantly below the belly button, a mini tummy tuck may be the best way to trim away excess skin and remove fat with liposuction. This is performed most often on people who are unhappy with a lower-abdomen “pooch,” or collection of extra fat in the lower abdominal area that is resistant to diet and exercise. By removing this excess fat, trimming away any skin redundancy, and in some cases, tightening lower abdominal muscles, Dr. Florin can achieve a firm, flat abdomen without an incision around the belly button.

The mini tummy tuck is not able to fully address muscle separation from the abdominal wall—in this case, a regular or full tummy tuck is better suited to address a larger area of the stomach.

Traditional Tummy Tuck Surgery

The most commonly performed tummy tuck procedure, a traditional abdominoplasty involves an incision from hip to hip along the bikini line. There will also be an incision around the belly button, which will be reshaped and repositioned if necessary to have a natural appearance upon recovery. This plastic surgery procedure is capable of removing excess skin and fat from the belly and tightening stomach muscles on the front section of the abdomen. Patients with excess skin extending beyond the front of the hips, around toward the back, are usually better served by an extended tummy tuck.

Extended Tummy Tuck

Similar to a traditional abdominoplasty, an extended procedure increases the size of the incision in order to address loose, excess skin around the sides and even back of a patient when needed. This procedure is most often recommended in cases of extreme weight loss. Dr. Florin will tell you if this more invasive procedure is the best option for you during a consultation and examination of your problem areas.

Preparing for Your Tummy Tuck

The first step in preparing for a tummy tuck is to set up a consultation appointment with Dr. Florin at our Orange County office location. An appointment with a Newport Beach plastic surgeon like Dr. Florin can confirm that you are in fact an ideal candidate for this surgery and gives her the chance to create an expert surgical plan for your specific concerns.

Once you have scheduled your abdominoplasty surgery date, you should start to prepare your body for the procedure. Dr. Florin may direct you to quit drinking and smoking at least six weeks prior to the operation and avoid these activities after the surgery as well. You should also minimize your caffeine intake prior to the surgery.

You will be told to stop eating and drinking at least 12 hours prior to the surgery in order to avoid complications with the anesthesia.

Certain medications and herbal supplements can thin the bloodstream and pose a risk for significant blood loss during the operation. Medications that should be avoided include ibuprofen and naproxen sodium. Patients should discuss all prescription medications with Dr. Florin during a tummy tuck consultation to ensure there are no harmful side effects during or after surgery.

Tummy Tuck Procedure

To ensure your comfort and safety, cosmetic surgeon Dr. Florin performs tummy tucks under general anesthesia. Your surgery can range from four to six hours depending on the complexity of the case and the surgical plan. Dr. Florin may prescribe pain control measures, including a long-lasting local anesthetic into the abdominal muscles, to help with the tightness that patients may feel after surgery.

Once you are sedated, Dr. Florin will carefully and gently contour your body with liposuction. Then, she will make the pre-determined incision and remove excess fat deposits and begin to repair stretched abdominal muscles with two layers of permanent sutures. If there is an umbilical hernia present, she can repair that as well.

During a traditional tummy tuck procedure, Dr. Florin will reshape your belly button and take great care to ensure that it has a natural shape with easily concealable scars. If your pubic region (mons pubis) is low or hanging, she can also lift this area with a procedure called a pubic lift.

At the Gallery of Cosmetic Surgery in Newport Beach, we have a specially formulated non-opioid injection called Exparel® that can provide pain relief for up to four days after your tummy tuck surgery. The beauty of this medication is that it can lead to less need for opioid or narcotic pain medication.