14 months ago
What you likely have is what is called a "rectus diastasis", where the two rectus muscles of your abdomen (the muscles that make a "six pack") have widened and moved away from the midline of your body. This is quite common after pregnancy, and certainly after 5 pregnancies. Having an umbilical hernia as well is very common and we often fix them during tummy tucks.
Without having examined you personally, my guess is that while you may not have a lot of extra skin, you probably have some, and you almost certainly have significant laxity of your abdominal wall muscles. This means that you would likely be a good candidate for a tummy tuck.
When I examine a woman's abdomen, I'm looking at a few things:
laxity of the abdominal wall muscles
amount of excess skin
presence of excess fat
location and shape of the belly button
presence of any old scars (for example from a C-section or from abdominal surgery)
In many cases, the majority of the work and attention during a tummy tuck procedure has to do with the tightening of the abdominal muscles to help flatten the abdomen, improve its contour, and reconstruct those six pack muscles. Removal of excess skin is also important, but it's not the only issue that is corrected.
Bottom line: Just because you don't have a lot of extra skin doesn't mean you can't have a tummy tuck. I would recommend seeking a second opinion from a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.
Best of luck! Dr. S
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