Stop Sucking It In and Get a Tummy Tuck

The term “tummy tuck” is a common nickname for an abdominoplasty. This surgical procedure is effective in helping you regain your pre-baby body. Using a couple of techniques, your plastic surgeon can remove virtually all traces of excess skin and fat that results in stretching from pregnancy. Abdominoplasty is also an effective procedure after extreme weight loss.

In a traditional tummy tuck, an incision is made on your lower abdomen near or at the bikini line. Making the incision here makes it easy to hide a scar and also minimizes damage to the muscular tissue. Next, your surgeon will work to repair weak or lax muscles in your abdominal wall. These muscles are commonly overstretched in pregnancy, and it is often very difficult and sometimes even impossible to complete restore these muscles without surgery. The damage is even more pronounced after multiple pregnancies or a single pregnancy resulting in multiple births.

Once the muscles in the abdominal wall are repaired, your surgeon will likely liposuction the excess fat that remains in the area. This helps to sculpt your abdomen to the desired shape. Then, excess skin is removed so that the abdominal wall is flat and smooth.

After the tummy tuck is complete, your surgeon will place a compression garment on you. This compression garment is used to reduce e swelling in the area. There is likely to be some drainage as your body heals, and your doctor will account for this as well.

Recovering from a procedure as involved as the tummy tuck is longer than you might expect. Abdominoplasty is major surgery involving the “core” of your body. With a normal recovery, you can expect to resume light activities about 1 ½ to 2 weeks following surgery. After about 3 weeks (sometimes more, depending on your doctor’s recommendations) you should be able to resume most of your normal routine. While this recovery schedule is not necessarily ideal for the working woman or busy mom, it is imperative that you allow your body to heal and recover after this type of procedure.

If you are considering a tummy tuck, either by itself or as part of a mommy makeover, it is important to keep things in perspective. Abdominoplasty is major surgery, and you need to treat it as such. This is not one of the cosmetic procedures that you have completed in an afternoon and expect to return to work the next day. Also, it is helpful to keep in mind that this procedure is not going to take you from a size 16 to a size 6. Only those who are in general good health and are close to their goal weight should seek this type of procedure. As part of a mommy makeover, this procedure can help you regain that pre-pregnancy look and help restore your confidence as a woman and a mom.