Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)

If you’ve found yourself longing for a tighter, more toned abdomen, you’re absolutely not alone. Anything from simple genetics to a major life event like significant weight loss or childbirth can impact the way your abdomen looks, which is why Dr. Garramone offers abdominoplasty (also known as a tummy tuck) to patients in Fort Myers, Naples FL, and the nearby areas.

Is It Right for Me? About the Tummy Tuck The Benefits Our Results How It's Performed Ideal Candidates The Procedure Your Recovery Drainless Tummy Tuck Frequently Asked Questions Your Ideal Body

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Is It Right for Me? About the Tummy Tuck The Benefits Our Results How It's Performed Ideal Candidates The Procedure Your Recovery Drainless Tummy Tuck Frequently Asked Questions Your Ideal Body

Your Path to a Tighter Tummy

Significant weight gain followed by weight loss can sometimes leave a loose or sagging layer of skin and fat, which can be treated with an abdominoplasty. Both pregnancy and weight gain also cause the expansion of skin, which causes the deeper elastic structures of the skin to tear, resulting in stretch marks. While proper diet and exercise can help up to a point after weight loss or pregnancy, they won’t completely remove the presence of loose skin and excessive folds. A tummy tuck won’t necessarily treat obesity or act as a substitute for proper diet and exercise, so we advise that patients wait to have a tummy tuck until after planned pregnancies are completed, and weight loss goals have been reached.

Is a Tummy Tuck Right for Me?

Here at Garramone Plastic Surgery, Dr. Garramone and his incredible team have been providing impressive results to patients in the Fort Myers and Naples FL areas for over 20 years, and we offer an impressive number of solutions to whatever might have brought you through our doors.

You’re likely a great candidate for a tummy tuck with Dr. Garramone if you’re dealing with:

Loose, sagging skin
Excess fat
Unresponsive deposits
Persistent chub
Extra folds

Your Guide to the Tummy Tuck

During your tummy tuck, the underlying muscles and tissue of the abdominal wall will be tightened, resulting in a trimmer, more youthful physique. Additionally, scars of the lower and mid abdomen can be improved, or in some cases eliminated. The results can, in many cases, be dramatic.

Dr. Garramone Explains a Full vs Mini Tummy Tuck

The Benefits of Your Tummy Tuck

Patients who undergo tummy tuck surgery can look better in clothing and bathing suits and are typically more comfortable engaging in physical activities. They have an increased level of comfort and confidence.

The abdominoplasty or tummy tuck can considerably reduce the look of a protruding belly that is out of proportion with the rest of the body. The abdominoplasty is most appropriate for patients who are in good shape but have fat and loose skin in the abdomen region that will not respond to dieting or exercise. This procedure is most often used to treat women after having a pregnancy, which may have caused the abdominal skin and muscles to become weak and loose.

Our Incredible Results

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How the Tummy Tuck Is Performed

A tummy tuck achieves incredible results by removing the extra skin that usually contains most, if not all of the stretch marks, while tightening the abdominal muscles to enhance your shape and figure. Excess fat is usually contoured with liposuction.

Alternatively, a “mini-abdominoplasty” involves a much shorter incision in the lower abdomen, for less skin removal. Which approach is best for each patient is decided during the patient’s initial consultation.

Scars from previous abdominal surgery may be used for a tummy tuck, or even removed during the procedure. Using scars from the previous abdominal surgery is often ideal for women who have Cesarean section scars, which can be replaced with a new tummy tuck scar.

An abdominoplasty may be combined with other procedures performed on other parts of the body. For example, liposuction is commonly performed in conjunction with abdominoplasty. In some cases, breast surgery is also combined with an abdominoplasty.

A complete abdominoplasty is performed under general anesthesia or deep sedation, and most patients can return to their usual activities approximately two weeks after surgery, but strenuous activities should be avoided for approximately four to six weeks.

Am I the Best Candidate?

We may not always think of it this way, but skin is the largest organ in the human body. Your skin has many incredible capabilities, from healing itself when it’s injured to protecting your more-delicate inner workings, but sometimes its ability to “bounce back” into shape after pregnancy or rapid weight loss isn’t perfect.

