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FAQ
Tummy Tuck Defined
Abdominoplasty surgery serves to remove excess fat and skin from the abdomen while tightening the muscles underneath the skin. Many of our patients come to us for a tummy tuck after years of exercising and dieting fail to give them the flat, toned stomach they dream of.
Tummy Tuck Candidates
The best candidates for abdominoplasty surgery are people who are healthy and relatively trim. Often, these people have managed to control their weight through nutrition and exercise but still have excess skin or fat on their stomachs. Pennsylvania Drs. Hurwitz and Agha routinely perform abdominoplasty surgery on women who have lost skin elasticity in their abdomens after one or more pregnancies.
There are certain people for whom a tummy tuck is not an ideal choice. If you are planning on becoming pregnant in the future, or are trying to lose a large amount of weight, it may be best to wait until later to undergo abdominoplasty. In both cases, the benefits of a tummy tuck may be undone by changes in skin and muscle tone.
It is also important to consider that no matter how little or how much skin is removed, abdominoplasty surgery requires an incision that will result in a scar. In most cases, Pennsylvania surgeon Dr. Hurwitz will be able to minimize the length of the tummy tuck scar and give you recovery instructions to help your scar heal as well as possible.
The only sure way to find out if you are a candidate for abdominoplasty is to contact the Hurwitz Center for Plastic Surgery for an in-person consultation. If you live outside Pennsylvania, you may choose to discuss your tummy tuck surgery and recovery questions with Dr. Hurwitz via an online consultation.
The Abdominoplasty Surgery Procedure
There are two kinds of tummy tuck. A partial abdominoplasty, also known as a mini tummy tuck, is useful if you only have excess skin and fat below the belly button, while a full abdominoplasty will also correct loose muscle tone and skin above the belly button.
After you are anesthetized, the abdominoplasty surgery itself will take from two to five hours, depending on the type of tummy tuck you are having done. First, Dr. Hurwitz will make a horizontal incision between your hipbones. He will then lift this skin to access the muscles of your abdomen, which he will tighten and stitch into their new positions. Before closing the incision, the surgeon will stretch downward and remove any excess skin.
Partial abdominoplasty surgery follows the same steps, but omits tightening of the abdominal muscles.
Dr. Hurwitz is proud to offer, in addition to traditional tummy tuck techniques, a sophisticated type of abdominoplasty that helps to tighten and shape the waist and back in addition to the stomach. Patients seeking plastic surgery after weight loss benefit greatly from this type of body lift.
Tummy Tuck Recovery
Once the tummy tuck is complete, you will begin recovery by staying in the hospital for a few hours or a few days, depending on your current health and the extent of your surgery.
For the first few days after abdominoplasty, you will likely experience some swelling and pain; be assured that this is normal. Dr. Hurwitz will prescribe pain medication to help reduce your discomfort. Your stitches will be removed about a week after surgery, and the dressings covering your incision will be replaced by a support garment about a week later.
Most of the patients visiting our Pennsylvania facility have a common question about tummy tuck recovery; they want to know how noticeable their scars will be. Every person's body is different, and many factors contribute to scar healing. Nonsmokers and those who follow Dr. Hurwitz's directions have a better chance of their scars fading. In the first few months of tummy tuck recovery, you may not notice an improvement in the appearance of scars. Expect to wait at least nine months before your scars lighten in color and become as flat as the rest of your skin. Dr. Hurwitz is usually able to place incisions low on the abdomen, so your scars will be covered by your bathing suit.
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