Aesthetic Surgery of the Body
This includes body contouring which removes excess skin and fat from various areas. Common locations for body contouring include:
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Abdomen (tummy tuck or abdominoplasty)
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Fleur de lis abdominoplasty (removal of also vertical skin)
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Arms (Arm lift or brachioplasty)
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Thighs (thigh lift or thighplasty)
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lower back (Circumferential body lift)
Each of these operations are usually combined with liposuction when necessary.
Liposuction can also be performed alone and in multiple areas when there is minimal excess skin present.
When are these surgeries needed?
We often see patients after massive weight loss when there is significant skin laxity present that will never tighten despite diet and exercise. This can be after pregnancy, weight loss surgery, or simply weight loss with lifestyle modification.
Are there BMI cutoffs for surgery?
The answer is it depends. It is important to be at a stable weight after weight loss (6 months preferred) and to be fully recovered after child birth (at least 6 months).
Although, we do perform liposuction, results are optimal when you are at a healthy, stable weight.
Also to consider is after a BMI of 35, there is an increase in complications with body contouring such as delayed healing, infection, and blood clots, so it depends on other patient factors such as amount of excess skin and weight distribution to make a final decision.
What should I expect with surgery?
We perform all aesthetic surgery in our In-Office surgery center. Depending on the length of your surgery, we may ask that you stay one night in our OverNight Suites adjacent to our office. Here, you will have a nurse care for you until discharge.
Post op, you will have a compression garment such as an abdominal binder or ACE wrap for extremities. This will help with swelling.
You will be expected to walk after surgery with help from our nurse to help decrease your risk of blood clots.
We also provide you with VENAgo a portable DVT prevention device for lower leg compression.
What is Diastasis Recti?
Diastasis recti is a separation of the abdominal muscles as you can see here in this image.
This occurs with pregnancy naturally to make room for the baby. Sometimes the AB muscles will return to normal position with exercise or physical therapy; however, in MANY cases especially with multiple pregnancies, the AB muscles never return to normal and must be surgically repaired.
Repair of diastasis is performed during abdominoplasty when present to tighten the abdominal wall. This actually not only helps with the aesthetic contour, but it also helps with core strength, urinary incontinence, and quality of life.
See scientific article here:
Do I need a Tummy Tuck?
Although all bodies are beautiful and often tell the story of the creation of our precious babies, the results of aging, weight loss, and pregnancy leave the abdominal wall with skin that will never tighten and (see above) Diastasis recti.
The photo above shows skin that is loose with a diastasis and also distorted belly button. The only way to correct this amount of loose skin is removal with surgery. If you desire improvement in excess skin and restoration of abdominal wall strength and function, you need an abdominoplasty (aka Tummy tuck).
BODY Aesthetic
This patient is only 1 week out from revision mini abdominoplasty with liposuction. She was unhappy with her previous tummy tuck in 2019 by another surgeon. She was left with bulging and large scars. She also desired a less is more approach with goals to remove old scar, lower abdominal skin and improve contour with liposuction.
Swelling will decrease over the next 6 months.
Recovery: No lifting 4 weeks. Feeling great at 1 week.
Dressing: Brijjits seen here in lower image to improve healing and scar.
Now this patient is 3 months post op and has great contour with minimal residual swelling. She is very happy with the results as she wanted a faster recovery compared to full abdominoplasty.