Inches Lost After Tummy Tuck w/ Lipo?

It depends on your bone structure, amount of fat and extra skin.  This is a hard question to answer since we all come in different shapes and sizes.  You should schedule a consult with a board certified PS and see what expectations are reasonable for your unique situation. 

Every patient is different - their concern, body type and expectations are different, therefore it would be very difficult to give you an average on how many inches you could lose from a tummy tuck and liposuction. It’s better to see a board certified plastic surgeon who can give you a rough idea of what you can have removed.

That is an interesting question, but one that does not have a good answer. The success of a tummy tuck or liposuction is not based on any magic number of "inches lost". I think what you are asking is how much you can expect your figure to change, or how much your waist-to-hip ratio will change. During a tummy tuck, your abdominal muscles are tightened, and excess skin and soft tissue are removed. This has the ability make your waistline smaller, or give a more hour-glass figure. Liposuction of your hips will decrease the volume of fat there, but may or may not change your "number" depending on where the liposuction is done. The best way to figure out if your expectations will be met by surgery is to consult with a board certified plastic surgeon in person and discuss your goals. Good luck!

Without seeing a picture, this is difficult to answer.  The factors that affect your waistline include the amount of diastasis rectus and pooching you have, the thickness of your abdominal skin, where you care that skin, and the nature of your love handles.  A well designed abdominoplasty addresses all these areas and thus reduces these measurements.  Your surgeon at a consultation can give you a better idea, but the most important goal of the operation is to globally improve your shape and form and not necessarily just remove inches.  Good luck.  You can go to my website to see animation about tummy tucks in general. 

We typically don't measure that after this surgery.  As long as the result looks good the measurement is less relevant.  Sometimes the result looks good but the goal in measurement loss wasn't met so it was irrelevant.  Some patients will tell you what they lost but it would be quite rare for a plastic surgeon to tell you what number to expect.

The goals with all body contouring Plastic Surgery is to achieve improved proportions and shape. This often is accompanied by "inches lost" but should not be your focus. Your surgeon will use the shape and proportion of the area as one of the important endpoints during surgery. Along the same train of thought, do not focus on weight loss with these procedures either. Getting rid of loose skin and fat from the lower abdomen during a "tummy tuck" often results in a weight loss of just a few pounds. Liposuction to get rid of saddle bags or extra on your hips can make a very noticeable improvement but result in a just a few pounds of weight change.

Good luck!

Dr. Mosher

I have never measured a patient before and after tummy tuck surgery - I take a lot of photos, and the reduction in waist dimensions is evident- but no measurements are taken. No reason to make them.

Thank you for the question.  As you can imagine, there is no "standard" number of inches lost after surgery given that every patient who undergoes tummy tuck surgery is different.  Factors that come into play when it comes to answering your question include: overall body type, degree of muscle separation and adequacy of repair (plication),  type of tummy tuck surgery performed,  amount of  adipose tissue present, quantity/quality of life is such an surgery performed,  post operative maintenance of diet/exercise program…   My best suggestion: select your plastic surgeon carefully. Ask to see lots of examples of similar patients and evaluate their outcomes. Doing so you may be able to achieve a level of expectation that is realistic. Best wishes.

Regarding: "Inches Lost After Tummy Tuck w/ Lipo?
What is an Average Number of Inches Lost from Waist and Hips After a Tummy Tuck with Hips Lipo ? My measurements are waist-37, hips 47, what is a realistic expectation after procedures?"

The answer you are looking for does not exist because we rarely operate on the "average patient" (you know..the one having 2.4 children, driving a 3.5 year old GM car, buys her groceries and average of 3.4 miles from her house - you get the point). The amount of waist narrowing would depend on
- the extent of muscle tightening by liposuction
- the aggressiveness of waist liposuction

Since people are highly variable in their anatomy and surgeons change their surgical techniques from patient to patient and do NOT look for this number, it would be hard to report it. I can tell you that many women lose at least one dress size, if not more, with these procedures.

Dr. Peter Aldea

It is hard to predict size change and weight loss after tummy tuck and liposuction.  Indeed, these are body contouring procedures and the goal would be to achieve an improved overall shape or contour.  These procedures are not an exact science and  there is no linear correlation to predict "inches lost" off waist size or weight loss in general.