What percentage of patients end up regretting their tummy tuck?

Thank you for your questions as you are obviously putting a lot of thought into your decision, which is appropriate.  I would have to say I can't think of a single patient of mine that has been disappointed with his or her tummy tuck, though sometimes people who are unhappy don't always go back to the same doctor a year later.  The most common reasons that I have seen people who are unhappy with their results when done by someone else is the look of the scar (more prominent than they would have liked), the scar being placed too high so it shows despite a bikini or low-cut underwear, or someone who got a "mini" tummy tuck when he or she needed a "full" tummy tuck.  I have revised a few mini tummy tucks to full.  By a year, all of the itching and burning should be pretty much resolved.  Hope that answers your questions and best of luck!

A tummy tuck is a common and safe procedure. I do not have any patients with any long term complications or unwanted side effects. There are risks to any surgery including bleeding, infection, hematoma, seroma, irregular scarring and contour irregularities. All these are uncommon, and all of these can be treated so that the patient can still have a good outcome. If you have a surgeon with whom you are comfortable, and he/she can demonstrate good before and after pictures, then I think you should feel good about proceeding with the procedure when you are ready. Good luck!

This is an interesting question, and I will attempt to answer it based on comments in our practice. Most, if not all, patients have been extremely happy with their tummy tuck surgery. We do, however, have patients from other practices who have come to see us about revising their original tummy tuck surgery from other physicians; the most common concern is the appearance of their belly button, scarring, and dog ears. During an abdominoplasty, the belly button takes time to reposition so that the position on the stomach after surgery is in the correct place. The scar should also be placed low enough so that it is not visible when wearing a bikini if that is what the patient desires. Dog ears are tags that may result after surgery and can be removed if they are bothersome or visible under clothing. An experienced plastic surgeon will attempt to minimize the scarring, but all patients will have a scar at location of the incision which is hipbone to hipbone. If patients are not informed beforehand, it can lead to disappointment. We try very hard to make sure all patients understand the healing process during tummy tuck surgery. I hope that this helps.

Thanks for your question. I agree with the others that TT has the highest satisfaction rate of all the procedures we do. Breast reduction is next. Those who are not 100% satisfied are typically not ideal candidates to start with (high BMI, poor skin elasticity, high amount of internal or visceral fat, etc.). Because the waistline is restored and you get rid of something you don't want it is consistently lauded as a great procedure. It is only with a TT that the muscle can be tightened and the lower "pooch" corrected. Best of Luck!

Thank you for your interesting question.  I find that the vast majority of my patients are very happy with the result.  However, I probably recommend at least 20% of the people I see for a tummy tuck consultation get a second opinion or consider other options, because I do not think that their goals are achievable.  For example, if a person with extensive stretch marks expects that they will all be completely removed with a tummy tuck, they will likely be disappointed. Unless their goals can be aligned with the expected outcome it is better to avoid surgery altogether.

Thank you for your question.It appears that you are addressing wound healing complications after a surgical procedure, more so than the associated degree of satisfaction after an abdominoplasty.Such complications are associated with any surgical intervention.  It is important to have your surgeon address any of these mentioned lingering problems for a plan on how to minimize or improve your worries.As far as the abdominoplasty procedure, I have found this to be one of the highest satisfaction procedures overall in plastic surgery.Hope this helps,Sergio Pasquale Maggi, MD, FACSAustin Plastic Surgery Centerdrmaggi.com

That is an excellent question but very hard to quantify.  I would say that the majority of patients are thrilled with the result.  The ones who are unhappy are, in general, the ones who have unrealistic expectations about the result or have a complication.  

Dear Toniverb,Great question! Healing after an abdominoplasty is a pretty tough, and early on some may question if they should have done the surgery. It also has more associated risks than many of our other surgeries, so this might also influence how people feel early on if they are dealing with more issues (like wound healing or swelling) than they had anticipated. That being said, I have found that most patients are extremely happy with their results.I can't say that the same is true for mini-tummy tucks. I have seen many patients over the years that were not thrilled with these results and went on to more aggressive surgery later. Patients who gain weight after surgery also have more complaints, but the solution here lies with them.

Because a tummy tuck is so effective at what it achieves, I have not heard of a patient in my experience who has regretted doing it. This is true even though it is major surgery, can have complications and does require minor revisions in some cases. The only potential for unhappiness is whether one's expectations are in line with what can be actually achieved.

Hi, toniverb.Thanks for your question.As you can see from real self.com and/or patients who have undergone tummy tuck, tummy tuck has a very high patient satisfaction rate (over 95%).When patients are not happy or regret the surgery afterwards, it is due to 1) unrealistic expectation and/or 2) poor candidate for the procedure.  It is very important for patients to select an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon and share his/her goal/expectation.  Discuss with your plastic surgeon to find out if your expectation can be met given your anatomy.Best regards.