What a Tummy Tuck Can Accomplish

What a Tummy Tuck Can Accomplish

Posted on 07/07/2016 in Blog

There are common misconceptions about what a tummy tuck can accomplish. Dr. Mathew Plant discusses his methods to achieve the best tummy tuck results.

There is a common misconception that a tummy tuck can make ANY belly into a perfectly toned abdomen, but this is not always the case. In the right candidate, a tummy tuck is a powerful option that can completely change someone’s life, but it does have its limitations. That means the closer a patient is to their goal weight when seeking a tummy tuck in Toronto, the better they will look after their procedure.

In general, a tummy tuck should be viewed as a procedure to remove excess skin and fat on the abdomen, tighten the abdominal wall, and repair the separation of muscles. Not as a procedure to lose weight or remove excess fat alone. While it isn’t primarily a fat loss operation, a tummy tuck can get rid of some excess fat by combining it with liposuction, but there are limits to how much fat can safely be removed. Those who only have excess fat, no excess skin, and a reasonable skin tone should consider liposuction instead.

Other things a tummy tuck can achieve include removing a C-section scar/mother’s apron by removing that fold of skin and flattening the stomach out, as well as getting rid of stretch marks below the belly button. Stretch marks above the belly button sometimes cannot be addressed because the skin can only be pulled so much.

Muscle Tightening During a Tummy Tuck

When it comes to muscle tightening, some surgeons will tighten things up as much as they can, but there are some risks associated with this, such as difficulty breathing and an odd appearance of the abs. If a patient has a lot of internal fat, excessive muscle tightening can push the internal organs and fat up towards the lungs making it difficult to breathe. Aesthetically, my personal philosophy with tummy tuck is that if there is a separation of muscle, it should be corrected to an anatomic position, not over corrected. Over correcting the two main ab muscles (the rectus abdominis) and bringing them partially on top of each other to tighten things up essentially takes your eventual 6 pack and converts it to a 3 pack, which is kind of a weird look.

Schedule Your Personalized Consultation

As with almost everything in plastic surgery, a tummy tuck needs to be customized to each patient, so if you are located in the Greater Toronto area and are interested in a tummy tuck, contact me today to schedule your consultation so we can come up with a customized plan to suit your goals.

Visit Dr. Plant’s tummy tuck before and after gallery of actual patients.