Tummy Tuck: Prices, Photos, Reviews, Info, Q&A

We as plastic surgeons frequently encounter patients asking us to estimate how much weight the patient might lose after their upcoming body-contouring procedures. These are all common misconceptions and should be clarified with patients prior to surgery. Inadvertent or direct attempts to suggest amounts of weight loss will invariably leave patients dissatisfied, by having them focus on the estimates, rather than the true value of the operation, which is their overall improved aesthetics.

Specialized (fellowship trained) general and laparoscopic surgeons perform gastric-bypass surgery to assist patients with significant tummy tuck weight loss. Your plastic and reconstructive surgeon is not one of these physicians. However, your plastic surgeon can improve your appearance by removing the excess skin left behind after weight loss. Liposuction can be performed to remove mild to moderate amounts of fat in selected regions in combination with your tummy tuck. Lastly, your abdominal muscles can be tightened through a technique called plication to further enhance your appearance.

While some weight loss can be observed, the true value of the tummy tuck surgery is clearly the overall improved aesthetic result. In my view, this can dramatically affect your lifestyle, your level of confidence, and create further desire for healthy living, all of which are more important than the loss of several pounds.

Having a tummy tuck not only greately improves your mid-section contour, but it also automatically has the added bebefit of weight loss (5,10,15lbs) depending on the amount of skin and fat removed. Very commonly patients get the added benefit of being encouraged by this great result and jump starting their excercise routine with the added benefit of additional weight loss. Overall, tummy tuck patients are some of the happiest patients in my practice!

I recommend to my patients that they be within 20 lbs. of their ideal weight for this procedure to receive the optimum result. During a tummy tuck the rectus abdominal muscles are sutured back together and the excess skin and fat are removed therefore eliminating lower abdominal fullness. Although you will lose inches this procedure is not a means of weight loss.

Tummy tuck is an operation for selectively removing fat, trimming redundant skin and tightening the mucle fascia to achieve an improved abdominal shape. Though tissue is removed and thus weight is lost, that isn’t the goal of the procedure and it is usually much less than patients hope.

But selectively removing tissue in order to give a better shape often gives the appearance of a more significant tummy tuck weight loss.

Also, patients who weigh themselves early after surgery will be shocked to find that they have actually gained weight. This can be 10 lbs or more and it is due to swelling and water retention. So, don’t worry – it is temporary. The best thing you can do is stay off the scale for the first month after surgery.

The amount of weight you’ll lose from a tummy tuck is minimal. It will not make a real impact on the scale, especially considering that the procedure is not designed as a method of weight loss. It is only designed to remove a limited amount of excess skin and fat as well as tighten weak abdominal muscles. The removed tissue generally does not weight much; generally it’s just a couple of pounds. It can be more if the patient has a lot of excess tissue, but never so much that a huge fluctuation in weight occurs.

The real tummy tuck weight loss comes after surgery. Many patients find find that afterward, they’re so happy with their new, slimmer shape that they follow a healthy diet and regular exercise regimen to maintain their great results.

How much weight is lost after a tummy tuck depends on the size of the “pannus”, or the extra skin and fat that is removed. This can be ten pounds or more for a massive weight loss patient, but for an average patient who is having a tummy tuck to “fix” what pregnancies caused, it is usually not enough to make much of a difference in weight immediately after surgery.

However, I have found that patients do tend to lose some weight after a tummy tick on their own, often finding that the tightening of the abdominal muscles makes them feel full much more quickly.

A Tummy Tuck is more about contour and shape than it is about weight. Usually the skin and fat that is removed weighs about 5 pounds. This may not seem like a lot, but the improvement in contour can be dramatic. In addition, the tightening of the surface of the abdominal muscles can contribute to a flattening effect to the abdomen. Usually the results of a tummy tuck are dramatic even though not a lot of weight is removed.

The typical weight of the skin and fat removed during a tummy tuck is typically not as much as one would anticipate. It is usually in the range of 3-8 lbs. However, the change in contour and shape will appear like you lost a lot more. The effect of tightening the muscles and removing loose skin can be quite dramatic. The transformations are remarkable. For these reasons,it’s one of my favorite procedures.

As others have pointed out, the weight of the skin and fat removed is far less important than the improvement in abdominal shape and contour. Some patients with large amounts of hanging skin may lose 5-10 lbs after abdominoplasty. Whereas a thin patient with some very loose skin may only lose one pound.

The focus is really on tightening the skin, flattening the belly, and narrowing the waist. Discuss your goals with your board certified plastic surgeon.

Most people are surprised to find out that tummy tuck which removes skin and fat in the lower abdomen does not make a huge difference in weight.

The tissues in our body that have the most weight are the muscles and the organs. The skin and fat is removed tummy tuck is not a particularly heavy or dense tissue.

While a heavier person will likely have more weight removed than a more slender person the amount of weight loss is not dramatic. We as plastic surgeons have to use our judgment about the amount of skin and fat the that can be removed. Very heavy patients can be higher risk for surgery.

Ideal candidates may have a lot of loose hanging skin but the layer of skin and fat that are removed generally weigh just a few pounds.

I get asked this question by a lot of patients and can never give a good answer until after the surgery because it can be so different from patient to patient. It is definitely not a weight loss procedure but a shape changing operation.

But most of the patients say they look like they lost a lot more weight than they actually did due to the youthful smooth flat contour of their new tummy.

A tummy tuck is a body contouring procedure designed to improve the shape and appearence of your abdomen. It is not designed as a weight loss procedure and the amount of weight reduced by removal of the excess skin and soft-tissue is usually less than 10lbs in most cases.