A tummy tuck is designed to accomplish two things:
1. Remove excess abdominal skin and fat
2. Tighten and flatten the abdominal wall muscles
The surgery is performed through a 'bikini-line incision' which, for a full tummy tuck, may extend from hipbone to hipbone. For patients that need only a 'mini-tummy tuck', the incision is usually somewhat smaller, extending just beyond the limits of the average C-section scar. The suprapubic incisions used for this operation are designed so that the resulting surgical scar is hidden by underwear or a bathing suit.
A full abdominoplasty requires the surgical creation of a new belly button. Creating the new belly button, which is called an umbilicoplasty, is a part of tummy tuck surgery that requires a great deal of attention and finesse on the part of the surgeon. My goal is to create a new belly button that, as much as possible, resembles a 'natural' belly button. Natural belly buttons do NOT look like a perfect circle, and circular umbilicoplasty scars are a tummy tuck dead giveaway.
