Other Mini Tummy Tuck Methods?

Dear Kitty_86, A mini tummy tuck has VERY limited applications and when used outside of those categories often produces substandard (aka ugly) results. VERY rarely after having three children can a woman hope to get a great result with a mini tummy tuck. The reason being that the rectus tummy muscles have been split and pushed sideways PERMANENTLY (IE no amount of exercise will bring them back and corset them in the midline as they were before the pregnancy). Since in a mini tummy tuck... more

 From your pictures and the your description of the abdominal tissue, I would recommend full tummy tuck. You have stretch marks above the belly button. You do not have much fatty tissue but a lot of extra skin which make minimal procedures like Thermage, laser lipo and Titan ineffective.

Because you have damaged skin above the belly button, a mini tummy tuck won't give you the look you want.  You will have a higher scar than people with lots of extra skin, but a full tummy tuck will be giving you more of the result you want.  

Thank you for the question. I think you will be much better off with a full tummy tub procedure. A few words of caution for future patients contemplating tummy tuck surgery may be in order: In my opinion, the mini tummy talk is an operation that produces very limited results and is very rarely indicated. It involves a shorter incision but does not address the majority of the abdominal wall issues present for most patients who present consultation. For example, the area... more

After three kids, you probably need a full tummy tuck based upon the loose skin that I can see in the photo.

I would agree with most other physicians here, and state with the limited information available, that you are more likely to get a better result with a full tummy tuck. A mini would give you very limited results and you would likely be unhappy with the outcome. see video

If you are willing to live with the scar required with a conventional abdominoplasty, you will be happy with the result. You can check out scars at various stages of convalescence on my website. However, for any area of the body, the more skin removed, the longer the scar (minus a few fudge factors plastic surgeons know about). Mini-abdominoplasty is lousy operation except in very exceptional cases. From your picture, you are not one. For you, it's an abdominoplasty or nothing. You... more