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Loose Skin or is It Fat?

I am 37 years old and had 2 children 18 months apart. My youngest is now 5 years old.

I just completed a year of training with a personal trainer 3 times a week, but did not lose any of my belly fat below my belly button; it almost seems worse than when I first had my children. I also did not lose any weight but gained muscle and lost body fat.

My legs, hips, and arms are a couple of inches smaller, but my belly seems bigger than ever and is the same size. I'm considering whatever it will take to get rid of this pouch of fat - or loose skin. I'm not sure what it is, but it's gotta go!

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18 Doctor Answers | Asked by livinthedream in Orlando, FL

Doctor Answers (18)
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There are many causes for abdominal fullness

Don't worry, you have a common concern. There are many problems leading to abodominal fullness. First is fat, but you seem to be exercising well without any change in your abdomen. The second is diastasis of your abdominal muscles. When you have children the fascia holding your rectus muscles (six pack) together becomes loose and the abdomen has a round appearance despite exercise and weight loss. In this case, you may require a surgery (abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck") to tighten the... more

The excess contour could be abdominal wall laxity, skin or fat or a combination

There are several components of extra fullnes or contour in the lower abdomen. There can be excess contour from laxity of the abdominal wall (it was stretched out during pregnancy), or excess skin, or excess skin and fat. A board certified plastic surgeon will be able to ascertain upon examination of your abdomen what is causing the fullness you don't like and advise you.

Tummy tuck for persistance fat accumulation in the lower abdomen following pregnancies

It is quite possible that the lower part of your abdominal muscles has been streched out or separated as a result of multiple pregnancies, therefore some of the intra abdominal fat is protruding through the midline. A careful clinical examination would be helpful to diagnose this condition which could be fixed during a modifid tummy tuck. If that is not the case liposuction/liposelection is a very effective procedure to address your concerns.

You most likely need a tummy tuck which is not unusual after prgnancy.

It sounds like you are in very good shape now but have a stubborn collection of loose skin that cannot go away with exercise. You may also have some separation of your abdominal muscles as a result of pregnancy. This can also be corrected during a tummy tuck.

Loose skin vs. fat. Tummy tuck an option?

Hard to tell without photos or exam. There can be several factors at play. Tummy tuck is good for repair of diastasis recti (separation of rectus muscles). It is also good for loose skin. If there is only fat and no loose skin, liposuction may be a good answer. Best to see a board certified plastic surgeon for a proper exam.

Schedule a Consultation to See If Tummy Tuck is the Answer

During pregnancy the stretching of the uterus can cause the muscles in your abdomen to separate down the vertical line called the linea alba. This weakens the abdominal muscles, making it harder to hold your stomach in. While some cases can be ameliorated with exercises, the most effective treatment is abdominoplasty surgery (tummy tuck) to reattach and tighten these damaged muscles. Another issue could be the amount of skin and/or fat you have left over after pregnancy. While working... more

Loose Skin or Fat

You are an ideal patient for a tummy tuck if you have 3 things; 1. loose skin, 2. any extra fat, 3. a diastasis rectus after having children. This makes an ideal patient for abdominoplasty. Abdominoplasty is not about weight loss as much as shaping and contouring your pre-operative silhouette especially after children.

Rod J. Rohrich, MD

10 reviews

Dallas Plastic Surgeon

Abdominoplasty might be a great option for you...

Abdominoplasty (or tummy tuck) sounds like it would be a great option for you. It sounds like you have done a great job exercising and doing all you can to lose excess fat. When exercise doesn't give the desired result, abdominoplasty should work great for you. Abdominoplasty is a surgical procedure designed to flatten your protruding abdomen by tightening the muscles and removing excess fat and skin. Another option may be a mini tummy tuck. With a mini... more

Tummy tucks are perfect to correct loose skin and fat

Tummy tucks are a popular and extremely effective technique to contour the abdomen after pregnancy. As no two patients are alike, in our practice, no two tummy tucks are the same. We evaluate every patient individually to determine what the underlying cause is for their concerns. We then work with the patent to come up with an operative plan to address these concerns. If you have a limited amount of extra skin and fat that is isolated to the central abdomen, he may be an excellent... more

Loose skin is best treated with full or extended tummy tuck

See video below for results of an extended tummy tuck. An extended tummy tuck is the best way to treat loose and excess skin marked by stretch marks that surrounds the lower belly following pregnancy. This will also provide some improvement to hips and thighs. see video

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

32 reviews

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Lower abdominal pouch

More than likely you are describing loose skin and some fat in the lower abdomen. Perhaps a bit of weakness in the muscles as well. It sounds like you may need a tummy tuck or a modificatin of one.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Belly pouch

You have done very well after your two babies. The bulge you have in the lower abdomen could be fat, or separation of the muscles. There is no other method to bring the muscles together but surgery. With pregnancies, the rectus muscle get vertically lax and seperate in the middle. No exercise or massage or any other treatment will repair this except surgery. See a Board certified PS.

Belly fat can be removed with liposuction.

Hi. It does not sound like loose skin is your problem. Local abdominal fat is nicely flattened with liposuction. You just need to make sure you don't have a separation (diastasis) of the rectus muscles, because this can make your stomach bulge and requires tummy tuck to correct.

Post-pregnancy belly

It sounds like you would be a great candidate for a tummy tuck procedure. No matter how much work you put in at the gym, your abdominal region has suffered from pregnancy. The only way to achieve a flat stomach would be abdominoplasty surgery. A tummy tuck procedure involves rectus muscle repair and removal of loose and saggy skin or tissue. Usually liposuction is also included as well as the creation of a new belly button. Keep up the hard work at the gym and consult with surgeons to... more

Getting rid of resistant tummy fat pooch or loose skin

With your history of physical fitness and weight loss and of having several children it is safe to assume that you are at the maximal best that can be achieved by exercise. If any further improvement is to be had, it would need to come with the help of one of my Plastic surgery colleagues. The odds are hands down that you have abdominal wall looseness (from the pregnancies). That would place your six pack muscles (rectus abdominis) to the sides and they will NOT come together. No matter how... more

Stomach Pooch after having children

Please look at the patient 1:30 into my video - she also had a pooch on her lower abdomen after pregnancy, and in her case it was all due to abdominal wall weakness. If you are back at your pre-baby weight and exercising regularly, it is quite possible that the contour issues you are noticing are due to weakness of the abdominal wall. If exercise and strengthening of the abdominal muscles do not solve the problem, then a tummy tuck is the only way to address the stretched out fascia that... more

Loose skin, fat, muscle, or all of the above

I think it's great that you have conditioned yourself through dedicated training. You may have some loose skin, fat, muscles or all of the above. After pregnancy, weight loss, and age, the muscles of the abdomen can separate. This leads to loss of the defintion of the waist and abdominal rounding or "pooching". This may be in conjunction with loose skin and excess fat. I encourage you to continue to exercise. Unfortunately sit-ups I have found that sit-ups usually do not ... more

See an excellent plastic surgeon

You are doing all you can to maximize your post-pregnency belly. Congratulations for that effort! You should see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who can offer both liposuction and tummy tucks and can examine you and tell you what each can and cannot do for you and which would be better in your case. If you go to a non-plastic surgeon who only can perform liposuction, they will tell you most likely that is all you need and you might be very disappointed. There are ways to describe which... more