Mommy Makeover Procedure – Tummy Tuck
Posted October 20, 2009 in Body Contouring, Mommy Makeover, Tummy Tuck, Uncategorized
Mommy Makeover Surgeon In Orange County
Now that you’ve given birth to your child or children, one of the most wonderful and miraculous things a woman can do, you may be left questioning “What happened to my body, and what can I do to make it better again?” The Mommy Makeover was designed to help the millions of women who share these same concerns. I recently posted an article about The Mommy Makeover Procedure, a combination of surgical procedures performed at the same operative session. The main procedures include a tummy tuck (medically referred to as an abdominoplasty), a breast augmentation and/or breast lift, and liposuction of problem areas such as the thighs. In this article, I’ll discuss the tummy tuck component of The Mommy Makeover in greater detail.
Three unwanted changes can often occur to your tummy, or abdomen, after pregnancy: stretching or sagging of the skin, loosening or bulging of the muscles, and development of stretch marks. Fortunately, a well-performed tummy tuck can often improve all three of these problems. The main purpose of a tummy tuck is to remove excess, loose skin (and some fat at times). Every woman’s skin recovers differently after pregnancy. Some women are fortunate that their skin tightens up nicely, staying smooth and without stretch marks. More often, the skin doesn’t tighten back to its pre-pregnancy state. The tummy tuck excises, or cuts out, the excess skin. The extra skin, accompanied by drooping, folds or creases, and jiggling with movement, can occur in women of any age or size. I have performed tummy tucks, with excellent improvement, on women who are 5 feet tall and weigh over 200 p0unds, and on women who are 5’7″ tall and weigh 110 pounds. ANYONE can develop loose, hanging skin after giving birth. There are photos of women of different sizes in my photo gallery.
Another important part of the tummy tuck involves tightening the abdominal muscles. I don’t remember ANY post-pregnancy tummy tuck patients who wouldn’t benefit from tightening and flattening the muscles. Muscle laxity, of varying degrees, is just a fact of pregnancy, and occurs even in athletes and fitness trainers who do hundreds of sit-ups each day. Strong, permanent sutures (stitches) are used to tighten the rectus abdominis muscles. This pulls in the waist and flattens the bulging of the tummy.
Fortunately, tummy tucks can also frequently eliminate or markedly reduce stretch marks. Much of the skin containing the stretch marks may be cut out, with the remaining skin pulled tight and smooth. If the stretch marks are mainly at the level of the belly button or below, you may have few or no stretch marks after surgery.
It’s important to remember that, although Mommy Makeovers or tummy tucks are cosmetic procedures, they are indeed surgeries, and should be performed by plastic surgeons with the highest degree of training, ongoing education, and experience, including certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Andres Taleisnik has been a highly respected member of the medical community in the Newport Beach and Orange County areas for well over a decade. Please call 714-835-6500 to schedule a free consultation. You will meet only with Dr. Taleisnik, not a nurse or assistant. He will help you to determine which procedures are best and most appropriate for you, and will start you on the path back to the body you had before, or never had and always wanted.
Please watch for upcoming articles on other components of The Mommy Makeover, including breast augmentation/lift and liposuction.