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

Abdominoplasty procedures are commonly referred to as ‘tummy tucks.’ In these procedures, excessive skin and fat are removed in the area between the pubis and the umbilicus. Additionally, the abdominal muscles are tightened in order to reduce the protrusion of the abdomen.

The amount of fat removed is dependent on the amount of skin laxity in the area. This often depends on the degree of stretch marks present along the abdomen.

An abdominoplasty is not a means for weight loss. It IS a way to recontour your abdominal wall and flanks AFTER losing a significant amount of weight. Surgical results with abdominoplasty are optimized in patients that have made an effort to lose as much weight to approximate their ideal body weights.

Weight loss after tummy tuck operation

So the real question should be: how much weight should I lose BEFORE I have an abdominoplasty? In reality, you really don’t lose a lot of weight from an abdominoplasty, no matter how much fat and soft tissue is removed during the procedure. An abdominoplasty is thus a recontouring procedure of the anterior abdominal wall rather than a weight loss surgery.

Unless you are a really large case, most patients only lose a 1-3 pounds from tummy tuck surgery. This is a shaping operation…and a really good one. Try not to concentrate on weight loss. Most tummy tuck patients enjoy the tightening they get. While a tummy tuck can change the contour of your abdomen dramatically, it does not change your weight significantly. In women who have a very thin frame, the removed portion of skin may only be 1 lb – even if it is 8 by 12 inches in dimension! For larger women, a very large removal might only be 8 lb. Thinking about it, I’d say most tummy tucks remove about 1 to 4% of the patent’s body weight.

Weight loss after tummy tuck surgery

You should not think of a tummy tuck as a weight loss procedure, but rather a re-shaping procedure.

The amount of tissue removed with abdominoplasty varies from patient to patient and depends upon their specific circumstances. Patients who undergo abdominoplasty following pregnancy tend to have smaller amounts of tissue removed. In this group, the amount of tissue removed may range from one to five pounds.

Patients undergoing abdominoplsty after massive weight loss tend to have larger amounts of tissue removed. In these cases, the weight removed may be as high as fifteen to twenty pounds.

It’s important to emphasize that abdominoplasty is not a weight loss operation, but an operation that removes excess skin and tightens the abdominal wall muscles. The best candidates for this procedure are within 10% of their ideal body weight.

Weight loss after abdominoplasty

Regardless of the amount of tissue removed, abdominoplasty patients have extremely high satisfaction rates.

Stay off the scale after your tummy tuck. There are many changes that occur after surgery including healing and fluid shifts for several months. The goal of a tummy tuck is to dramatically change your appearance in and out of clothes. Don’t look down at the scale. Look into the mirror to assess success after surgery.

Because an abdominoplasty is performed for reshaping the abdomen not losing pounds, I require my patients to be within 10-15 pounds of their ideal weight before I will perform this procedure. The important thing to remember is that although you may not lose a lot of pounds, your clothing will fit better. Best wishes!

Weight loss with tummy tuck is not the proper question

Weight loss after tummy tuck photos

Tummy tuck surgery is designed to remove loose, sagging skin that does not tighten with diet, exercise, or weight loss of any kind, including massive weight loss after gastric bypass or lap band surgery. If you are not at “ideal” weight, you can still have tummy tuck surgery, but you may not have as good a result as someone who is close to their ideal weight.

However, placing yourself on some sort of “fad” diet to starve yourself to an artificial number just so you can have surgery is potentially dangerous, as your tissues won’t heal properly, and you will just undo the work as you return to a “normal” food intake (and perhaps your old bad habits).

Weight loss after tummy tuck photo

If you have lots of loose skin from massive weight loss, then tummy tuck may not be the best operation for you – you would be better served by body lift or circumferential belt lift, both of which include a full and standard tummy tuck as a portion of the procedure.

I have done tummy tucks on thin, muscular patients with flat toned abdominals who just have loose, saggy skin they want tightened. In cases like these, I can remove less than a pound of skin and (very little) fat. I have also done a full circumferential body lift in a patient who had over 31 pounds of skin and fat removed. This was after she had reached her plateau weight, and yet she still had substantial remaining loose skin and fat. You can imagine the improvement she felt as she walked to her car (with assistance) 1 1/2 hours after her surgery!

Weight loss after tummy tuck images

Remember this surgery isn’t about weight loss, it is about shape, contour, and skin tone improvement. A number on a scale is much less important than how you look, feel, and how your clothes fit!

Even with the dramatic final results from a tummy tuck,the amount of skin and fat that is actually removed does not weigh as much as you would think.I would guess that with my standard abdominoplasty patient, I’m removing between five and 10 pounds of skin and fat. I have removed 20-25 pounds in some of my more extensive cases. Most patients will continue to lose weight after the tummy tuck, particularly in the first three weeks, because they don’t have much of an appetite.

Weight loss after tummy tuck image

In addition, many patients now have more of a impetus to develop better nutrition habits as well as exercise programs.

A tummy tuck procedure is NOT a weight loss procedure…It is a fantastic “contouring” procedure; fixing bulging muscle and support tissues, removing stretch marks and excess skin and hour-glassing the sides of the stomach. The weight of the tissues removed is relatively small for the amount of result. BUT I do tell patients that afterwards, you will look and feel so good in your work-out clothes at the gym, the your future work-outs will result in the actual weight loss!

Patients have shrunk from a size 16 to a size 4-6 (6 months after surgery). This is with strict post-operative guidelines and instructions from me and my staff.

Contour first…Weight loss later.