What’s Involved?
A Tummy Tuck or abdominoplasty restores a woman’s shape and contour by tightening the muscles of the abdominal wall and removing excess wrinkled skin and fat from the lower abdomen. Tummy Tucks are tailored individually and some women may need only a “Mini Tummy Tuck” that is a less extensive surgery and addresses the stretching of the abdominal wall below the belly button.
Tummy Tucks are commonly performed after pregnancy or weight loss. A healthy diet and exercise can help, but it may not address the protruding abdomen, excess abdominal skin, and laxity of the abdominal wall.
Following pregnancy, a woman’s abdominal wall and skin are stretched and do not return to normal after the delivery. Hormonally induced softening of the abdominal tissue leads to the permanent separation of the rectus muscles, a condition known as rectus diastasis. In rare cases, the tissue may tear and organs may poke out of the opening, resulting in a hernia and require a hernia repair.
