Abdominoplasty Surgery-A Double Duty Surgery
Get a smoother, flatter abdomen with a tummy tuck in Boston. Compare the results of Dr. Richard Moss; Quincy plastic surgery and tummy tuck services.
Women who have had children often look to abdominoplasty surgery to regain the appearance of their abdomen. Women who were once overweight and have lost large amounts of weight also look to abdominoplasty surgery, to improve the appearance of their abdomen. This surgery has a reputation of being very effective for correcting the problems brought on by both pregnancy and weight gains and losses.
While many women are aware of abdominoplasty surgery (commonly called tummy tuck), what they may not know is that the surgery has two distinct components to it. The two distinct components are what make this such an effective cosmetic surgery procedure. In this article we will present two patients who had abdominoplasty surgery. While both patients needed and benefited from each component of abdominoplasty surgery, one suffered more from the overhang of abdominal skin and one suffered more from the bulging or protuberance of the true abdominal wall.
The first component of abdominoplasty surgery involves excising (cutting out) of the excess skin and fat. This removes the excess overhang that some women have. Even if a woman does not have an overhang when she stands up, most women who need this surgery complain that when they sit down, the excess hangs over the top of their pants. Some women even have a name for it-“muffin tops.” All women who need an abdominoplasty need some amount of skin removed.
After surgery, Dr. Moss always shows patients a picture of what he removed and finds that they are amazed at how much skin and fat was removed during their abdominoplasty procedure. Even small women of appropriate weight, who have an abdominoplasty, usually have rather large amounts of skin removed (and fat to a lesser degree). It is the removal of a large piece of skin and fat that results in the horizontal scar on a woman’s abdomen after abdominoplasty surgery. While the scar will fade with time it will never disappear completely.
A full abdominoplasty involves the removal of a rather large piece of abdominal skin and fat. The goal of an abdominoplasty is to achieve as much of an improvement as is reasonably possible. A mini-abdominoplasty involves removing a smaller amount of abdominal skin and fat. The goal of a mini abdominoplasty would not be to achieve as much of an improvement as possible but rather one of moderate improvement.
Liposuction of the abdomen would not be useful at all in a situation of excess abdominal skin and fat. In fact if a surgeon performed liposuction on a woman who had an overhang to her abdomen, the overhang might be made worse with liposuction.
This patient had a large overhang of abdominal skin. This patient had a full abdominoplasty.
The other component to abdominoplasty surgery is called “the plication of the true abdominal wall.” This involves over sewing weakened or separated abdominal muscles in such a way to provide a flatter abdomen. This is especially effective in women who still have the appearance of a somewhat protuberant abdomen after childbirth. The tightening process takes place in a vertical corset fashion down the center of the abdomen. This part of the surgery takes place beneath the skin and fascia and the actual suturing is not visible to the patient (although the results of it are). Although this component of abdominoplasty surgery may not be as familiar to women considering abdominoplasty surgery, it certainly plays as important a role in the overall final result.
Women who are considering cosmetic surgery of the abdomen should realize that neither a mini abdominoplasty nor liposuction of the abdomen, involve any plication of the true abdominal wall. Therefore, all patients who wish to address the problem of a bulging or protuberant abdomen should choose a full abdominoplasty.
This patient had a significant problem with the bulging or protuberance of her true abdominal wall. She had a full abdominoplasty.
It is important to remember that while abdominoplasty surgery is effective for women who are overweight; all women will receive their best result when they are at their ideal body weight or close to it. It is likewise important to realize that if a woman suffers from either problem described in this article; overhanging skin or bulging of the true abdominal wall, only abdominoplasty surgery will correct these problems.
For more information on abdominoplasty surgery and to see a picture of the tissue click here.