Tummy Tuck - Colorado Springs Institute of Plastic Surgery

Name: Tummy Tuck - Colorado Springs Institute of Plastic Surgery
Uploaded: 2018-05-02T12:33:00.563
Channel: Institute of Plastic Surgery
Description: Tummy tuck is the procedure used to remove excess skin and fat of the abdominal region. Occasionally, the muscle layer enclosing the abdominal cavity

Tummy tuck is the procedure used to remove excess skin and fat of the abdominal region. Occasionally, the muscle layer enclosing the abdominal cavity can become stretched out and loosened from pregnancy, weight change and age, giving you a protruding abdominal area. Body lifting procedures, including an Upper Body Lift, can produce profound improvements in one's body shape and are commonly performed following a substantial weight loss. Schedule a consultation at the Colorado Springs Institute of Plastic Surgery to learn more!

Video Transcript

A tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is a procedure in which excess fat and skin are removed from the abdomen, and the abdominal muscles are tightened in order to create a tighter, flatter abdomen. The most typical patient for abdominoplasty is a woman who's had children and during pregnancy her skin has stretched out, and now is excess, and her abdominal muscles are separated centrally, causing a sort of weakness in the abdominal wall. Another patient is someone who's undergone fluctuations in weight was either a massive weight loss or weight gain during their lifetime.

This procedure is recommended in patients who have excess skin and fat in the abdomen but are generally not obese or overweight. After an abdominoplasty, the patient does experience some pain for about seven to 10 days. The pain is probably the worst in the first three days. There is a lifting restriction of nothing greater than 10 pounds for about thank six weeks. That is primarily to protect the tightening of the abdominal muscles that's been done. Patients generally return to work after about two weeks, and they're usually off of narcotics by that time.

After abdominoplasty surgery, a patient can expect pain that lasts for about two weeks, but the first three to five days is the worst, and then this rapidly improves. Most patients return to work that's non-exertional at the end of two weeks, and they are off narcotics by that time. I do have a lifting restriction of nothing heavier than 10 pounds for six weeks, and that is to protect the tightening of the abdominal muscles that was done. Patients will also wear a compression garment which looks like a girdle and is easy to hide in clothing. That is worn for six weeks as well.