• Your surgeon starts by marking your abdomen to indicate the location of the incisions, the center of your torso and the location of the repositioned navel.
• Your surgeon will inject a local anesthetic and a vasoconstrictor that controls bleeding by constricting blood vessels (epinephrine).
• Your surgeon makes the primary tummy tuck incision above the pubic mound, from one hipbone to the other. In a full abdominoplasty, your surgeon makes another incision around your navel. In a mini-tummy tuck, your surgeon will make a shorter incision.
• During the muscle repair portion of the surgery, the surgeon loosens the skin from your abdominal wall to your ribcage and then places sutures in the band of connective tissue (fascia) in your abdominal muscles and pulls them into a tighter position.
• After your surgeon sutures your abdominal muscles, they remove excess fat using liposuction or other methods. Your surgeon then stretches your abdominal skin down over your incision line and removes the excess skin.
• Next, your surgeon marks the placement of your navel. Although the skin around your navel has moved, the navel almost always stays in the same place. Your surgeon cuts a hole through the redraped skin and sutures it around your navel.
• Your surgeon will use tissue glue, sutures, staples, or Steri-Strips to close the incisions.

• Smoother, flatter midsection
• Tighter abdominal muscles
• Reduction in loose skin around the middle
• Elimination of some stretch marks, those above the belly button typically can’t be removed
• Repositioning of the belly button for a natural look

There are several different types of tummy tucks. The type of tummy tuck you receive will depend on the amount of excess skin and fat you have and your desired results. Consult with your board-certified aesthetic plastic surgeon to determine the best option for you.

Your surgeon makes a single incision in the pubic area, which will be as low as possible and range from a few inches to the entire span of your abdomen. Through this incision, your surgeon will remove excess skin, tighten slack muscles, and possibly use liposuction to further refine the area. The ideal candidate for a mini-tummy tuck has laxity and protrusion below the navel. A mini-tummy tuck is usually recommended for those who have always been in fairly good shape but cannot achieve their aesthetic goals with diet and exercise.

If you have excess skin in the love handles or hips, your surgeon can make a longer incision to address this problem. The high lateral tension tummy tuck is one of the first procedures developed to address skin excess after significant weight loss or pregnancy, and it uses a layer in the deeper tissue to support and maintain the repair. For this procedure, the surgeon does a tummy tuck in the front of the abdomen and then transfers the lift over the hip to the side of the thigh to improve your contours in this area. You can simulate the effect by grabbing the skin on the sides of your waist and pulling up as if you’re putting on a pair of pants.

• In a full abdominoplasty, the surgeon will often insert one or more drains to prevent fluid buildup, causing pressure on the incision. The surgeon makes a very short incision below the main incision and inserts the drain (a clear plastic tube) which leads out of the body to a small oval-shaped bulb. Each time you empty a bulb and before you close it again, you will be asked to squeeze it to help drain the wound.

The drain is too small to cause discomfort and looks like a round tube.

After tummy tuck surgery, the drain is removed within 1 to 3 days. However, this date may vary with the number of days that your doctor deems appropriate.

• As the anesthesia wears off, you may feel dizzy, disoriented, and nauseous. These sensations should pass within a few hours, although some types of oral pain medications may cause these symptoms to recur.
• If you return home the same day, you will need someone to drive you. Depending on the extent of your procedure, you may have to spend a night or two in the hospital recovering from surgery.
• Immediately following an abdominoplasty, expect your abdomen to feel very sore or tender. You can control any pain you feel with pain medications.
• Your surgeon will cover your incision site with a dressing to keep the area clean and protected. You will also need to wear a wide elastic compression garment to reduce swelling and provide support to the skin as it tightens. You will wear this garment for several weeks.
• Depending on the extent of your tummy tuck, you may have tubes in your incision to drain away fluid. Your surgeon will ask you to empty the drains a few times a day and keep track of how much fluid comes out. Your surgeon will typically remove your drains three to fourteen days after your surgery, depending on how much fluid is coming out.
• Your surgeon should provide you with detailed instructions for managing your drains, changing your bandages, and showering during recovery. You also may need to put ointment on your incisions to reduce discomfort.
• Common side effects associated with a tummy tuck include redness, bruising, and swelling. These side effects usually subside in one to three weeks as your body adjusts to the new contours, and the incisions heal.
• The first few days after surgery, you should rest. Remember, you must not take aspirin or certain anti-inflammatory medications. To prevent coughing and bleeding, do not smoke after your procedure. Do not drink alcohol for five days after surgery or while you are taking pain medication.
• Arrange for someone to help you get around the house and help with your medication for at least the first three days after surgery.
• You should be up and walking the day after surgery, but take it slow. It is important to walk to discourage swelling and to prevent blood clots in the legs. However, avoid strenuous exercise for four to six weeks, because it can trigger unnecessary fluid retention in the treated areas.
• Call your surgeon immediately if you notice an increase in swelling, pain, redness, drainage, or bleeding in the surgical area, or if you develop fever, dizziness, nausea, or vomiting. Other red flags include shortness of breath, chest pains, and an unusual heartbeat.

• Follow your surgeon’s instructions carefully. The first two days are the most uncomfortable, so if you have to take medications at certain times, stay on the schedule. Discomfort typically drops down to a «nagging» level by five to seven days.
• Make sure you continue to have lots of help at home. You won’t feel like yourself for at least seven to ten days and you still shouldn’t do any heavy lifting (such as picking up your children or baskets of laundry) for four to six weeks. If you have small children, you must put someone else totally in charge of their care for at least two weeks.
• You will likely have a follow-up with your surgeon within five days. During this visit, your surgeon can remove your drains. Swelling should subside within five weeks.
• If you have traditional sutures, you will typically have these removed within the first week or two (absorbable sutures will not have to be removed).
• Plan to take about two weeks off from work, depending on the physical demands of your job.
• Make an effort to ease back into your normal routine gradually rather than all at once.
• The recovery period is typically longest for patients undergoing a traditional abdominoplasty, rather than a mini-tummy tuck, and for those who are combining a tummy tuck with other surgical procedures.
• Wearing your compression garment as directed reduces the likelihood of loose or sagging skin after an abdominoplasty. The compression garment also helps to control swelling, resulting in a shorter recovery period.

Is recommended by our doctors that patients use a specially made corset so that the operated area can be shaped as desired. The corset should not be removed during the day unless it is possible to use it.

A specially purchased corset should be used for at least 30 days to be worn during the post-tummy tuck surgery process. Thanks to the corset, which will be used for an average of 30 days, the success rate of the operation will increase much more.

• Fluid accumulation beneath the skin (seroma). Drainage tubes left in place after surgery can help reduce the risk of excess fluid. Your doctor might also remove fluid after surgery using a needle and syringe.
• Poor wound healing. Sometimes areas along the incision line heal poorly or begin to separate. You might be given antibiotics during and after surgery to prevent an infection.
• Unexpected scarring. The incision scar from a tummy tuck is permanent, but it’s typically placed along the easily hidden bikini line. The length and visibility of the scar varies from person to person.
• Tissue damage. During a tummy tuck, fatty tissue deep within your skin in the abdominal area might get damaged or die. Smoking increases the risk of tissue damage. Depending on the size of the area, tissue might heal on its own or require a surgical touch-up procedure.
• Changes in skin sensation. During a tummy tuck, the repositioning of your abdominal tissues can affect the nerves in the abdominal area, and infrequently, in the upper thighs. You’ll likely feel some reduced sensation or numbness. This usually diminishes in the months after the procedure.