There is hardly a woman that wouldn’t love to have a flatter, firmer stomach. Although many women enjoy a fit, flat tummy in their teens and twenties, many find the lower abdomen bulging out after they have babies. No amount of sit-ups or dieting will get rid of it! Other women discover that as they get older an annoying, prominent fat pad develops over the lower belly. This fat can be so developed as to actually hang like an apron over the pubic and groin area, making it difficult to look good in any style of clothing. Still other women were never blessed with flat stomachs to begin with, and long to change their rotund bellies for something a bit more streamlined.

For all of these conditions there is “Abdominoplasty,” otherwise known as “Tummy Tuck.” Besides excess skin and fat, Tummy Tucks can address the stretched out and separated stomach muscles that are unique to the female sex (which by design allow for a larger abdomen during pregnancy) and which rarely improve even with vigorous exercise.

There are actually several degrees of Tummy Tuck. A “Mini Tummy Tuck” is a procedure designed to remove just a little excess skin and fat from the lower belly. The incision line is a little longer than a C-section incision and the procedure is easily done under local anesthetic with mild sedation. A Full Abdominoplasty is a more radical surgery. This procedure not only removes a large amount of excess skin and fat, but also involves significant tightening of the abdominal muscles and creation of a new belly button site (since some of the excess skin must be removed from above the belly button). The incisions are therefore around the belly button as well as along the lower abdomen from hip to hip (the “bikini line”). Full Abdominoplasty requires general anesthesia.

In between the “Mini” and “Full” Abdominoplasty then are the more common “Modified” Abdominoplasties. These procedures are tailored to the individual and can consist of anything short of actually needing to relocate the site of the belly button to a new hole in the skin. Modified Abdominoplasties may be possible under local anesthesia with sedation. A consultation with Dr. Hendrick can determine which level of procedure would be right for you.

The downside of any Tummy Tuck is the fact that there is no way to do the procedure without a long scar along the bikini line. In exchange for a tighter, flatter stomach, the patient MUST be willing to accept a scar there. Everyone scars differently, so how thin and delicate the final scar is cannot be accurately predicted. As with C-section scars, most women can hide the scars here with their clothing or bathing suits.


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