Dog ears tummy tuck
Dog ear after tummy tuck
Dog ears sometimes occur after tummy tuck in an attempt to keep the scar as short as possible. Sometimes, they go away on their own during the healing process. If not, minor liposuction or direct excision can easily correct them under local anesthetic in the office.
If you don’t want to worry about a dog ear at all, be prepared to have a longer incision. It’s a trade off and a little risk but is something easily correctable. (J. Jason Wendel, MD, FACS, Nashville Plastic Surgeon)
Abdominoplasty correct marking and planning to avoid dog ears
The dog ears after tummy tuck operation photo
It should be rare to create dog ears with a tummy tuck: markings need to be correct upper and lower lines should be close to equal length close the skin from the corners to toward the midline liposuction the hip area near the end of the incision as needed extend the incision if needed (Jed H. Horowitz, MD, FACS, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)
In general, dog ears are less likely when the incision is long enough (!) and when the edges are “tailored” as carefully as possibly. In fact, dog ears can occur any time an excision is performed, and that has a lot to do with the geometry.
In theory, the length of an ellipse excised should be about 4 times the width; that ratio is supposed to provide the ideal and least amount of tension and facilitate the correct alignment.
Dog ears tummy tuck surgery
In reality, though, many factors go into the appearance of a wound and a scar. Dog ears can actually occur when one is trying to minimize the length of the scar, which is a little counter intuitive.
In short, most surgeons try to minimize dog ears during a tummy tuck and with any other procedure. The only consolation, if any, is that if you do have a dog ear, addressing it at a later time is a relatively minor procedure and process. Even better, of course, is to avoid it in the first place. (Alan M. Engler, MD, FACS, New York Plastic Surgeon)
How to minimize “dog-ears”
Dog ears tummy tuck image
Dog ears tummy tuck are simply a result of making the tummy tuck incision too short. The length of a tummy tuck incision is directly related to how much vertical skin excess there is. I show my patients where I expect their incision to be and how long it will be before surgery.
I also tell them that I cannot determine the exact length of the incision until I am in the operating room. Dog-ears can always be fixed but they also always result in a longer scar – the length that it should have been in the first place. (Jeffrey E. Kyllo, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)
No dog ears allowed in a tummy tuck
A dog ears tummy tuck
Preventing dog ears is simple tailoring, having the incision long enough that there is no extra skin left over at the ends. Trying to make the incision too short will always leave a dog ear and they don’t go away on their own. (Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)
Dog ears tummy tuck happens when the incision is poorly planned and kept too short vis a vis the amount of loose skin which needs to be removed; The excess skin left behind at the corners shows up as the raised mounds referred to as dog ears. The best way to prevent them is a combination of surgical experience, proper planning, using liposuction or removing excess fat from the corners of the incision and beginning wound closure from the corners rather from the middle. (Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)
Dog ears tummy tuck picture
Dog ears tummy tuck referred to a bunching up of tissue at the end of a incision line/scar. Generally they occur because a surgeon, in his/her attempt to keep the scar as short as possible, has a discrepancy between the lengths of the upper and lower tummy tuck incision lines. They can be avoided by extending the incisions and removing additional skin and subcutaneous tissue. Most patients will much prefer a longer incision line than the bunching up of tissue and contour elevation, which is visible and palpable with and without clothing. (Tom J. Pousti, MD, FACS, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)
Tummy Tucks and Dog Ears
Dog ears at the ends of a tummy tuck scar often occur because the incision was not made long enough. We all want to minimize the length of the tummy tuck scar; however, if the scar is too short, not enough of the loose skin is removed. The loose skin bunches up around the end of the scar and forms a cone.
The dog ears tummy tuck
Sometimes this will resolve as the swelling resolves, so it is a good idea to let the scar heal and see if the natural tighening that occurs as the area mutures is enough to smooth out the dog ear. A dog ear can always be eliminated if the scar is made long enough. The ultimate case is the lower body lift. In a lower body lift the “ends” of the tummy tuck incision meet on the back.
To reduce the risk of dog ears it is important to draw the planned excision with the patient standing, to minimize the angle where the upper and lower incisions meet, and to make the length of the excision at least 4 times the height. This being said, plastic surgeons still may cheat to shorten your scar. If the dog ear does not resolve, it can usually be treated under local anesthesia. The excess skin is removed, and the scar is lengnthened to ease out the redundancy. If excess fat under the end of the scar is the problem, liposuction may also be helpful. (Joseph Mele, MD, Walnut Creek Plastic Surgeon)
This comes down mostly to preoperative marking by the physician. Dog ears should rarely happen if marks are placed appropriately on the patient. In essence, the upper skin marking should be close in length to the lower marking. If the upper mark is much too long when compared to the lower mark a dog ear is possible. (Christian Prada, MD, FACS, Saint Louis Plastic Surgeon)
