Mini Tummy Tuck: Stories

Go look at the before and after results on the TT forum. I would hate to see you regret a mini TT after the fact... would almost be impossible to then get a Full TT. For the difference in price I would say Full TT all the way- But a couple of consultations with PS should help in your decision. Good luck!

Should go for a consultation but in my opinion a mini tuck. You don't have as much flab and your belly doesnt look inflated enough

Last year I got lipo to my abdomen cause I didn't have much money. I spent 2,000. I have a lot of stretch marks too. Then now not being satisfied with it I decided to get a tummy tuck. Although now I didn't have enough skin to do a full tuck because of the lipo. I only was able to do a mini tuck. From my experience I would recommend a full tummy tuck. I wish I would have waited and saved my money and did the full tuck from the very beginning. Good luck!

i recomend full tummy tuck u will regret have a mini after if u have loose skin and strech mark, pain almost same. good luck

Hey, I've not had a procedure myself, but have been thinking about, researching and talking with some surgeons over a couple of years now since I have worked to loose quite a bit of childhood weight (primarily through diet habit changes and running). I've been left with stomach skin that while II'm standing sags a little over navel and has caused a half inch overhanging bulge of skin just above my waist-line that has really bothered me for the past two years. Over these years, I have been able to minutely reduce the appearance of this "pooch" above my waist-line by continuing to burn off the fat in that area which is causing it to sag instead of wrinkle as loose skin alone would. And, just in August, I started strength training and doing workouts to shape my body with the assistance of a personal trainer as I was clueless about what to do or how to do things correctly. I have noticed the quickest body shape changes since I lost all of that childhood weight. I am still rather young (20), so I'm going to wait on seeking cosmetic surgery for a while and see where this new lifting regimen of my life takes me. Although, I do think I will seek to have this tummy skin removed in the future as I don't feel it's roll like appearance when I sit down will every go away, but who knows I might be more comfortable with it by then. -- Now that you introductions are done, you can hopefully better understand my thoughts about your scheduled procedure. On to you: The mini' tummy tuck should help reduce / remove any of the skin's sagging or wrinkling. But, due to the location of your stretch marks which appear to be high, at just below your navel, I don't think the mini' tummy tuck will remove them--alternatively the surgical scarring from a full tummy tuck would likely be even more prevalent. I would seek out skin procedures, such as laser treatments, to deal with stretch marks if they are a primary bother to you. As for your abdominal muscle-shape, look into workouts that shape your whole core. Skip out on the crunches, which will mainly produce bulky muscle development below your rib cage, and look into more core stabilization exercises that will tone and tighten the muscles beneath your "six pack" muscles which with help to flatten your mid section. In conclusion of what you're scheduled, the mini' tummy tuck and the liposuction: If you are against the surgical scars of the full tummy tuck, this the best way to go. This won't deal with your stretch marks, you'll only loose the ones that are a part of the skin removed during your procedure -- I would look into something else for that. If you are still uncomfortable about receiving your desired results for the expense and risk of this procedure, I would suggest continuing to work towards your desired results through proper diet habits and shape altering exercises to see if you can reach a point where you are more comfortable with this vs the fully tummy tuck.

Hi- your tummy looks alot like mine did. I went on many consults, one dr said lipo, one said mini tt, one said full tt w mr. It took alot of thought on my part, but I ended up doing the full TT w MR back in April. It is easily the best thing I have done for myself! So happy with the results. Good luck

Hi cowgirl - I had the same exact thing happen - 2 doctors told me no TT just lipo..one said full tummy tuck with vertical scar from BB and then my choice mini TT with lipo. I am 6 days post op. I decided to have mini tt with lipo. My thinking was I could always go back and redo full TT but less is more for me right now. I am really happy so far and it is only 6 days!

Hi jj - I TOTALLY understand what u r going through. We r very similar. Very personal decision. I am worried about loose skin after lipo above navel but I do not have enough loose skin for a full tuck. My surgery is on the 29th feel free to vent with us!

You might want to post your photos and question in the doctor q&a community and see what they have to say. You can go here to do that.

Welcome to RealSelf! Will your surgeon be doing muscle repair? Because that should help with tightening below the belly button. Some of your stretch marks will probably remain with either a full or mini TT, but you don't really want that vertical scar either, right?