6 Ways to Take Your Tummy Tuck Results from Good to Great

Published: October 25, 2024
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Category: Body, Dr. Robert Wilke, Tummy Tuck

What area of your body makes you feel the least confident? If you’re like millions of people worldwide, your midsection is the first thing to come to mind. Our abdomen is one of the first places we gain and lose weight. It is also an area of the body where skin quality can change dramatically with pregnancy and significant weight loss. If loose, excess, sagging skin on your abdomen is making you feel self-conscious about exposing your midsection to the world, there is a surgery that can help you reclaim your physique and confidence. A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is consistently ranked as one of the most popular plastic surgeries in the world. If you are considering this procedure to help restore a flatter, smoother, and more contoured abdomen, here are six ways to take your tummy tuck results from good to great!

“Having a baby or losing a lot of weight after months of hard work are two times in life that a person should feel incredibly proud of themselves and celebrate,” says Dr. Robert Wilke, a board-certified plastic surgeon, partner at Edina Plastic Surgery and St. Paul Mpls Magazine TOP DOCTOR. “Unfortunately, both of these milestones can come with some undesired changes to a person’s body, especially regarding the skin quality of the abdomen. ”

“The stretching of abdominal skin that accompanies pregnancy can leave a woman’s midsection with loose, sagging skin after she gives birth that refuses to snap back no matter how much she diets or exercises. In addition, when we lose a significant amount of fat in the abdomen, the resulting volume loss can leave the overlying skin looking deflated, sometimes even causing it to hang loosely over the belt line. A tummy tuck can be a truly transformational procedure for anyone experiencing sagging, loose skin on the abdomen, especially when they adhere to the following tips about enhancing their results.”

#1 – Choose the right plastic surgeon for you.

“Just because a plastic surgeon is trained and licensed to perform a tummy tuck doesn’t mean that they are the best at it or the best surgeon to perform yours,” explains Dr. Wilke. “First and foremost, you want to confirm that your provider is a board-certified plastic surgeon to ensure your safety, but other important factors must be considered. For example, you should ask how many tummy tucks they have performed throughout their career, as well as take a look at their before and after pictures of real tummy tuck patients and ask yourself if you like the results they achieved for those patients. Lastly, you’ll want to resonate with your surgeon personally and professionally during your consultation. At Edina Plastic Surgery, all of our consultations are complimentary because we deeply respect the partnership between a patient and their surgeon and know how important choosing the right surgeon for you is. We want you to feel 100% confident embarking on your plastic surgery journey with us!”

#2 – Get as close to your ideal weight before surgery and maintain it.

A tummy tuck is designed to tighten the abdominal muscles (when needed) and remove excess skin and fat from the abdomen. It utilizes precise incisions and skin redraping techniques to restore a taut, youthful appearance to your stomach. So, it would be reason to say that the more excess, sagging skin a patient has on the day of surgery, the more will be removed with their procedure. This means that if you want optimal results from a tummy tuck, you should strive to be at, or close to, your ideal weight before surgery.

“Throughout my career, I have found that patients who enter tummy tuck surgery after maintaining a weight close to their ideal or goal weight for a few months before surgery not only achieve better results but also maintain them,” advises Dr. Wilke. “This may be because this population of patients have not only lost weight but have also embraced a healthier lifestyle that will both enhance and ensure long-lasting results.”

#3 – Choose the right kind of tummy tuck.

Many patients don’t realize that there are several types of tummy tucks. Your plastic surgeon will help you decide which technique will best suit your unique anatomy and desired outcome.

Standard Tummy Tuck – A standard tummy tuck allows your surgeon to resculpt your waistline, flatten your abdomen, remove excess skin and fat below your belly button, redrape excess tissues in your upper abdomen for a smoother contour, and reshape your belly button.

“Mothers and anyone who has experienced significant weight loss are great candidates for a standard tummy tuck because they often need to address laxity of both the muscles and the skin in the abdomen,” explains Dr. Wilke. “These conditions are easily addressed through the horizontal incision made along the bikini line in a standard tummy tuck. It opens up the area enough for the surgeon to repair any problem areas while keeping the scar discreet. The belly button is also reshaped and established, often near its original position.”

Extended Tummy Tuck – This technique is best for severe cases of abdominal skin and muscle laxity that extend beyond the stomach area into the hips and regions of the back. These conditions usually develop after massive weight loss or pregnancies that were more destructive to the mother’s body than usual. If a patient experiencing these symptoms were to undergo a standard tummy tuck surgery, they would likely have aesthetic dissonance between their front, sides and back, severely decreasing the likelihood that they would be happy with their results. In these cases, your surgeon may recommend an extended tummy tuck to maintain balance throughout your physique. Although it comes with the trade-off of a longer and more prominent scar, the extended tummy tuck can address a more extensive degree of skin sagging.

Mini Tummy Tuck – For men and women who experience much milder symptoms of skin and muscle laxity, a mini tummy tuck may be best. This technique involves a much smaller incision than even the standard tummy tuck procedure. If you are a candidate for a mini tummy tuck, it will be discussed during your consultation.

#4 – Consider adding liposuction to your tummy tuck.

“More often than not, I find that a patient’s tummy tuck procedure can be significantly enhanced by adding liposuction to their surgery,” says Dr. Wilke. “This is because liposuction is an excellent tool to create contour and definition virtually anywhere on your body. When performed before a tummy tuck, liposuction can remove additional fat so your plastic surgeon can more precisely shape the remaining skin and tissue. This combination helps patients achieve even smoother, flatter, and more contoured results than tummy tuck alone.”

#5 – Consider adding complementary procedures to your tummy tuck.

When you schedule a consultation to discuss tummy tuck surgery with a plastic surgeon, don’t be surprised if they recommend adding additional, complementary procedures to your surgery, like breast lift or liposuction. No, this is not an upsell. In fact, it can save you significant time and money in the long run. That’s because most experienced plastic surgeons have simply found throughout their careers that the majority of patients experience heightened results and satisfaction from their procedure when other surgeries complement it.

“During my tummy tuck consultations, I often recommend combining the procedure with other surgeries if they fit the patient’s goals,” explains Dr. Wilke. “I do this for several reasons, and not one is to increase surgery sales. First, it saves a patient on costs in the long run since you only need to pay for anesthesia and facility fees once. Secondly, combination surgeries require much less recovery time than having each one performed separately. Lastly, it is the best way to provide more harmonious, balanced, and dramatic results. Ultimately, I don’t just want my patients to be happy with their results – I want them to be ecstatic. So, it’s important to paint a complete picture of what may be needed for them to reach the goal they’re striving for.”

#6 – Take your recovery as seriously as your surgery.

It may surprise some patients that how well they recover from surgery is just as important as the surgery itself in terms of results. Straining incisions by stretching your abdominal skin too soon or lifting heavy objects before abdominal muscles have healed can severely jeopardize your tummy tuck’s final outcome.

“Patients will have several post-care instructions after tummy tuck surgery ranging from movement and lifting restrictions to wearing compression garments to caring for incisions and drainage tubes properly,” says Dr. Wilke. “Every single one of the instructions is important and not to be taken lightly if you want the best outcomes from your surgery. Recovery is about rest and honoring your body as it heals, not rushing towards a finish line. I promise that the results from tummy tuck surgery are worth the wait!”

Have you been considering tummy tuck surgery? If so, we’d love to meet you and discuss your goals! Schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss abdominoplasty with Dr. Robert Wilke or another board-certified plastic surgeon at Edina Plastic Surgery by calling (952) 234-6145, texting (952) 925-1765, or CLICKING HERE.

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