There's a lot of confusion about tummy tucks and we get a lot of questions... the question we here most often is which version of a tummy tuck would be best for them. One we hear often is, “do I need a 'full' or 'mini' tummy tuck?”
Here are a few guidelines:
- If you've lost over 100 pounds, you're going to need more than a tummy tuck – you're probably going to need a body lift. What's a body lift? There's a ton about it online, but not only does it tighten your abdomen, but it also lifts the buttocks by extending the cut all around your body. (About 5% of our practice)
- If you don't like the looseness above your belly button, you need a tummy tuck. A full tummy tuck, not a mini. The reason for that is that we need to pull the skin all the way down like a window shade and we need to make you a new belly-button in the process. (About 90% of our practice). If we don't need to tighten the muscles, the procedure is called a “skin-only tummy tuck.”
- If you have tight skin above the belly button, but loose skin below, you need a modified tummy tuck. In this version, we “float” the belly button off of the abdominal wall to allow for muscle tightening, then put it back down a little bit lower than it was before. Watch out tho – if your belly-button is low to start, it may end up too low. (About 5% of our practice)
- If you only have a little bulge in the lower abdomen, you might get away with a mini-tummy tuck. In this version, we make a small cut like a C-section incision and use it to expose the abdominal muscle and tighten it. There is not a lot of room to take out skin with an incision this small, so the number of people for whom this appropriate is pretty small (<1% in our practice.)
- If you have already had a tummy tuck and are still bothered by loose skin in the upper abdomen, you might be a candidate for an unusual surgery called a “reverse tummy tuck.” In this surgery, we lift the skin up from underneath the breasts and hide the scar in the breast fold. (<1% of our practice)
- Finally, if your muscles are pretty tight and the skin of your upper abdomen isn't loose, you might be a candidate for liposuction alone. But if your skin a bit loose in the lower abdomen, we might suggest cutting out a little strip of skin near the panty line. We call this liposuction with a skin strip.
I hope this helps clarify what form of tummy tuck might be best for you, but the truly best way is to come in for a one-on-one consultation with one of our plastic surgeons.
Work with our board-certified tummy tuck specialists, request a consultation, or call (703) 893-6168 to decide which abdominoplasty approach fits your goals.
— Robert K. Sigal, MD