While diet and exercise are typically key to a flat abdomen, surgical procedures like abdominoplasty, or “tummy tucks,” can help patients with stubborn fat and excess skin achieve more contoured cores. If you are considering a Tummy Tuck, reach out and set up your consultation with Dr. Garramone today!

What's the Procedure Like?

The exact procedure varies depending on factors like how much excess skin and fat will be removed and whether or not the abdominoplasty is being performed in conjunction with other procedures.

A traditional tummy tuck begins with an incision being made from hip to hip along a patient’s pubic hairline.

It’s through this initial incision that abdominal muscles are tightened, and excess abdominal fat is removed with liposuction. A second incision is then made around the navel, which allows for skin to be stretched over the abdominal structure and the excess skin to be removed before the navel is repositioned. Incisions are then closed with sutures or skin adhesives.

For patients seeking less correction, a less invasive tummy tuck can be performed that doesn’t include any tightening of abdominal muscles or incisions around the navel.

For patients seeking more correction, an extended procedure can be performed to remove excess skin in the upper hip area.

Your Recovery Period

While the recovery period is slightly different for everyone, you’ll want to arrange to have someone to help care for them for at least 48 hours after surgery and then plan to spend a good two weeks away from work and other commitments.

Your incisions will be dressed with bandages and you might have a small drainage tube inserted under your skin to prevent excess fluid buildup. You’ll wear your compression garment to reduce swelling and help your body adapt to its new shape, with swelling and bruising typically subsiding in about a month, though can take as long as six months. Maintaining a healthy diet and staying hydrated can aid in reducing swelling.

Drainless Tummy Tuck

A drainless tummy tuck in Fort Myers & Naples offers patients virtually the same benefits as a standard tummy tuck procedure while utilizing a different suturing technique that allows for a quicker recovery process.

Drainless tummy tuck procedures enable patients to forgo post-surgical drains by utilizing what is known as an advanced progression suturing method. This technique differs from the standard one in that the skin and underlying tissue are attached to the back of the abdominal wall, removing excess space and relaxing the area of the incision. This makes the downtime and recovery period much shorter and tolerable for patients.

Beyond that, drainless tummy tuck procedures are associated with fewer postoperative symptoms, further improving the recovery process. There is typically less discomfort and swelling, and all surgical wounds heal faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Should I Consider a Tummy Tuck?

The best candidates for tummy tucks are people who are at a stable weight that they are going to be able to maintain post surgery. If you’re thinking about having the procedure after losing a significant amount of weight but are still planning on losing more weight, it’s best to wait until you reach your goal weight. The same is true for women who are interested in having the procedure post pregnancy — it’s best to only consider abdominoplasty when you’re finished having children.

Another important thing to consider is whether you smoke or not. Abdominoplasty is not recommended for people who smoke because of the degree that smoking restricts blood flow and negatively impacts a person’s ability to recover after surgery.

What are some of the risks associated with abdominoplasty?

Abdominoplasty carries the same risks as other forms of surgery, including infection, scarring and decreased skin sensitivity. These risk factors are compounded for patients who are already experiencing other adverse health conditions, so it’s very important to work with an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon, like Dr. Garramone, who can help you make the best decision regarding whether or not you are a good candidate for the procedure.

If you are a good candidate for the procedure and decide to have the surgery, it’s also important to pay close attention to all of the instructions you’ll receive from Dr. Garramone about the recovery process and postoperative care.

What’s the difference between tummy tucks and other body contouring procedures like liposuction?

While body contouring procedures like liposuction are regarded as being less invasive and effective at removing excess fat, they are limited in their ability to help patients who have an excess amount of sagging skin in the abdominal area. Traditional abdominoplasty procedures also focus on tightening weakened abdominal muscles, which can have a further slimming effect that cannot always be achieved through fat removal alone.

Enjoy the Body You Know You Deserve

If you’re feeling a bit frustrated by what you see when you look in the mirror each day, we’re here for you at Garramone Plastic Surgery. Our tummy tuck procedure can help you enjoy the flat, toned abdomen that you know you deserve, and the significant boost in quality of life that comes right along with it. Reach out and set up your consultation today, to learn more about how this procedure can leave you looking lean and trim!