Tummy Tuck In New York

Serving New York Patients From Manhattan And Surrounding Areas Of New York City

The abdominoplasty procedure, also known as a "tummy tuck", is usually done to counteract the devastating negative effects left from the stretching of your abdomen during pregnancy. However, it is also used to help both men and women reclaim their youthful stomach looks.

When you undergo a tummy tuck, your surgeon starts by making a long, shallow, horizontal incision across the lower portion of your abdomen. Next, beginning at one of your hips, your surgeon makes a long incision to just above the crease in your groin (between your lower abdomen and your inner thigh). Finally, your surgeon crosses over the upper level of your pubic hair, where he or she then cuts over to your opposite hip, ending your incision.

Following the above incisions, your surgeon will make a small, circular incision around your navel, being careful not to detach it from its underlying blood supply. Next, with your navel still in its original place, your surgeon will lift your loosened abdominal skin over the whole front of the trunk or your body, pulling it all the way up to the bottom of your ribs. Now any of your possible abdominal problems are ready to be fixed.

Lax Muscles

Lax muscles are corrected by sewing permanent sutures into the tough material that covers your abdominal muscles, and then folding your muscles back over on themselves. In addition, the results of this process also narrow your waist and flatten out your lower bulge if you have one.

Next, all your extra fat and skin between your navel and the line above your pubic hair is pulled down and cut off. Doing this also eliminates unpleasant-looking stretch marks and may even remove some or your previous scars, such as scars left over from an appendectomy or cesarean section procedure.

Finally, your remaining skin is pulled downward until it reaches the line of the long cut from your pubic area to your hips. To close your incision, your skin sutured together.

Your navel is now covered by skin, since it was never moved. Through the process of creating a new hole directly above it, your navel can be pulled through to the surface and sutured down. In this way, your navel ends up in exactly the same location it was in before.

You will have a tiny scar which encircles your navel, and a lower, more major scar which runs across where your long incision was made. This one may thicken and become highly visible to you, but it can be hidden easily under your bathing suit, underwear, or other clothes.

Sometimes your abdominoplasty may be performed with an extremely long incision which goes from between your ribs to above your pubic hairline. However, this vertical cut is not in a good position to heal well so your scar will probably become very thick, and you will not have an easy way to disguise it.

If your abdominal area already has a vertical scar present, then this probably won’t be a consideration for you. In some cases, however, you won’t have a choice about which type of abdominoplasty incision is made. If your stretched stomach skin is unusually severe your surgeon may need to make a vertical incision as well as a horizontal incision in order to fix the damage.

Postabdominoplasty Expectations

Other than some scarring, your abdominoplasty usually produces outstanding, although not always permanent, results. If you experience another pregnancy or additional aging, for example, you might return to your presurgical condition. If you overeat, you may also return to your original state before you had the surgery. Fat cells which were cut out never return, however, so you will still be better off having had your tummy tuck operation.

The cost of your abdominoplasty should run somewhere from $7,500 to $10,000. It may take you up to six weeks to completely recover.

You will normally be on bed rest a day or two after your surgery and you will more than likely experience some postoperative pain as well. However, you usually have nothing more than a dull ache which goes away with plenty of bed rest. Occasionally, however, it may be more severe. You may also experience a pulling feeling in your abdominal region which may continue for several weeks.

More or less right away after your few days of bed rest, you may start to engage in light activity. After four to six weeks you should be able to totally resume your regular routine, including hard work and even strenuous exercise.

During the first couple of weeks of your convalescence, you will probably walk in a slightly bent-over position because of the unnatural tightness in your abdominal area.

Complications such as postoperative bleeding or infection aren’t very usual. You may have a little skin loss above your pubic hair, which results in a wider, more noticeable scar, but this isn’t serious, and it can usually be amended later.

Hanging Skin (Variation 1)

When you gain and then lose a large amount of weight, you may develop problems similar to those that result from pregnancy or aging. If this is the case with you, a basic abdominoplasty may be all that is necessary to help you. If your weight gain was extremely huge, however, you may be left with an additional problem that requires a special procedure to correct it.

If your skin is overextended, it may stretch too far and never be able to shrink back again. If this happens, your skin may hang from your stomach like a floppy apron, interfering with your cleanliness and making it difficult for you to wear clothes. This condition is not only humiliating, it is also unhealthy, so you should have it fixed as soon as possible.

Your surgeon begins surgery for hanging skin by making the same lengthy incision as explained above in Tummy Tuck Surgery (Abdominoplasty). Then your surgeon gathers all of the loose skin and pulls it tight, cuts if off, and sutures your remaining skin together. You will have a visible scar over stomach where the incision was made, but this is much better and healthier than living with a flabby apron-like stomach.

If you have additional problems such as torn skin, damaged muscles, stretch marks, or a lower bulge, your abdominoplasty can be performed at the same time as these repairs.

Obesity (Variation 2)

As a general rule, if you are obese you should not have cosmetic surgery performed on you to make you thinner. A more reasonable and acceptable solution is to follow a proven program of diet and exercise. Nevertheless, it is possible to slenderize your stomach area, and your health may necessitate a surgical solution.

Your surgery for obesity begins the same way as Tummy Tuck Surgery (Abdominoplasty), starting with a lengthy incision from one of your hips to your other hip and making a circular cut around your navel. This time, however, when your skin is lifted up off your stomach muscle, a large layer of your exposed fat is carefully cut away. This is done from your pubic area up to the bottom of your ribs, and around each of your sides as far as possible.

Outcomes of this procedure, unfortunately, are not always satisfactory, since it is very hard to taper your fat removal to blend in naturally with the rest of your body. Also, you have a greater risk of skin loss, which may cause your long scar to be thick and unsightly. For these reasons, this surgery is usually discouraged.

Localized Fat Deposits (Variation 3)

If you are really massive and you have huge rolls of fat that fill your middle, localized fat deposit treatment may be for you. Again, the preferred solution for you is through diet and exercise. In this case, however, tummy tuck surgery is a more realistic option since through it you can avoid having a major operation. A small incision is made into your biggest fat roll area, and your ugly rolls are simply cut out. You will still need to check into a hospital to have this procedure done, and you will have a long and visible scar where your incision was made, but you will be rid of your localized fat deposits without undergoing major surgery.

Exaggerated Pot Belly (Variation 4)

Obesity over many years causes fat to accumulate in an internal structure that you have called your omentum, as well as under your skin. Your omentum is attached to your stomach and lies over your intestines like an internal apron. It has the ability to store great amounts of fat; and as it spreads out it enlarges your abdomen totally out of proportion with the rest of your body. The most dramatic examples are men with pot bellies or beer bellies. Women may also be affected by this condition as well.

The exaggerated pot bell problem is fixed by taking away your omentum during your conventional abdominoplasty procedure. This means, however, that your abdomen itself must be cut open, and this is not usually advisable. Besides, your omentum operates as a guardian against infection within your abdomen if your appendix or intestines rupture. Because of this, the above procedure is hardly ever recommended, even though your may have startling change in your appearance as a result.

If you are considering tummy tuck surgery in Manhattan, New York City (NYC), or greater New York, contact CosMedica. Our experienced Plastic Surgery Center in New York will give you a free consultation.