Exercise and/or Tummy Tuck?
Diet and exercise will help to a point, but may leave you with even more loose skin. If you want a flat tummy with a smaller waist, a tummy tuck with liposuction will give the best result. And exercise is a great way to maintain your shape and your health. (Miguel Delgado, Jr., MD, San Francisco Plastic Surgeon)
Some of the issues you have with your abdomen will not go away with just diet and exercise, and you would be best served with a tummy tuck and some lipocontouring. That being said, the patients who get the very best results are the ones who always watch what they eat, work out regularly and vigorously, and never stop. (Brent Moelleken, MD, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)
Pregnancy often damages the skin and muscle of a womans stomach wall. As others have suggested, exercise is good for your health and well being, and it may help trim your waist. The likelihood is that a tummy tuck is needed to give you the results you are looking for. I am always happy when my patient is at a normal height and weight and is fit… the patients seem to do better with surgery and have nice tummy tuck results. (Michael S. Hopkins, MD, Albuquerque Plastic Surgeon)
Continue your exercise program, as it is important for your overall health and fitness. But it will not give you the tighter, flatter more youthful abdomen you can achieve with a full abdominoplasty. (Ronald V. DeMars, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)
From your photos, it appears that exercise and weight loss will enhance you figure, but it may worsen the appearance of the excess skin. For this, you would need a tummy tuck. There is no issue with losing the weight through diet and exercise and then reassessing your progress. Don’t be surprised if this makes you even more motivated to get an abdominoplasty. (Vincent P. Marin, MD, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)
A combination of exercise AND a tummy tuck will likely provide you with the best results. Exercise can decrease the fat in and on your tummy, and can tighten and flatten your muscles, but will not improve the loose or saggy skin. A tummy tuck will remove excess skin, leaving you with a tighter and smoother tummy, and can also help to flatten and tighten your muscles. I would recommend that you try to come as close to your ideal weight as possible (even if you don’t actually reach it), then have a tummy tuck. I think you’ll be very happy with that approach. (Andres Taleisnik, MD, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)
From your history as well as your photos it appears that you do need a TT, as well as liposuction of the waist, to flatten your abdomen. Exercise will simply not do it. While I always encourage exercise it must be for the right reasons. It’s very easy to get frustrated when exercise has little or no effect on the abdomen and waist. (George Lefkovits, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)
Tummy Tuck or Excercise?
The answer is both! I always recommend losing as much weight as possible in this type of scenario. Losing the weight will help your overall results. However, it will not remove the excess skin that you have nor will it tighten the rectus muscles back to where they should be to give you a flat tummy. I typically will do liposuction in combination with my tummy tuck procedures to further sculpt the abdomen. (Brian Joseph, MD, Orlando Plastic Surgeon)
Do I need Tummy Tuck or Exercise to eliminate extra skin?
Exercise will always enhance our health and figure, but after pregnancies, the remaining extra skin and fat in the tummy area rarely responds good enough to exercise only. The better choice will be a Full Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck), in order to achieve, flatter abdomen, smaller waist,w/ tighten abdominal muscles. (Ricardo Vega, MD, Mexico Plastic Surgeon)
After pregnancy excess skin of the abdominal wall is common. No amount of exercise is capable of shrinking skin even a small amount. Skin shrinking technology doesn’t work. At present the only solution is excision which means an abdominoplasty. (Vincent N. Zubowicz, MD, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)